Blanket Drop
A 10-minute name game for two teams and one blanket
The blanket drops — names fly across the room. Every name in the room gets learned at a speed introductions cannot match.
WorkshopSkill · Blanket Drop — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0Whose face do you know
but not their name?
WorkshopSkill · Blanket Drop — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0How it runs
- Two teams face each other across a held-up blanket. One from each steps forward.
- On “three” the blanket drops — first team to shout the opposite name wins the round.
- Shouting the wrong name gives the point to the other team. Rotate until everyone has stood.
The safety line, said out loud
- “Nobody moves their feet while the blanket is up. It drops, names fly, feet stay planted.”
- Never mock a miss: the wrong-name free point is the joke, not the person.
- Rotate by counting off — no volunteers, no exceptions, including the facilitator.
What it does that introductions cannot
- Every name gets retrieved out loud, under mild pressure — retrieval is what makes it stick.
- Faces that lived only in email signatures get a name before the coffee break.
- The room laughs at itself together: the cheapest trust deposit there is.
Three ways it fails, three rescues
- Both teams shout wrong names → the free-point rule self-corrects within two rounds.
- One person dodges the front line → counting-off rotation. No volunteers.
- Someone genuinely struggles with names → pair them with a loud neighbor; answer the first question yourself.
Three questions in the light debrief
1. Which name did you nearly shout wrong — and what made it sticky or slippery?
2. Before today, whose face did you know without their name?
3. Pick one name you learned today and use it before lunch — to the person, out loud.
WorkshopSkill · Blanket Drop — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0The measure
- Before the teams split: four rows about how your week actually goes with names.
- After the debrief: the same four rows about this game.
- Mild pressure sharpens recall for most people — the delta shows which one you are.
A name is the first tool of trust.
The near-miss is the learning.
Use one today — out loud, to the person.
WorkshopSkill · Blanket Drop — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0.
One blanket · ten minutes · every name in the room
Introductions hand out names once. The blanket makes them get used.
WorkshopSkill · Blanket Drop — Slide Deck · CC BY 4.0Take this folder with you
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