Training Game to Build Teamwork

Here’s a 10-minute training game you can do with visual learners to build teamwork.

Setup the Training Game

Sort into small groups of 2-3 people.

Distribute 1 piece of paper per group and 1 pen or marker per person– no erasers! Remind players to keep their content PG. Otherwise, tell them there is no “bad” drawing in this exercise.

Start the Training Game

One person draws a basic symbol or shape on a piece of paper. Pass the paper to the next player in the group.

The next player adds something to the drawing. Pass the paper to the next player.

Finish the Training Game

Repeat for 8 minutes. Players may talk to each other during this exercise. See if a story emerges. Players may not erase or undo any element in the drawing. Pick one team to explain their drawing and the process.

Learning Objective of the Training Game

Teams build on each others’ work to make something greater than one individual could do alone. By passing the page back and forth several times, team members also see incremental improvement during the development of the final drawing.

Designer Notes

This game came about during a little doodle-fest with my best friend. We’re working on a comic book together and, after reviewing some of the pages, he drew a doodle on a piece of paper in pen, and I took another pen, added to it, and we kept going back and forth until a little story about a dragon and a storm over the Grand Canyon emerged. As is inevitable, someone was on fire, and there was ice cream.