United We TransformCreate teamsGrade your agenda
Exercises/Divergent Ideation/Mask Making
Visual Thinking ยท Divergent Ideation

Mask Making

Mask Making is a visual thinking exercise for divergent ideation: it helps participants open up more possible ideas before choosing a direction.

5 to 15 minutesTIME
Medium group (9-25), PairsGROUP SIZE
QuietENERGY
RemoteSETTING
High cognitive loadCOGNITIVE LOAD
Strengthens Participation Architecture This divergent ideation exercise strengthens Participation Architecture, one of the eight Gathering Effectiveness pillars.

How to run it

  1. Present the proposal: each person will create a mask that represents a part of themselves or a symbolic character.
  2. Briefly explain the use of masks in different cultures or contexts.
  3. Give participants a few minutes to think or sketch a preliminary idea.
  4. They can draw inspiration from emotions, roles, animals, natural elements, or themes chosen by the group.
  5. Each person selects their materials and begins constructing their mask.
  6. Participants may work individually or in pairs/groups depending on the goal of the activity.
Live facilitator

Run this exercise live

The facilitator console stays in this browser. Its QR handoff is a short-lived participant snapshot containing only public exercise instructions, phase, prompt, and timer state.

Prompts to use +

Present the proposal: each person will create a mask that represents a part of themselves or a symbolic character.

Briefly explain the use of masks in different cultures or contexts.

Give participants a few minutes to think or sketch a preliminary idea.

They can draw inspiration from emotions, roles, animals, natural elements, or themes chosen by the group.

Run this with your AI assistant +

Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Adapt this exercise for my exact room. Exercise: Mask Making. Readiness: Publishable Draft. Core moves: Present the proposal: each person will create a mask that represents a part of themselves or a symbolic character.; Briefly explain the use of masks in different cultures or contexts.; Give participants a few minutes to think or sketch a preliminary idea.; They can draw inspiration from emotions, roles, animals, natural elements, or themes chosen by the group.. Return a concise facilitator script with timing, wording, safety notes, and remote/in-person adjustments.

Origin unverified

  • Where we observed it: The strongest current observations come from Participatory Methods; aggregators are listed as additional observations, not origin proof. (1 source observed, including Participatory Methods.)
  • What that means: we track where an exercise has been observed in public sources. We do not claim to know who created it, or how popular it is.
  • No efficacy claims: appearing in this library is not a claim that the exercise is proven effective. Facilitator judgment and context decide whether it works for a given room.
  • Corrections: if you have evidence of an earlier or more accurate source, read our methodology and trust boundary and tell us.

Pairs well with