• 1 Picture (a line drawing with a variety of shapes and shadings)
• 1 Piece of Cardboard or a File Folder
• Pen/Pencil and Paper for each audience member

Before the exercise, create a black and white geometric design. I use Word's drawing toolbar. I draw a variety of shapes. I shade some. Put the drawing on cardboard or in a file folder so that the audience can't see through the paper during the exercise.

During the exercise, ask for a volunteer. Show the picture to him/her and not to the audience. The volunteer has 2 minutes to describe the picture. After the exercise, you are the judge. You pick the best (or worst) rendition of the drawing. You'll be lucky if you get one or two that are similar to yours. Sometimes, the speaker is not good with describing details. (Speakers usually forget the details...size, color, positioning, etc.) More often, the audience members interpret based on their own experiences.

It's fun to see what people come up with. After the exercise, we talk about the challenges and the successes. Usually, the audience complains that there was not enough detail to draw from, and the describer complains that it's a huge task with no clear starting point.

I always give a prize to the describer (for having the courage to volunteer) and the best (or worst) drawing.

2. Crazy Mr. Potato Head

Supplies:

• 1 or 2 Mr. Potato Sets with Lots of Pieces
• 2 or More Digital Photos of the Finished Characters
• A Blindfold
• Table/Chair or Desk
• Stopwatch

Before the event, build several crazy versions of Mr. Potato head. (Put an ear on top, a nose on the side, or shoes on the top.) Take a picture and print it large enough to see the details.

You will need 2 volunteers. One is the describer. He/she gets the picture when you're ready to start. The other is the builder, and he/she has to be blind-folded. The describer looks at the picture and tells the builder what Mr. P. looks like. Use the stopwatch to time the session. The describer calls done when the builder is finished. You check the work. If it's correct, they are done, and you record their score. If it's not correct, the team has to work to fix the mistake(s). Restart the clock during the fixing. With adults, this activity takes about 3-5 minutes. You can put a time limit on this.

After everyone had his/her turn, we talked as a group about what happened and the challenges. The describer has to be detailed in his/her directions, and the builder has to grab pieces and build something without a frame of reference. Describers who succeed, let the builder grab the piece and then tell them where to put it. It helps if the builder holds the potato with one had and grabs with the other. The describer also has to give basic directions. "Put the nose where the nose goes, doesn't help someone who is blindfolded.")  This can be a frustrating activity, so your group may need a couple of chances. We did this at a retreat where we had several stations of activities going on at the same time.  We had a chalkboard where we recorded the top scores from all the teams. Teams were allowed to come back multiple times to try to beat their scores.

3. Build a Peanut Butter Sandwich

Warning! This can be messy!
Supplies:

• Bread
• Knife or Spoon
• Peanut Butter Jar
• Jelly Jar
• Plate
• Napkins
• Table Cloth, Dropcloth, or Newspapers

Place all supplies on a table that you've covered with the cloth or newspapers. Ask for 2 volunteers. One will build a peanut butter sandwich. The other will give directions. Let both volunteers see all the supplies. The audience needs to see these too.

Put the direction giver with his/her back to the table and the builder. Instruct the builder to do ONLY what the direction giver says. The builder must follow all directions literally.

This gets messy, but it's very entertaining. When we did this with an adult group, we had one man put the jar of peanut butter on the wrapped loaf of bread. The speaker forgot a lot of the intermediate steps. The same man also used his hand to remove the peanut butter. The speaker forgot to tell him to use a knife or spoon.

After we cleaned up, we talked about the challenges of the exercise.