Drawing Icebreakers Where Nobody Needs to Draw Well

One drawing warm-up with its steps and five ready prompts, for pairs, tables or a whole room.

Drawing Icebreakers Where Nobody Needs to Draw Well

  1. Follow My Pen1. Partners sit side by side with the sheet between them. 2. One leads, slowly drawing half of a thing that is the same on both sides. 3. The other mirrors every stroke at the same moment on the other half. 4. No talking. 5. Swap leaders for the next drawing. Five things to draw in halves: a butterfly; a vase; a tree; a rocket; a front door with a window on each side. Group: pairs. Time: 5 min. Supplies: one sheet with a line down the middle and two pens. Video call: no.
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How it works

These drawing icebreakers are group warm-ups where nobody needs to draw well: stick figures, single lines and folded paper. Each one comes with five ready prompts, so it also runs as a drawing team building activity at the start of a meeting.

Read the full guide

Deal one warm-up for your group

Each press deals one activity with its steps, its supplies and five prompts, so the same warm-up can open five meetings. After the first press an Any group size box appears under the button: choose Pairs, Tables of 4 to 8 or A whole room.

On a video call, or with five minutes

More filters, the last entry in the group size box, opens two choices. A video call keeps the activities where everyone draws at their own desk and holds the page up to the camera. Five minutes or less keeps the short ones.

Tips
  • Hand out thick markers. Nobody fusses over detail with a fat pen.
  • Say the time limit before the prompt, not after.

Questions and answers

What is a good team building drawing activity for a meeting?

One drawing made by many hands. In One Line Each Poster each person adds a single line to a shared picture, and in Team Crest in Four Quarters a table fills one shield together. Both end with something to hang on the wall.

What if people say they cannot draw?

Start with a warm-up that takes skill out of it. In Blind Contour, Your Own Hand nobody may look at the paper, and in Thirty, Ten, Three the last drawing takes three seconds. No activity here is judged on likeness.

Which drawing icebreakers work on a video call?

Choose A video call under More filters. Those need only paper and a pen at each desk, such as Map of Your Morning, A Line for Each Mood and One Line, No Lifting, and everyone holds the page up to the camera at the end.

Where are back to back drawing and write draw pass?

On pages of their own, so they are not repeated here. Back to back drawing has pictures for the describer, and write draw pass has starter phrases and fold-over sheets to print.

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Browse Acting and Drawing

All 19 activities

Draw something about yourself 6

  • Draw Your Job Without Words 1. Everyone draws what they do all day as three small pictures: no letters, no numbers and no logos. 2. A partner or the table says the job back in one sentence. 3. The artist corrects the sentence, and that is the introduction. Five things to draw in place of a job: a hobby; the task you would hand to a robot; what you did before this job or course; a skill you could teach; a usual Tuesday at ten in the morning. Group: pairs or tables of 4 to 8. Time: 10 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Draw Your Weekend in Three Boxes 1. Everyone rules a sheet into three boxes. 2. Draw one moment in each box with stick figures and no words. 3. Show the sheet to a partner, who says what they think happened. 4. The artist tells the real story in one sentence a box. Five things to draw in the boxes: last weekend; the trip here this morning; the last meal you cooked; a place you would go back to; a perfect day off. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 10 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Map of Your Morning 1. Everyone draws a map of the way from their front door to this room: a line, a few turns and no street names. 2. Mark three landmarks along it. 3. Show the map to a partner, who picks one landmark to ask about. Five landmarks to mark: where you ate or drank something; a door that sticks; a hill, some stairs or an elevator; an animal you passed; where you were when you checked the time. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
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Draw something about yourself, continued

