Teambuilding with Play-Doh
"Express Yourself"
This is a light-hearted exercise that can be used during training workshops to help
participants reflect and share their feelings. Using play-doh, participants shape it to
represent what they learned during the workshop or how they are feeling. Express yourself
can be used as an ice-breaker activity, mid-activity review to deal with conflict and as
reviewing and reflection exercise.
Resources: Play-Doh (one lump per person)
Group Size: 8-12 participants (For larger groups, split them into pairs or smaller groups)
Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Give each person in the group a lump of play dough.
Ask them to shape it into something which represents:
Ice Breaker: Something about them that they wish to share?
Conflict: How they are feeling right now?
Review: What they learned during the workshop?
Development: How they see the current situation?
Allow 10-15 minutes to create their play-doh shapes.
Once they have finished, take it turns for each person to share their shape with the rest of the
group. Review as a group and identify any common themes and transfer of learning.
"Express Yourself" Benefits:
This exercise can help release stress (at least certainly reduce it). If you give a lump of playdoh to any participant who is either stressed or angry, they will squish and mash the play-doh
until they get those feelings out of their system. It allows participants to express themselves
and carefully reflect as individuals in a safe learning environment. It is a good exercise for
sparking conversation and group discussion about an experience. It will help group members
build a connection and identify common interests or understanding.
Guiding Questions:
To understand the participant's point of view you might ask some of the following questions:
What does this lump of play-doh mean to you?
How did you come up with the shape?
Did you change the shape at any point during the creation stage? If yes, why?
What did the exercise help you learn about either yourself or your team?
Variations: If you’re working with larger groups or you have limited time,
you can also do this exercise in pairs or smaller groups. Instead of each
person shaping the play-doh, they do it as a smaller group instead. Before
you put them into pairs or groups, allow each person a minute or two for
self-reflection. Next, they must take it turns to share and discuss their
feelings or thoughts as a group before shaping the dough to represent
everyone.