Fun Icebreaker Ideas & Activities

Tag: drawing

  • Fake Artist

    Can you work out what is going on in another person’s mind just from a single line they have drawn? All players in this game are handed the same piece of secret information on slips of paper: a codeword. All players… except one. One player is given a blank slip of paper, and they are the spy. Everyone trying to work out who the spy is, while the spy tries to stay hidden. One problem: everyone can only communicate by drawing a single line on a shared sheet of paper.

    RULES

    1. An organizer, who is not playing, takes a number of slips of paper equal to the number of players. On all but one of these slips, they write the same word. This word is the codeword. The codeword could be an activity, a place, a person, or any noun. They leave one slip blank.
    2. One slip is dealt to each player. The player with the blank slip is the spy.
    3. The organizer gives the group a clue to the word, usually a category that relates to the word. For example, if the word was “dog”, the clue might be “pets.”
    4. Each player is given a pen or pencil. A piece of paper is placed in the centre of the table.
    5. A starting player is chosen randomly. They draw one line on the piece of paper, which should demonstrate to the other, non-spy players that they know what the word is, which will make it easier
    6. for everyone to identify the spy at the end of the round. However, they don’t want to give away too much information with their drawing, because the spy will have a chance to guess what the word is at the end of the round, and if they do, the spy will win.
    7. Play continues clockwise, each player drawing one line on the paper.
    8. When all players have had two turns, the drawing phase of this round is over.
    9. Everyone votes on who they think is the spy. Everyone raises their fingers and, on the count of three, points at who they think is the spy. When the votes are counted, the spy can reveal themselves.
    10. If more fingers are pointing to a player who is not a spy, the spy has won. If more fingers are pointing to the spy, the spy has one last chance to save themselves. They must guess the codeword. If they guess correctly, or close enough to satisfy the other players, the spy wins.

    Imagine that you have just been given that blank slip of paper. You hope your face gives nothing away as you nonchalantly place the slip of paper facedown again on the table. Behind everyone else’s eyes there are cogs turning as they think about what to draw based on the word they have just seen. You, too, furrow your brow, to look as if you have something to ponder, though you have nothing yet to work from.

    The first player takes their turn. It’s… a triangle? It means nothing to you. Some players aren’t sure either, but others nod, knowingly. You say nothing.

    The next player draws a circle a little way out from the triangle. A few players laugh: “What is that?” they ask.

    You take a chance. “I think I get it.” you say, though you still have no idea.

    “What is it, then?”, somebody says.

    “Well, I can’t give it away to the spy. Just look at it again.” They find this answer acceptable, and look again at the picture.

    The next player draws a line from the triangle. Again, the other players aren’t convinced. Feeling confident, you try to pin down a scapegoat: “Yeah, that could be anything. That’s pretty suspicious.”

    The line-drawer groans. “No, it makes sense. You just don’t get it yet…”

    There is one more player before you have to take your turn. What is this picture supposed to be? A boat? A landmark? A logo? You need to work out what that codeword is — and quickly!

  • Collaborative Drawing

    Combine your artistic talents together to create the ultimate drawing without seeing what others have added before you!

    This icebreaker game is good for ages 10 and over. Collaborative Drawing must be played with a minimum of 4 people.  There is no maximum amount preferred.  If groups get unmanageable, subdivide into smaller sized groups.

    To play this game you are going to need the following items:

    1. Paper for all participants
    2. Writing utensils for everyone
    3. A timer or stopwatch

    Setup for Collaborative Drawing

    You won’t need to set anything up prior to starting this game!

    How to play Collaborative Drawing

    1. Distribute paper and writing utensils to everyone that will be playing. Make sure that the players are sitting in some sort of orderly fashion such as a circle or in straight lines.
    2. Instruct each person to fold their paper into four equal sections, as you would fold a letter. They should then unfold the paper so that it is flat again.
    3. Players are then told to draw a head for their drawing in the uppermost section. It doesn’t matter what kind of head they draw or where on the upper section it is, as long as the neck connects to the top of the second section on the paper.
    4. Instruct players to fold their paper over in order to hide the head they drew, leaving only the very bottom of the neck showing to help the next player in their drawing.
    5. All players pass their folded papers to their left and accept the paper being handed from their right side. Each time a new paper is given to each player, they must draw the missing section, connecting it to the other person’s previous section without actually looking to see what it looks like. This process will be repeated for all three of the other remaining sections: torso, legs, and feet. Make sure that all the players know to leave the very bottom of their drawing visible so that the next person can continue on. Each section should be timed to avoid spending too long on this game.
    6. Once the drawings are all completed, open up the papers and check out the crazy creatures or people that are featured there!

    Winning the game:

    This game should be used as a fun icebreaker. There is no way to win or lose the game. Its purpose is just for people to get together and have some funny drawing crazy creatures!