Sharpie Games

Progressive Picture Guessing

• In this game, you write words on slips of paper and put them into a bowl. Set up an easel and pad of large blank paper and give each player a different colored Sharpie. Divide players into teams and set an egg timer for three minutes. Let each person on the first team draw a word, letting no one else see, and start the timer. The first player must illustrate his word until his teammates guess it, at which point the next person on his team begins to add to the illustration to help the team guess her word. Teams alternate, with three minutes and one sheet of paper per turn.

Web of Words

• To play this game, the group picks two words: the starting word and destination word. Try to pick two words that are as unrelated as possible. Write the starting word in the center of the largest writing surface you can find. Give each player a Sharpie. Each player must draw a line out from the starting word and write a related word at its end. When everyone is done, each player must move to a different word of her choice and add a new word related to that one. The winner is the first player to write the destination word at the end of a series of credible links.

Silhouettes

• In this game, you hang a sheet of butcher paper against a smooth surface. You may need to tape up garbage bags under the paper to avoid getting permanent ink stains on the surface. Let the first player think of an object, or pick a slip of paper from a bowl. Have the player pose against the paper while other players trace his silhouette with Sharpies. The other players must examine the resulting image to try to guess what object the player was representing.

Spontaneous Animation

• To play this game, you start with a blank pad of paper. The first player makes a simple mark, such as a straight line, circle or squiggle on the back page, then turns to the next blank page and passes it to the next player. Each player then traces the page below hers, turns to the next page, and passes the pad on. Minor variations and inaccuracies in the tracing will multiply and spread, creating an unpredictable end result. Flip through the completed pad to see an animated record of the changes.