Play Taboo is so Much Fun

We explain how to play taboo, a frantic word game to encourage creativity, energize the group and develop effective communication. This activity is a wonderful re-working of the popular board game Taboo.

In advance, write the names of four objects or things in big letters on a large sheet of paper. Keep this hidden until required.

Ask one person from your group to volunteer and stand facing the rest of the group. Asking the volunteer not to look, pin the sheet of paper to a wall behind them so that the rest of group can see the objects written on it.

Challenge your group to help the volunteer correctly guess the names of all four objects in less than 60 seconds. The words can be worked on in any order however, there are three parameters to govern fair play:

• Only verbal forms of communication can be used, ie no hand gestures or motions
• The group can not mention the name of the object, nor any part of it
• No ‘sounds-like’ or rhyming words can be used

How the group conducts itself as it tries to communicate their clues is entirely up to the group. In the beginning, there’s often a lot of shouting over the top of one another, before the group slowly catches on to how it can be more effective.

As soon as 60 seconds has expired, record the results, and invite a new volunteer to step before the group to start a new round (in front of a new set of objects or things.)

Play many rounds with a new set of words while your group has fun.

Moment of Reflection

• What did you observe during the game about communication?
• What was the most effective strategy for your group to communicate clues successfully?
• When it was your turn to guess the words, what emotions did you experience?
• What didn’t work well for the group?
• Did your communication strategies change as the game progressed? Because?

The topics of this publication: communication, interactions, integration, teamwork, observation skills, creativity, adaptation, reflection, active listening, adaptability skills