--- title: "Concept Pictionary" description: "Teams send a rotating drawer to view a secret concept, return to sketch it without letters or speech, and race against a timer to guess correctly. The facilitator spotlights drawings that conveyed the concepts most effectively." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/pictionary-the-teacher-toolkit/" --- # Concept Pictionary Teams send a rotating drawer to view a secret concept, return to sketch it without letters or speech, and race against a timer to guess correctly. The facilitator spotlights drawings that conveyed the concepts most effectively. **Time:** 15 minutes. 15 minutes based on the source guide for 3 timed rounds and brief visual reviews **People:** 6 to 24. Teams of 3 or 4 participants; at 6 total participants, form 2 teams of 3 ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Check and reinforce recall of core concepts by translating terms into visual symbols without words or speech. **Use it when:** Use after introducing new unit vocabulary or during review sessions to check concept comprehension through non-verbal translation. **Skip it when:** Skip when the concepts are strictly numeric equations or syntax strings that cannot be represented without alphanumeric characters. ## Materials and tools - Pre-written index cards with one target concept per card - 1 dry-erase marker or dark pen per team - 5 to 10 sheets of scratch paper or 1 small whiteboard per team - 1 digital timer or stopwatch for the facilitator ## Before participants arrive 1. Select 6 to 10 key terms from the unit and write each clearly on an index card. 2. Arrange tables so teams of 3 or 4 sit together with their drawing surface visible to teammates. 3. Place scratch paper and markers at each team station. ## Say this to open We are going to review recent concepts using sketching. Drawers will come to the front, view a secret concept card, and head back to draw. You cannot speak, gesture, or write letters or numbers. Your team has 60 seconds to guess the exact concept. When your team gets it right, note your point in the score box. ## How to run it ### 1. Form teams and set rules (3 minutes) Divide participants into teams of 3 or 4. At 6 participants, make two teams of 3. Hand each team paper and a marker. Ask them to draw a score box in the corner and choose their round 1 drawer. Deliver the opening script and confirm the rule: no words, no letters, no spoken sounds, and no air writing. ### 2. Run drawing rounds (8 minutes) Call all round 1 drawers forward. Show them the same concept card. Send them back and start a 60-second timer. Teams call out guesses. Drawers nod or shake their heads silently. If guessed correctly within time, the team adds a point. Stop at 60 seconds. Rotate drawers to a new team member and repeat for rounds 2 and 3 with fresh cards. ### 3. Spotlight effective drawings (2 minutes) Pause after round 3. Hold up one or two drawings that conveyed the concept clearly without letters. Ask the room to name the specific visual cues that made the idea clear. Highlight effective visual metaphors. ### 4. Score tally and debrief (2 minutes) Have teams tally points in their score boxes. Take two participant comments on which concepts were easiest or hardest to visualize, closing the session on time. ## Debrief questions - Which visual symbol made an abstract concept immediately recognizable to your group? - Which concept proved most difficult to sketch without letters, and what made it hard? - How did translating a definition into a visual shape change your recall of the term? **Finished output:** Completed concept sketches and team score tallies verifying recall of target terms. ## Remote Set up breakout rooms with 3 to 4 participants each. Designate one drawer per breakout for each round. Whisper the secret term to drawers via direct private message before sending them to breakouts, or run whole-room turns where drawers sketch on a shared digital whiteboard while teammates type guesses in chat. ## Hybrid Form separate remote teams and in-person teams. In-person drawers use paper at their tables while remote drawers use a digital whiteboard tool within their breakout room. Send the secret term via private chat to remote drawers while showing physical cards to in-person drawers. ## Access and participation choices - Participants who prefer not to draw can act as the primary team guesser or scorekeeper without penalty. - Provide a printed list of all eligible terms if needed so participants can use recognition instead of pure recall. ## If the session gets stuck **A drawer starts writing letters or numbers on the paper.** Void the point for that team for the round, remind everyone of the visual-only rule, and ensure they participate in the next round. **Teams shout guesses loudly, giving away answers to nearby tables.** Remind drawers to respond only to whispered guesses at their own table, or have guessers write their guesses on mini dry-erase boards. ## Terms used here - Drawer: The team member sketching clues without speech, letters, or numbers. - Score box: A square drawn on the team paper to record points earned for timely correct guesses. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in The Teacher Toolkit as an educational review activity adapted from the commercial game Pictionary. Retained the core team-based classroom Pictionary mechanic, 30-to-60-second timed rounds, visual-only drawing rule, and facilitator spotlighting of clear drawings from The Teacher Toolkit source. UWT provided the title, standardized the hybrid delivery model, defined arithmetic allocations across group sizes 6 through 24, aligned the rounds to a clean 15-minute sequence, and provided concrete access options. [The Teacher Toolkit](https://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/pictionary) [The Teacher Toolkit](https://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/print-tool/pictionary) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/pictionary-the-teacher-toolkit/