Drawing Games to Play

Pencil-and-paper games for a table of children or friends, and a set for one or two players.

It Rhymes With This Picture1. The drawer picks a secret word and draws something that rhymes with it: a cat for "hat", a bee for "tree". 2. Under the picture they draw one dash for each letter of the secret word. 3. Guessers call out rhymes that fit the dashes. 4. A point for the first right word. After three wrong guesses the drawer adds a second rhyming picture. Ages 7 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil.
Fold a Paint Blot, Find the Creature1. Fold a sheet in half and open it again. 2. Drip a few drops of watery paint near the crease, fold the sheet shut and press it flat with your palm. 3. Open it: the blot is the same on both sides. 4. Turn the sheet around until you see a creature in it. When the paint is dry, add eyes, legs and whatever else it needs with a pen, and give it a name. Ages 5 and up. Cover the table first. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, washable paint, a brush and a pen.
Dots Only1. The caller names a subject: a fish, a tree, your own shoe. 2. Everyone draws it with dots made by the point of a marker. No lines at all, and no dragging the pen. 3. Close dots make a dark area and scattered dots make a light one. 4. After five minutes, stand the pictures up across the room. From far away the dots join up, and the group picks the one that reads best at a distance. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and a fine marker each.

How it works

These drawing games to play need paper, a pencil and little else. Nobody has to draw well: in most of them a clumsy drawing is the fun, and several are not scored at all.

Read the full guide

Fun drawing games to play with a group

For a table that wants to shout answers, open Guess what I am drawing. For a quieter table, Pass the paper on has everyone drawing at once, and the laugh comes when the sheets are shown. Draw with a handicap suits a mixed group, because a yardstick or a mirror makes every artist equally bad.

On your own, or with one friend

Turn a mark into something works alone as well as in a group. Drawing games for one or two adds games to swap with a partner.

Four of the games have a page of their own here: a link shows under the result.

Questions and answers

What drawing games can you play with just paper and a pencil?

Draw Around the Secret, Never the Secret, Draw the Opposite, Traced Hand, New Animal, Your Initial Becomes a Picture and Zoom Out a Step Each Turn need nothing else. Most of the list adds only a timer or something from a kitchen drawer.

What is a good drawing game for two people?

Your Character Meets Mine is played in silence on one shared sheet. Spot the Difference, Drawn by You and Hide Five Small Things in a Busy Picture are drawn apart and then swapped.

What drawing games can I play by myself?

Mirror Star, Dots Only, Sticky Note Flip Book and Fold a Paint Blot, Find the Creature all work alone. Each of those entries gives 1 as its lowest player count.

How do you play a drawing game if you cannot draw?

Pick a game where skill does not help. In Still Pen, Moving Paper your partner moves the sheet, and in Yardstick Pencil everyone draws from the far end of a long stick.

All 40 games

Guess what I am drawing 8

Bird's-Eye Riddles 1. Each player secretly draws three everyday things as a bird would see them from straight overhead: a mug, a bicycle, a person holding an umbrella. 2. Number the drawings and pass the sheets to the left. 3. Everyone writes a guess beside each drawing. 4. Pass again until every sheet has been seen by all. A point for each right guess, and a point to the artist each time a drawing is guessed. Ages 8 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
Draw and Guess From a Dealt Word 1. The plain draw-and-guess game. Split into two teams with one pad between them. 2. One player takes a secret word and draws it for their own team. No letters, numbers or speaking. 3. The team has one minute to shout the word. 4. Teams take turns, and a new player draws each time. First to ten words wins. Ages 6 and up. The word generator linked below deals the words. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 20 min. Props: a big pad, a marker, a timer and a list of words.
Draw Around the Secret, Never the Secret 1. The drawer takes a secret word, such as "bird". 2. They may draw anything that goes with it, a nest, an egg, a branch, a worm, but never the thing itself. 3. The others call out guesses while the drawing grows. 4. Whoever says the word draws next. If the drawer slips and draws the answer, the turn passes with no point. Ages 6 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil.

