Squiggle to Story
This is a great warm-up before a creative session. It can also be a way to highlight that collaboration can lead to unexpected and pretty awesome outcomes. No drawing skills required!
The group builds on top of each other’s squiggles to create a final picture. Works with any size of group, as long as you have enough time and colourful pens to go around.
5-any
10-15 min
Calm
Steps
- Ensure that everyone has a piece of paper and a pen.
- Ask everyone to draw 2 squiggles anywhere on the page.
- Once everyone is done, they put their drawing face down in the middle of the table.
- Everyone picks a paper from the pile (make sure no one gets their own squiggle drawing).
- Now ask everyone to make 2 objects of the two different squiggles.
- Once completed, everyone hands their drawing to the person to the right.
- The last step is for everyone to create a story around the two objects on the paper they picked — drawing a scene with as much colour and as many objects as they like.
- Encourage everybody to make up a title for their masterpiece.
- Go around the table and let everyone share what story they came up with.
Debrief
Ask the group questions to find out what their outcomes were, but also what they have learned.
- Show and tell – share what two objects they started with and their thought process to create the final scene.
- What was the most difficult part?
- What made it easier?
- Did someone do something to help others?
- What was the most unexpected outcome?
Bonus tip
Set a theme for the final scene in the last step of drawing — make it relevant to their situation (for example ‘Working here at company X’, ‘The last year in project Y’).
What you need
- Paper
- Colourful pens
Creator
Variation of activity by William J Kreidler