Drawing Game Words for the Classroom

Q: Which words suit a science lesson?

Three topics are science: Life science (21 words, such as Food chain and Germination), Earth and space (24, such as Water cycle and Orbit) and Forces, energy and matter (25, such as Lever and Electric circuit).

Subject vocabulary to draw on the board: pick a topic, press Play a 1-minute round and let the class guess.

Fable

1 of 175

Next step A word from the big deck

How it works

These drawing game words for the classroom are lesson vocabulary: Hexagon, Evaporation, Peninsula, Narrator. There are 175 in seven subjects, for a review game in the style of the game sold as Pictionary. Pick a Topic, then press Play a 1-minute round.

Read the full guide

One topic per lesson

Press Topic to match the unit: Life science, Earth and space, Forces, energy and matter, Math, Geography and maps, Reading and writing or History and community. The teacher holds the phone and shows the word to the pupil at the board. After a guess, press Next card.

Three levels, and a drawing for each word

Easy cards are one object, such as Cone or Globe. Medium cards are a process or a small scene, such as Evaporation. Hard cards are ideas, such as Habitat or Main idea. The list under the deck suggests a drawing for every word: for Perimeter, a field with a thick line around its edge.

Tips

Ask the guessing team to say what the word means before the point counts.
For a science review, deal Earth and space on Medium: processes such as Erosion and Orbit.

Questions and answers

How do you play a drawing game with a whole class?

Split the class into two teams. One pupil comes to the board, the teacher shows them the card, and their team has a minute to guess from the drawing. Agree first that the drawer uses no letters, numbers or spoken words.

Which words suit a science lesson?

Three topics are science: Life science (21 words, such as Food chain and Germination), Earth and space (24, such as Water cycle and Orbit) and Forces, energy and matter (25, such as Lever and Electric circuit).

What ages are these words for?

Elementary and middle school. Easy cards are shapes and objects for younger classes; Hard cards, such as Photosynthesis and Goods and services, suit older ones. For party words, not lesson words, see drawing game words for kids.

All 175 classroom drawing words

Life science 21

Amphibian A frog half in the water and half on land.
Camouflage A stick insect on a twig, barely showing.
Carnivore A shark chasing a small fish.
Food chain Grass, a rabbit and a fox with an arrow between each.
Fossil A shell shape pressed into a rock.
Germination A seed under the soil with a root going down and a shoot going up.
Habitat A pond inside a big circle, with a frog, a fish and reeds.
Herbivore A cow chewing grass, with a leaf in a thought bubble.
Hibernation A bear asleep in a cave with snow outside.
Insect A body in three parts with six legs.
Life cycle of a butterfly Four pictures in a circle: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly.
Life cycle of a frog Eggs, a tadpole, a tadpole with legs and a frog, joined by arrows.
Migration Birds in a V above an arrow pointing one way.
Omnivore A bear with berries in one paw and a fish in the other.
Parts of a flower A flower with arrows to the petals, the stem and the leaves.
Photosynthesis A leaf under the sun with arrows going in and out.
Pollination A bee flying a dotted line from one flower to the next.
Predator and prey An owl swooping above a mouse.
Reptile A lizard lying on a rock to warm up in the sun.
Roots, stem and leaves One plant with three arrows, bottom to top.
Seed dispersal A dandelion head with seeds floating off on the wind.

Show all 175 classroom drawing words (154 more)

Earth and space 24

Canyon Two tall cliffs with a small river far below.
Comet A ball with a long tail.
Condensation A cold glass with drops on the outside.
Constellation Dots joined by lines to make a picture.
Day and night A globe with one side lit by the sun and the other shaded.
The Earth's axis A globe with a tilted line through it.
Earthquake Ground with a jagged crack and wobbly lines each side.
Erosion A river cutting a groove with bits washing away.
Evaporation A puddle under the sun with wavy arrows rising.
Glacier A river of ice between two mountains.
Hurricane A spiral of cloud seen from above with a hole in the middle.
Layers of the Earth A ball cut open to show rings inside.
Orbit A small circle on a dotted ring around a big one.
Phases of the moon A row of circles, from dark to half to full.
Precipitation One cloud with rain, snow and hail falling from it.
Rain gauge A tube with marks, half full, under a cloud.
Seasons One tree drawn four times: buds, leaves, falling leaves, bare.
Solar eclipse A dark circle sliding in front of the sun.
Solar system A sun with rings around it and a planet on each ring.
Telescope A tube on three legs pointing at a star.
Tornado A funnel of spirals touching the ground.
Volcano A mountain with an open top and lava running down.
Water cycle Sea, arrows up to a cloud, rain on a hill, a river back to the sea.
Weather vane An arrow on a roof turning in the wind.

Forces, energy and matter 25

Balance scale A beam on a post with a pan on each side.
Dissolving A spoon stirring a glass while grains fade away.
Electric circuit A battery, a loop of wire and a lit bulb.
Energy from the sun A sun, a panel on a roof and a lit window.
Float and sink A tub with a cork on top and a rock at the bottom.
Freezing A tray of water, an arrow, a tray of cubes with a snowflake.
Friction A hand rubbing a block on a rough floor, with heat lines.
Gravity An apple falling from a tree with an arrow pointing down.
Inclined plane A box being pushed up a ramp.
Lever A plank on a triangle with a rock on one end and a hand on the other.
Magnet A horseshoe shape with paper clips flying to it.
Melting An ice cube sitting in a puddle under the sun.
Microscope A tilted tube over a small flat stage.
Prism A triangle with one beam going in and a fan of bands coming out.
Pulley A wheel on a beam with a rope lifting a bucket.
Push and pull One figure pushing a box and one pulling a rope.
Reflection A tree with its upside-down twin in a lake.
Screw A spiral thread around a pin, with a screwdriver above.
Shadow A figure with a dark shape on the ground and the sun behind.
Solid, liquid and gas An ice cube, a glass of water and a steaming kettle.
Sound wave A drum with curved lines spreading out to an ear.
Static electricity Hair standing up toward a balloon.
Thermometer in ice A tube with a low line standing in a cup of ice.
Wedge A doorstop pushed under a door.
Wheel and axle Two wheels joined by a rod.