Show all 40 games (37 more)

Guess what I am drawing, continued

Draw the Opposite 1. The drawer thinks of a word that has a clear opposite: day, empty, tall, asleep. 2. They draw the opposite of their word and nothing else. For "day" they draw the moon and stars. 3. The guessers must say the secret word, not what is on the paper. 4. The first right answer scores a point and draws next. Ages 7 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil.
It Rhymes With This Picture 1. The drawer picks a secret word and draws something that rhymes with it: a cat for "hat", a bee for "tree". 2. Under the picture they draw one dash for each letter of the secret word. 3. Guessers call out rhymes that fit the dashes. 4. A point for the first right word. After three wrong guesses the drawer adds a second rhyming picture. Ages 7 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil.
Shadows Only 1. The drawer takes a secret word and draws it as a solid shape, colored in completely, with no lines inside it. 2. No eyes, no doors, no stripes: only the outline, filled in. 3. The guessers have one minute. 4. If nobody gets it, the drawer may add one white detail with an eraser or one line beside the shape, and the guessing goes on. Ages 6 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a dark crayon or soft pencil.
Slide the Cover, Name It Early 1. Each player draws one thing to fill a whole sheet and keeps it hidden. 2. The first artist lays the drawing on the table under a second, blank sheet. 3. They slide the cover sheet off slowly from one edge, a finger width at a time. 4. The others get one guess each. Whoever names the drawing with the most still covered wins it, then the next artist goes. Ages 5 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: two sheets of paper and a pencil each.
Three Small Pictures, One Link 1. The drawer thinks of a link, such as "things that fly" or "things in a kitchen". 2. They draw three small pictures that share it, one at a time, with a pause after each. 3. Guessers may name the link after any picture. A wrong guess means waiting for the next one. 4. Naming the link after the first picture scores three, after the second two, after the third one. Ages 7 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil.

Pass the paper on 8

A Copy of a Copy of a Copy 1. One player draws a simple picture with about ten details and shows it to the second player for twenty seconds. 2. The picture is hidden. The second player draws it from memory. 3. The third player sees only that copy for twenty seconds, then draws it from memory, and so on down the line. 4. Lay all the copies in a row beside the first picture and see which details lasted. Ages 6 and up. Players: 4 to 10. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a pencil each, and a timer.
Add What the Note Asks, Then Ask for Something 1. Each player starts a drawing in the middle of a sheet and writes a request at the bottom: "Please add a hat." 2. Pass the sheets to the left. 3. Draw what the note asks, cross the note out and write a new request under it. 4. After five passes the sheet goes back to its first artist, who reads the list of requests aloud and shows the result. Ages 7 and up. Players: 3 to 10. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
Build a Town, Thirty Seconds a Turn 1. Tape two or three sheets together and draw one long road across them. 2. The first player has thirty seconds to add one thing to the town: a house, a bridge, a bakery. 3. The pencil passes on. Each new thing must touch the road or something already drawn. 4. After three times around, each player adds one person or animal, and the group names the town. Ages 5 and up. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: two or three sheets taped together, pencils and a timer.
Musical Drawings, Change Seats 1. Everyone sits at a table with a sheet and starts a drawing of anything at all while music plays. 2. When the music stops, pencils go down and every artist moves one seat to the left. The drawings stay. 3. When the music starts, carry on with the drawing now in front of you as if it were your own. 4. After each artist has sat in every seat, hold the pictures up and give each one a title. Ages 5 and up. Players: 4 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, pencils or crayons and music.
Nine Squares, One Big Picture 1. An adult or older child cuts a simple picture from a magazine or a printout into nine equal squares and numbers the backs. 2. Each player takes one or more squares and a blank square of paper four times the size. 3. Without seeing the other squares, copy yours onto the big square as exactly as you can, line for line. 4. Lay the big squares out in number order and see the picture come together. Ages 7 and up. Players: 3 to 9. Time: 20 min. Props: a picture cut into nine squares, nine larger paper squares and pencils.
Road Cards That Meet at the Edges 1. Give every player an index card with a dot marked halfway down the left edge and halfway down the right edge. 2. Each draws a road from one dot to the other, by any route, and fills the card with what stands beside the road. 3. Lay the cards end to end: the roads join into one long journey. 4. Shuffle the order and tell the journey again. Draw a second card each to make it longer. Ages 5 and up. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 15 min. Props: index cards and pencils or crayons.
What Happened Next? One Panel, Then Fold 1. Fold a long strip of paper into as many panels as there are players. 2. The first player draws the start of a story in panel one: a dog finds a balloon. 3. The second player looks at it and draws what happens next in panel two, then folds panel one out of sight. 4. Each artist sees only the panel just before theirs. Unfold the strip and tell the whole story aloud. Ages 6 and up. Players: 3 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: a long strip of paper and a pencil.
Write It, Draw It, Pass It 1. Everyone has a small stack of slips and writes a short sentence on the top one. 2. Pass the stack to the left. The next player reads the sentence, moves it to the back and draws it. 3. Pass again. The next player sees only the drawing and writes what they think it shows. 4. Keep going, drawing and writing in turn, until each stack is home. Read each one out from the start. Ages 7 and up. The page linked below runs this game on one screen that is handed around. Players: 4 to 10. Time: 20 min. Props: slips of paper and a pencil each.

