Pictionary Man

Mini Pictionary Man includes two draw-on surfaces.

Pictionary initially hit the market in 1985. I liked it immediately. In a nutshell you choose a card, pick a category from the card, and then draw the object or action so that your teammates can guess what it is. If you are balking right now because you have never moved past stick people, relax, that just may be an advantage for you. With only 60 seconds to draw and guess, people will have to resist the urge to be too detailed.

To play we generally put a dry erase board on an easel and used that. Or if we didn't have an easel handy, we just used paper and pencil. Pictionary Man came out much later and it comes with two surfaces to draw on: a blank man and a blank storage box. I had a large version of Pictionary Man years ago and gave it to my niece before I could blog about it. I found this to-go smaller model and the instructions are the same.

The Pictionary Man and storage box are both white, hard plastic. The man measures 4.25" tall and 4.75" wide. The box measures 4" H x 2.75" W x 1.5" D. In the storage/drawing box are two dry erase markers, a 60 second timer, and a small box of clue cards. Draw on the man and the box with dry erase markers and then erase right away so no shadows remain. No eraser is included, but I use a square from an old towel. 

There are five categories that the clues (to draw) fall into. Here are some examples:

• People - Mister Spock, Charlie Brown, Betsy Ross, Beethoven
  
• Actions - see double, dissect, crash the car, belly laugh
  
• Titles - Tarzan, Sound of Music, Survivor, The Aviator
  
• Role play - astronaut, caddy, ice cream man, ditch digger
  
• Miscellaneous - upset stomach, toupee, funny bone, lend an ear
  

Object:

Be the first team to reach 15 points by guessing what is drawn. 

Set up:

Mix the cards and put them back in the box. Place the card box, the dry erase markers, eraser, and timer in the middle of the table. Divide the players into two teams. 

Play:

Players decide who will be the first picturist (person who draws). The picturist draws a card, picks a word to draw, then tells everyone the category. Then he turns over the 50 second timer and starts to draw. As he draws his team calls out their guesses of what he is drawing. If they get it right before the 60 seconds is up, they get one point and play moves to the next team. If they don't guess it, play moves to the second team. Play back and forth until one of the teams scores 15 points and wins the game.

Try this:

• Skip the game and use the man to talk about the basic body parts. Draw facial features, hair, simple clothing, shoes, nails, etc.
• Use the man to draw and discuss different facial expressions and emotions. Use Ed Emberley's Book of Faces.
• Use to draw and discuss community workers and their tools.
• Use to draw and discuss different types of clothing and when you would wear what. For instance draw a coat, jeans, boots, gloves, hat, and a snowman on the box. Or draw pajamas and a bed on the box.
• Skip the game and draw by categories. For instance sports or occupations.
• Work on fine motor precision, tool use, manual dexterity, using both hands in a coordinated manner, visual discrimination, visual closure, spatial relations, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation 
  

In the box: Pictionary Man, drawing/storage box, 2 dry erase markers, 60 second timer, box of clue cards.

If you are interested in purchasing this game or just want more information, click on the image below to go to Amazon.com.