Pictionary word generator

How to play Pictionary at home

All you need is paper, a pen and this page. Make two teams, or play everyone-for-themselves with little ones.

1. Pick how hard. Easy words are simple objects a four-year-old can draw, like a sun, a cat or a snowman. Medium words are bigger ideas like a volcano or a treehouse. Hard words are tricky ones like “an echo” or “homework”.
2. The drawer looks at the card in secret. They draw while their team guesses. No letters, no numbers, no talking.
3. Start the 90-second timer if you want a race, and tap “Next card” for the next drawer.
4. Or print the cards, cut them out and pull them from a bowl.

Easy Pictionary words for younger kids

Younger children do best with things they draw anyway: a house, a heart, a rainbow, a fish, a balloon. The easy cards have a picture too, so a child who can't read yet can still take a turn. Let them copy the picture if they want: it's still their drawing.

Tips from our Chief Play Officer

• Draw badly on purpose. When a grown-up's cat looks like a potato, everyone relaxes and has a go.
• Mix the teams by age. Put a confident drawer with a confident guesser so nobody gets stuck.
• Praise the clue, not the art. “Oh, the whiskers gave it away!” matters more than a neat picture.
• Try the hard cards together. Working out how to draw “a dream” is a great puzzle for the whole table.

Questions parents ask