Circle Game – Bay Area Discovery Museum

Circle Game

Draw as many objects as you can using circles as the foundation of your sketch.

Materials Required

  • Pen or pencil (Something to write with)
  • A few pieces of blank paper

Instructions

  1. Draw a minimum of five rows of four circles on a piece of paper. The circles can be any size.
  2. Select the order of each participant. The first person draws one thing—anything—using one or two of the circles in the drawing. Then pass the paper to the next person.
  3. The next person draws one thing using one or two of the circles, without repeating any drawing that has come before. For example, if a moon has been drawn, a second moon is not permitted. This person then passes the paper to the next person.
  4. Keep going until all the circles are filled.

Additional Tips

Try these activity variations:

  • Turn this into a solo activity. Try to fill an entire sheet of circles independently.
  • Use a different shape, not circles. Fill a page with rows of triangles, ovals, squares or rectangles, and do the challenge.

Links to Creativity

This classic divergent thinking task has been adapted easily for use as a game of sorts. Previously, these grids of ordinary shapes have been used in the gold standard of creativity testing, the Torrance Test for Creative Thinking (TTCT; Torrance, 1966). These circles provoke originality because while they may give the same task to everyone, the range of results is magnificent. According to prior research, the TTCT scores for elaboration—when someone adds details to drawings—help predict creative potential.
Torrance, E. P. (1966). The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-Norms-Technical Manual Research Edition-Verbal Tests, Forms A and B-Figural Tests, Forms A and B. Princeton, NJ: Personnel Press.

Contributor

This activity was contributed by the Center for Childhood Creativity ©2014. It has been adapted with permission from Bruce E. Honig’s In The Pursuit of the Aha! ©2005. For more information and resources see CenterforChildhoodCreativity.org or www.ideaguides.com.
 

Circle Game

Draw as many objects as you can using circles as the foundation of your sketch.

  • Pen or pencil (Something to write with)
  • A few pieces of blank paper
  1. Draw a minimum of five rows of four circles on a piece of paper. The circles can be any size.
  2. Select the order of each participant. The first person draws one thing—anything—using one or two of the circles in the drawing. Then pass the paper to the next person.
  3. The next person draws one thing using one or two of the circles, without repeating any drawing that has come before. For example, if a moon has been drawn, a second moon is not permitted. This person then passes the paper to the next person.
  4. Keep going until all the circles are filled.

Try these activity variations:

  • Turn this into a solo activity. Try to fill an entire sheet of circles independently.
  • Use a different shape, not circles. Fill a page with rows of triangles, ovals, squares or rectangles, and do the challenge.
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