Dress Me Ups

Choose this exercise

Purpose: Collaborate quickly under time constraints to design and showcase an imaginative costume.

Use it when: Use during social gatherings, team celebrations, or camp programs as an energetic, lighthearted creative challenge.

Skip it when: Skip when participants require a formal professional tone, when personal boundaries around dress-up cause discomfort, or when space and clothing supplies are unavailable.

Group arrangement: Subgroups of 3 to 6 people. Single group of 4 to 6 when total is under 7; split larger groups (e.g., 7 splits into 3 and 4; 11 into 5 and 6). Each team selects 1 mannequin and 2 to 5 stylists, one of whom may serve as the runway announcer.

Timing: Source recommends 10 to 20 minutes for dressing; UWT allocates 25 minutes total to include team briefing, costume creation, runway showcase, and debrief.

Materials and tools

• 1 shared trunk or bin of clean clothing, oversized garments, hats, scarves, fabric scraps, and accessories (at least 5 to 8 items per small group)
• 1 countdown timer visible to all groups
• Music player and upbeat runway track (optional)

Before participants arrive

1. Gather a wide variety of clean, loose clothing, hats, scarves, fabric scraps, and accessories in a central trunk or divided among team stations.
2. Clear a central walking aisle in the room to serve as the runway.
3. Check that all clothing items are clean and easy to put on over regular clothing.

Say this to open

Welcome everyone. In this activity, each team will design a complete outfit using the garments and accessories provided. One person in your group will volunteer to be your model or mannequin. This role is strictly voluntary, and mannequins must give full consent to be dressed over their regular clothing. Stylists must respect personal space, asking before draping items or handing items directly to the mannequin. The rest of the team will act as stylists, and one stylist can serve as the runway announcer. You will have 12 minutes to assemble your outfit. After that, our models will show off the creations on the runway.

How to run it

1. Form teams and assign roles 3 minutes

   Divide participants into teams of 3 to 6. Form one group for 4 to 6 people; split 7 into 3 and 4, 8 into 4 and 4, up to 4 teams of 6 for 24. Direct each team to confirm their volunteer mannequin. Verify that the mannequin agrees freely to wear items over their street clothes. Remaining members act as stylists, with one volunteer designated as the runway announcer.

2. Gather materials and style the outfit 12 minutes

   Start the 12-minute timer. Teams select items from the clothing station and style their mannequin. All garments must be worn over existing street clothes. Respect physical boundaries: stylists should ask before draping or fastening any item, or hand items directly to the mannequin to put on. Stop styling when the timer rings.

3. Catwalk showcase 7 minutes

   Gather the whole room around the designated runway. Call each team's mannequin up one at a time to complete a runway walk. The team's designated announcer gives a 30-second spoken commentary introducing the outfit and character name. Applaud each presentation.

4. Debrief and pack down 3 minutes

   Invite 2 or 3 comments from the room using the debrief questions. Afterward, have mannequins remove costume pieces and return all items to the collection bin.

Debrief questions

• How did your team agree on a theme or concept under the time limit?
• What worked well to ensure the model felt comfortable throughout the styling process?
• Which surprising combinations or creative problem-solving moments stood out during the showcase?

Finished output: A live costume showcase where each small group presents a styled character to the full room.

Remote

This physical dress-up format requires in-person props and movement and does not translate directly online. To achieve a similar creative showcase remotely, run a labeled alternative: Digital Character Collage. Break participants into breakout rooms of 3 to 4 with a shared presentation slide containing a blank figure outline. Teams copy, paste, and layer royalty-free web images of hats, clothes, and props onto the figure for 12 minutes, then return to screen-share and present their character to the full group.

Hybrid

Hybrid delivery is not recommended due to the tactile nature of dressing a physical mannequin. If unavoidable, keep in-person participants in standard physical styling teams and assign remote participants to their own remote breakout room. The remote team completes the Digital Character Collage alternative (as described in the remote section) using a blank figure template on a shared slide deck. During the showcase, project the remote team's slide on the main room screen so they present their character alongside the physical runway walks.

Access and participation choices

• Mannequin roles must be strictly voluntary; any participant may choose to be a stylist, announcer, or audience judge instead.
• Stylists must hand items to the mannequin rather than touching them if the mannequin prefers personal physical space.
• Participants may step out or watch without performing.

If the session gets stuck

No one in a group wants to volunteer as the mannequin.

Provide an inanimate substitute such as a chair, coat rack, or cardboard cutout for the group to dress.

Teams rush the clothing station and grab all the best accessories.

Limit each team to selecting three items at a time, or pre-sort items into roughly balanced starter bins for each station.

Terms used here

• Mannequin: The person or object chosen by the group to wear and present the styled clothing.
• Catwalk: A cleared aisle or walkway used by the models to display their costume to the audience.