Drawing Telephone
It is the classic Telephone game, but with drawings. A word turns into a picture, the picture gets redrawn from memory, and by the end of the line it has become something completely different.
🎂 Ages 7+👥 6-20 players⏱️ 10-15 minutes🧰 Paper and pens
What you need
Equipment: Paper and pens. Split into groups of 4 or 5. Each player gets paper and a pen. The host prepares a list of about 15 words that can be drawn, like dentist, airplane or birthday party.
How to play Drawing Telephone
- The first player in each group secretly gets a word from the host.
- They have 30 seconds to draw it: no letters, no numbers and no talking.
- They pass the drawing to the second player, who looks at it for only 10 seconds.
- The second player folds the original drawing away and redraws what they think they saw on a clean sheet.
- The third player looks at the second drawing for 10 seconds, folds it, and redraws it.
- Carry on to the last player.
- The last player says out loud what they think the word was.
- Lay all the drawings in a row and compare the first with the last. That is where the laughter is.
Scoring and wrapping up
Scoring: The word survived to the end = 3 points to the group. The drawing that changed everything = a Buga Mix-Up point. A chain that went hilariously wrong = 2 points for everyone.
To finish: Hang the chains on the wall in order. Finish with one big chain using the whole group and a word the birthday child chooses.
By age
- Ages 7-8: simple objects and animals, with 45 seconds to draw.
- Ages 10+: short actions and scenes, like 'a dog eating a sandwich'.
Variations
- Big group: run several chains at once and compare the endings.
- Write and draw: alternate players write a guess and draw it, like the game Telestrations.
- Buga twist: everyone must draw with their other hand.
Tips for the adult in charge
- Use clear words: cat, house, tree. Not 'democracy'.
- Remind players it is not an art contest. Quick, simple drawings work best.
🖨️ Printable Drawing Telephone words
Cut out the cards and hand one secretly to the first player in each group.
- Cat
- Rocket
- Ice cream falling
- Birthday party
- Dentist
- Snowman
- Pirate ship
- Airplane
- Spider in a web
- Rainbow
- Dog walking a person
- Castle
- Volcano
- Robot
- Banana
- Octopus
- Hot air balloon
- Superhero flying
- Tree house
- Dinosaur eating pizza
More games like this
- ✏️ Describe and DrawAges 6+
- 🙈 Blind DrawingAges 6+
- ✅ Fact or Fib?Ages 6+
- 🤷 Would You Rather?Ages 7+
- 📊 This or ThatAges 6+
- 🧟 Fold-and-Draw MonstersAges 5+
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Drawing Telephone without a phone or app?
Just paper and pens. Each player sees the previous drawing for 10 seconds, hides it, and redraws it from memory on a new sheet.
What words are good for Drawing Telephone?
Things you can draw in 30 seconds: objects, animals and simple actions. See the printable cards below.