  • Stick Figure With Three Props 1. Everyone draws themselves as a stick figure. 2. Add three things in its hands, on its head or at its feet that say something true about you. 3. The table guesses what each prop is before the artist explains it. Five props to start from: something you carry every day; a tool you are good with; a food you make well; something for a rainy Sunday; a ticket to somewhere. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Weather Report for Your Week 1. Everyone draws a weather map of one thing: sunshine, cloud, fog, wind, one storm in a corner. 2. Hold the maps up together. 3. Nobody has to explain, and anyone may add one sentence. 4. The leader reads the room in a line, such as "mostly fog, clearing by Thursday". Five things to forecast: your week so far; the project that brought us here; your inbox; your to-do list; the weekend ahead. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Whose Drawing Is It? 1. The leader reads one prompt. 2. Everyone draws an answer with no name on it, folds the sheet and drops it in the bowl. 3. The leader holds up one drawing at a time. 4. The group guesses the artist, who then owns up and adds one sentence. Five prompts: the view from a window you know well; a snack you never turn down; the shoes you would wear every day; the first vehicle you remember riding in; something on your desk right now. Group: tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 10 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each, and a bowl. Video call: no.

One drawing, many hands 7

  • Draw the Team as a Vehicle 1. Each table draws the team as one thing on a single sheet. 2. Everyone adds at least one part and says what it stands for, such as the engine, the brakes or the horn. 3. Tables show the drawing and name three of its parts. Five things to draw the team as: a vehicle; a kitchen; a garden; a weather map; a band on stage. Group: tables of 4 to 8. Time: 10 min. Supplies: one large sheet and markers for each table. Video call: no.
  • Fold-Over Creature for a Table of Four 1. Everyone folds a sheet into four strips. 2. Draw a head in the top strip, carry the neck lines just over the fold, fold the head out of sight and pass the sheet on. 3. The next person adds the torso, the next the legs and the last the feet, each folding their own part away. 4. Unfold, and the table gives each creature a name and a job on the team. Five themes: a mascot for this team; a creature from the deep sea; a helpful robot; a guest at a costume party; a monster that lives in the supply closet. Group: tables of 4 to 8. Time: 10 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: no.
  • Follow My Pen 1. Partners sit side by side with the sheet between them. 2. One leads, slowly drawing half of a thing that is the same on both sides. 3. The other mirrors every stroke at the same moment on the other half. 4. No talking. 5. Swap leaders for the next drawing. Five things to draw in halves: a butterfly; a vase; a tree; a rocket; a front door with a window on each side. Group: pairs. Time: 5 min. Supplies: one sheet with a line down the middle and two pens. Video call: no.
  • Four-Panel Comic, One Panel Each 1. Rule a sheet into four panels. 2. The table agrees on the title and nothing else. 3. The first person draws panel one and passes the sheet; each person carries the story on, and the fourth draws the ending. 4. Speech bubbles are allowed, six words at most. 5. One person reads the comic to the room. Five titles: How We Got Here Today; The Day the Internet Went Down; The Lunch Order; A New Person's First Morning; The Meeting That Ended Early. Group: tables of 4 to 8. Time: 10 min. Supplies: one sheet for each table and a pen each. Video call: no.
  • One Line Each Poster 1. Tape a large sheet to the wall and say what the picture will be. 2. Each person in turn adds exactly one line, straight or curved; the marker stays down until the line ends. 3. Nobody discusses the plan. 4. Stop after two laps and agree on a title. Five pictures to build: a city skyline; a vegetable market; a machine that makes breakfast; the clubhouse this group deserves; a ship. Group: tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: one large sheet on the wall and one marker. Video call: no.
  • Portrait by Five Hands 1. Everyone writes their name at the bottom of a sheet. 2. Walk around the room. When the leader says stop, pair up with the nearest person and swap sheets. 3. Draw only the part the leader calls, on the other person's sheet, in twenty seconds. 4. Swap back and walk on. 5. After five stops, everyone holds a portrait made by five people. Five calls, in this order: the shape of the face; the eyes; the nose and mouth; the hair or a hat; the shoulders and what the person is wearing. Group: a whole room. Time: 10 min. Supplies: a sheet, a pen and a book to lean on each. Video call: no.
  • Team Crest in Four Quarters 1. Each table draws one shield and splits it into four quarters. 2. Fill the quarters and the banner below from the five prompts. 3. Everyone at the table draws at least one thing, and nothing is written except the motto. 4. Tables hold the crest up and explain it in one minute. Five parts to fill: quarter one, something the whole table has in common; quarter two, what this team is good at; quarter three, what it wants to learn this year; quarter four, an animal that moves the way the team works; the banner, a motto of three words. Group: tables of 4 to 8. Time: 20 min. Supplies: one large sheet and markers for each table. Video call: no.