Draw with a handicap 8

Back to Back: Describe It, Draw It 1. Two players sit back to back. One holds a simple picture and the other holds paper and a pencil. 2. The describer explains the picture in shapes and places only: "a big circle in the middle, a small triangle on top". 3. The drawer may not ask questions and may not look around. 4. Compare the two pictures, then swap jobs with a new picture. Ages 6 and up. The page linked below shows a picture to describe. Players: 2 to 12. Time: 10 min. Props: paper, pencils and simple pictures to describe.
Dots Only 1. The caller names a subject: a fish, a tree, your own shoe. 2. Everyone draws it with dots made by the point of a marker. No lines at all, and no dragging the pen. 3. Close dots make a dark area and scattered dots make a light one. 4. After five minutes, stand the pictures up across the room. From far away the dots join up, and the group picks the one that reads best at a distance. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and a fine marker each.
Draw on a Clipboard You Cannot See 1. Each artist holds a clipboard or a book with paper on it behind their back with one hand. 2. With the other hand, also behind their back, they draw what the caller names. 3. No turning around and no peeking over a shoulder. 4. On "show", everyone brings the drawing to the front. The group picks the one that is easiest to recognize. Ages 6 and up. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: a clipboard or book, paper and a pencil each.
Mirror Star 1. Draw a star with a double outline, like a path one finger wide. 2. Stand a small mirror upright at the top of the sheet. Hold a book over your hand so that you can see the star only in the mirror. 3. Starting at one point, draw a line all the way around the path while watching the mirror. 4. Count each time the line leaves the path. The fewest wins, and the second lap is usually better. Ages 7 and up. Players: 1 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: a small unbreakable mirror, a book, paper and a pencil.
Still Pen, Moving Paper 1. Players work in pairs. One holds a marker upright with its point resting on the paper and keeps that hand perfectly still. 2. The partner slides the paper around underneath to make the drawing. 3. The caller gives every pair the same word. 4. After two minutes, hold the drawings up, then swap jobs for a new word. Ages 6 and up. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 8 min. Props: paper and a marker for each pair.
Two Pencils, Mirror Halves 1. Each player holds a pencil in each hand and puts both points on the middle of the sheet. 2. The caller names something with two matching sides: a butterfly, a vase, a face. 3. Draw it with both hands moving at the same time, the left hand drawing the left half and the right hand the right half. 4. Neither hand may stop while the other moves. Hold the results up together. Ages 6 and up. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 5 min. Props: paper and two pencils each.
Upside Down for the Person Opposite 1. Players sit in pairs across a table with one sheet between them. 2. The caller whispers a word to the drawers. 3. Each drawer draws it upside down, so that it is the right way up for the partner across the table. 4. The partner guesses as it appears. First pair to get the word scores, then partners swap jobs. Ages 7 and up. Players: 2 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil for each pair.
Yardstick Pencil 1. Tape a marker to the end of a yardstick or a long cardboard tube. 2. Tape a big sheet of paper to the floor. 3. Each artist holds the far end of the stick with both hands, stands up straight and draws the word they are given. 4. The others guess. Give each artist one minute, then pass the stick on. Ages 5 and up. A washable marker, and paper larger than the drawing. Players: 2 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a yardstick or long tube, a marker, tape and big sheets of paper.

