Guess the Childhood Photo
Time for the team building activity: 10–15 minutes
Setup effort: Moderate (photo collection required)
Estimated cost: Free
Business value: Creates strong emotional engagement, humanizes colleagues, and boosts participation in team building sessions
What is Guess the Childhood Photo?
Guess the Childhood Photo is a visual team building activity where participants try to match childhood photos to their adult colleagues.
Before the session, each participant submits a childhood picture. During the activity, the facilitator displays the photos one by one (or in a grid), and the group guesses who is who.
It’s a highly engaging format because it combines curiosity, nostalgia, and light competition — three elements that reliably drive group energy.
This activity is especially popular for team offsites, onboarding cohorts, and company-wide team building events.
How do you run Guess the Childhood Photo?
Preparation happens in advance.
Ask participants (ideally a few days before) to submit one childhood photo. Give clear guidelines:
solo photo preferred
appropriate for work context
decent image quality
Compile the photos into a slide deck or shared board and number them.
During the session:
Display one photo at a time (or a full grid for advanced mode).
Have participants guess via chat, poll, or raised hands.
Reveal the correct person.
Optionally invite a very short anecdote from them.
Keep a steady pace — about 30–45 seconds per photo works well.
The full activity typically runs 10–15 minutes depending on group size.
Why it’s great for a team
Few team building activities create such immediate emotional warmth.
Guess the Childhood Photo works particularly well because it:
instantly humanizes colleagues
creates strong shared laughter moments
encourages participation from the whole group
builds memorability around team members
works across seniority levels
From a team psychology perspective, nostalgia-based content tends to increase positive affect and openness in groups, which makes subsequent collaboration smoother.
It is also highly inclusive — you don’t need to be extroverted to participate by guessing.
Teams that use visual reveal formats like this often see very high engagement scores in post-event feedback.
How to organize it effectively
The biggest success factor is smooth preparation.
Send the photo request early and include 1–2 example photos to set expectations. You will almost always need to chase a few participants — plan for it.
Before the session, test your slide deck or board to ensure quick transitions. Momentum matters a lot in this team building activity.
During facilitation, keep guesses fast and avoid long pauses. If the group gets stuck, offer light hints (for example: department, region, or fun clue).
Be mindful of group size. For very large groups, use:
live polls
or chat-based guessing
to maintain broad participation.
If someone is uncomfortable sharing a childhood photo, always offer an opt-out or alternative (for example: baby pet photo).
When well prepared and well paced, Guess the Childhood Photo is one of the most reliable high-engagement team building activities for creating instant warmth and shared team memory.