Loosen up: speed, lines and no looking 6

  • A Line for Each Mood 1. Everyone rules a sheet into five rows. 2. The leader says a word, and everyone fills a row with one line that looks the way the word sounds: no pictures and no letters. 3. After five words, compare sheets with a partner, row by row. Five words: calm; in a hurry; stubborn; curious; Friday afternoon. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Blind Contour, Your Own Hand 1. Everyone rests the hand they do not draw with on the table and looks only at it. 2. Draw its outline slowly, in one continuous line, without lifting the pen and without looking at the paper. 3. After one minute, hold the drawings up together. 4. Draw a second thing the same way. Five things to look at: your own hand; your shoe; a bunch of keys; a mug; a plant or the view from the window. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • One Line, No Lifting 1. The leader names a thing. 2. Everyone draws it in a single line: the pen may cross its own path but may not leave the paper. 3. Stop after forty seconds and hold the drawings up. 4. Someone else names one detail, and the artist adds it with a second line. Five things to draw: a coffee cup on a saucer; a cat seen from behind; a house plant; a sneaker; a desk lamp. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Same Three Shapes 1. Everyone draws the same three shapes anywhere on a sheet. 2. Take three minutes to turn the page into one picture that uses all three. 3. Hold the pages up side by side. 4. Find the two that are most alike and the one nobody else thought of. Five sets of three: a circle, a triangle and a zigzag; two squares and a wavy line; a spiral, a dot and a rectangle; three circles of different sizes; a half moon, an arrow and a cross. Group: tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 10 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Thirty, Ten, Three 1. The leader names one thing. 2. Everyone draws it in thirty seconds. 3. Draw it again in ten seconds. 4. Draw it once more in three. 5. Hold up the three-second drawings together and see what is left of the thing. Five things to draw three times: a teapot; an elephant; a lighthouse; a pair of scissors; a guitar. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: yes.
  • Turn the Squiggle Into Something 1. Everyone draws one quick squiggle with their eyes shut. 2. Pass it to the left. 3. Turn the squiggle you are handed into a picture in one minute, with the page any way up. 4. Pass it back, and the owner of the squiggle gives the picture a title. Five things to look for in a squiggle: an animal; a face; something with wheels; something to eat; a landscape. Group: pairs, tables of 4 to 8 or a whole room. Time: 5 min. Supplies: paper and a pen each. Video call: no.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors on 2026-10-01 for teams, classes and workshops of adults or mixed ages. These are group warm-ups in which everybody draws and nobody needs to draw well. Every set of steps is our own wording of a traditional warm-up or art-room exercise that nobody owns, and the five prompts printed with each one are our own work: 95 prompts, none used twice. Rules checked on 2026-10-01: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_contour_drawing (the outline is drawn slowly in one continuous line without lifting the pencil or looking at the paper) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse (in picture consequences the figure is traditionally drawn in four steps, the head, the torso, the legs and the feet, and the paper is folded after each part so that later players cannot see it). The other warm-ups have no rule book, so each set of steps is one good way to run them. Group sizes and minutes are planning estimates, not measurements, and nothing here was tested or measured. "A video call" means that everyone can draw at their own desk and hold the page up to the camera: nothing is passed or shared. No prompt asks for a portrait from memory, a private fact or anything about health, and no drawing is judged on likeness. Back to back drawing and write draw pass have their own pages on this site and are not repeated here. Licence: own work