Turn a mark into something 8

Crumple It, Flatten It, Find a Picture in the Creases 1. Crumple a sheet of paper into a tight ball, then open it and smooth it flat. 2. Look at the creases until some of them suggest a shape: a mountain range, a face, a bird. 3. Go over only the creases you need with a pencil, and add nothing that is not on a crease. 4. Trade sheets and see whether the other person can find a second picture in the same creases. Ages 5 and up. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
Drop a String, Trace the Loop 1. Hold a piece of string as long as your forearm above the paper and let it fall. 2. Trace along the string exactly where it landed, then lift it away. 3. Turn the looping line into a picture. You may add as much as you like, but the traced line stays. 4. Players who shared one string drop compare what each of them saw in the same loop. Ages 5 and up. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a piece of string, paper and a pencil each.
Fold a Paint Blot, Find the Creature 1. Fold a sheet in half and open it again. 2. Drip a few drops of watery paint near the crease, fold the sheet shut and press it flat with your palm. 3. Open it: the blot is the same on both sides. 4. Turn the sheet around until you see a creature in it. When the paint is dry, add eyes, legs and whatever else it needs with a pen, and give it a name. Ages 5 and up. Cover the table first. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 15 min. Props: paper, washable paint, a brush and a pen.
Hide Three Dice Rolls in a Drawing 1. Roll three dice and write the three numbers anywhere on your sheet, as large digits. 2. Draw one picture that uses all three digits as parts of it: a 2 as a swan's neck, a 6 as a snail. 3. The digits may be turned any way up when you write them. 4. Show the picture. The others try to find the three numbers hidden in it. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: three dice, paper and a pencil each.
Thumbprint Crowd 1. Press a thumb on a washable ink pad or a patch of marker ink, then on the paper. Make eight prints. 2. With a fine pen, turn each print into a different character: add arms, a hat, a tail, wheels. 3. Give the crowd somewhere to be by drawing the ground and one thing they are all looking at. 4. Others guess what the crowd is watching. Ages 5 and up. Players: 1 to 8. Time: 10 min. Props: a washable ink pad or marker, paper and a fine pen.
Trace a Shadow, Change What It Is 1. Stand a toy, a mug or a plant on the edge of a sheet of paper in sunlight or beside a lamp, so that its shadow falls across the page. 2. Trace around the shadow. 3. Take the object away and turn the shape into something else: the shadow of a mug becomes a hill with a cave. 4. Show the drawing and let the others guess what cast the shadow. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 6. Time: 10 min. Props: paper, a pencil, a lamp or a sunny window and a few small objects.
Traced Hand, New Animal 1. Lay one hand on the paper in any pose you like: fingers wide, a fist with one finger out, two fingers crossed. 2. Trace around it. 3. Turn the outline into an animal or a machine. The one rule is that it may not be a hand, a glove or a turkey. 4. Swap sheets and guess which way up the other artist's hand was. Ages 5 and up. Players: 1 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
Your Initial Becomes a Picture 1. Write the first letter of your name as a capital, as tall as your hand. 2. Turn the letter into something that starts with that letter: an S into a snake, a B into a butterfly on its side. 3. The letter must stay visible inside the picture. 4. Line the pictures up and try to spell a word with them. Ages 5 and up. Players: 1 to 10. Time: 10 min. Props: paper and a pencil or crayons each.