Math 30

A dozen An egg box with twelve eggs.
Acute angle Two lines close together, like a book opened a little.
Area A rectangle filled with small squares.
Array Rows and columns of dots.
Bar graph Columns of different heights standing on a line.
Cone A party hat standing on its circle.
Cube A box with every side the same.
Cylinder A can: two circles joined by straight sides.
Diameter A circle with a line straight across through the middle.
Equal Two matching piles on a level balance.
Even and odd Socks in pairs, and one sock left over.
Greater than Two piles with an open mouth facing the bigger one.
Hexagon Six sides: one cell of a honeycomb.
Line of symmetry A butterfly with a dotted line down the middle.
Number line A line with evenly spaced ticks and a frog hopping along.
Obtuse angle Two lines wide apart, like a laptop leaning back.
Octagon Eight sides: a road sign shape with no word on it.
One half A pizza cut in two with one part shaded.
One quarter A square in four parts with one shaded.
Parallel lines Train tracks that never meet.
Pattern Circle, square, circle, square, then an empty space.
Pentagon Five sides: a house shape with a pointed roof.
Perimeter A field with a thick line walking all around its edge.
Perpendicular lines Two lines crossing with a small square in one corner.
Pie chart A circle cut into slices of different sizes.
Protractor Half a circle with marks along the curve.
Radius A circle with a line from the middle to the edge.
Right angle The corner of a book with a small square in it.
Sphere A ball with one curved line to show it is round.
Tally marks Four lines with a fifth across them.

Geography and maps 26

Archipelago A group of small islands close together in the sea.
Bay A curve of sea reaching into the land, with boats.
Border A dotted line between two shaded lands.
Capital city A star on a map among ordinary dots.
Compass rose A star with four long points on the corner of a map.
Continent A globe with one big piece of land shaded.
Delta A river splitting into many fingers where it meets the sea.
Desert Dunes, a cactus and a big sun.
Equator A globe with a line around its middle.
Globe A ball on a tilted stand.
Harbor Calm water behind a wall, with boats tied up.
Hemisphere A globe cut in half.
Lines of latitude and longitude A globe with lines across and lines up and down.
Map key A small box of symbols beside a map.
Mountain range A row of peaks one behind another.
Mouth of a river A river widening as it meets the sea.
North Pole The top of a globe with snow and a small flag.
Oasis Palm trees and a pool among dunes.
Peninsula Land pushing out into the sea with water nearly all around it.
Plateau High land with a flat top like a table.
Rainforest Tall trees, hanging vines and rain.
Scale bar A short marked line in the corner of a map.
Source of a river A spring high on a mountain starting a thin stream.
Tributary A small river joining a bigger one.
Valley A dip between two hills with a river in it.
Waterfall A river dropping over a cliff into a pool.

Reading and writing 28

A play A stage with curtains and two actors.
Author A person writing in a book.
Beginning, middle and end Three boxes in a row with a small story across them.
Bookmark A ribbon sticking out of a closed book.
Chapter A thick book with one slice of pages marked.
Character A person inside an open book with an arrow pointing at them.
Comic strip Three boxes with figures and speech bubbles.
Compound word A sun plus a flower, then a sunflower.
Diary A small book with a lock.
Dictionary A very thick book with tabs down the side.
Fable Two animals talking, with a small scroll for the lesson.
Fairy tale A castle, a crown and a wand.
Hero A figure with a cape helping someone up.
Illustrator A person painting a picture on a page.
Interview Two people, one holding a microphone toward the other.
Library Shelves of books and a desk.
Main idea A big umbrella with small details underneath it.
Narrator A person standing beside a story scene, telling it.
Newspaper A folded page with columns and one big picture.
Opposites A tall giraffe beside a tiny mouse, arrows up and down.
Poem Short lines on a page with a feather pen beside it.
Problem and solution A flat tire in one box and a pump in the next.
Rhyme A cat and a hat joined by a line.
Sequence Three pictures in order: crack an egg, fry it, eat it.
Setting A scene with nobody in it: a castle on a hill at night.
Speech bubble A rounded cloud with a tail pointing to a mouth.
Table of contents A page with a list and dots running to the right edge.
Villain A figure with a curly mustache rubbing its hands.

How this list was compiled: Written by the Game Night Generator editors for this page on 2026-09-30: 175 school vocabulary words to draw, in seven subjects. The line under each word is a suggested drawing in our own words, not a rule, and the levels are an editor's judgment: Easy is one object, Medium a process or a small scene, Hard an idea. Where a suggested drawing shows what a word means (six legs on an insect, six sides on a hexagon, eight on an octagon, the moon passing in front of the sun in a solar eclipse, a delta where a river divides before the sea, and so on), the meaning was checked on 2026-09-30 against the Cambridge Dictionary, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/, one entry for each of 66 words, for example https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/peninsula and https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/herbivore. The two angle words, the six simple machines named on the cards and the polygons were also checked against Wikipedia's articles Angle, Simple machine and Polygon the same day. The deck holds no brand names, no real people and no film, show or song titles. Overlap with the rest of this site was counted on 2026-09-30 with a leading a, an or the dropped: 30 of the 175 words (17%) are also in the site's big drawing word deck, such as Volcano and Fossil, and 60 science and geography words (34%) are also in the science word unscrambler, which is a spelling game, not a drawing one. Licence: own work