Drawing games for one or two 8

Draw What Your Other Hand Feels 1. A partner puts a small object in a bag without showing it: a whisk, a shell, a toy car. 2. Put the hand you do not draw with into the bag and keep it there. 3. Draw the object from touch alone, turning it over in your fingers as you go. 4. Take it out and compare. Playing alone, grab something from a drawer with your eyes shut. Ages 6 and up. Nothing sharp goes in the bag. Players: 1 to 2. Time: 10 min. Props: a cloth bag, small safe objects, paper and a pencil.
Hide Five Small Things in a Busy Picture 1. Write a list of five small things at the bottom of your sheet: a key, a sock, a star, a spoon, a snail. 2. Draw a busy scene and work the five things into it, so that each is part of something else. The key is in a tree's bark and the spoon is a lamp post. 3. Swap sheets with a partner. 4. Time how long it takes each of you to find all five. Ages 7 and up. Players: 1 to 2. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a pencil each, and a timer.
Roll a Die for Each Part 1. Pick a thing to build, such as a monster or a robot, and list its parts: head, body, eyes, legs. 2. Roll one die for each part. The number picks which of six versions you draw. 3. Add the parts in order until the creature is whole. 4. Roll again from the start for a new one, or race a friend to finish first. Ages 5 and up. The page linked below rolls the dice and shows what each number means. Players: 1 to 4. Time: 10 min. Props: a die, paper and a pencil.
Spot the Difference, Drawn by You 1. Each player draws a simple scene in the top half of a sheet: a room, a garden, a street. 2. In the bottom half, copy the scene with five small changes: a missing window, an extra cloud, a cat facing the other way. 3. Swap sheets. 4. The first to circle all five differences wins. Playing alone, hide the sheet for a day and then try your own. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 2. Time: 15 min. Props: paper and a pencil each.
Sticky Note Flip Book 1. Take a pad of sticky notes and leave it stuck together. 2. On the last note, draw a ball near the bottom edge. On the note above it, draw the ball a little higher. 3. Keep going for twelve notes: up, over the top and down again. 4. Flick through the pad from back to front and the ball bounces. With a friend, each make one and swap. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 2. Time: 15 min. Props: a pad of sticky notes and a pencil.
Traced Outlines: Which Thing Was It? 1. While a partner looks away, pick five small flat things from around the room: a key, a coin, a spoon, a leaf, a clothespin. 2. Trace around each one on the same sheet, overlapping the outlines, and put the things back. 3. The partner studies the tangle of outlines and goes to fetch the five things. 4. Lay each thing on its outline to check, then swap. Ages 5 and up. Players: 2. Time: 10 min. Props: paper, a pencil and small flat objects from the room.
Your Character Meets Mine 1. Two players share one sheet and may not talk. 2. Each draws a small character on their own side. 3. Take turns adding one thing that your character does: mine holds out a flower, yours opens an umbrella. 4. After six turns each, tell each other in words what you thought was happening. Ages 6 and up. Players: 2. Time: 10 min. Props: one sheet of paper and a pencil each.
Zoom Out a Step Each Turn 1. In the middle of a big sheet, the first player draws something tiny: a ladybug. 2. The second player draws what it is standing on: a leaf. 3. Take turns zooming out one step at a time. The leaf is on a plant, the plant is in a pot, the pot is on a windowsill. 4. Stop when the paper is full. Playing alone, see how many steps you can fit. Ages 6 and up. Players: 1 to 2. Time: 10 min. Props: a big sheet of paper and a pencil.

How this list was compiled: Our list of drawing games for a table of children or friends, for one player or for two. The wording is ours, and the player counts, times and ages are our estimates. Four entries describe a game that another page of this site runs, and each says so. Three traditional pastimes were checked against Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0) on 2026-10-03: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klecksography for the folded blot, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_book and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot_the_difference. Licence: own work