Family Fun: Draw a Picture Game

If you’ve ever played Pictionary or Telestrations, you’ll probably love this family activity! If you haven’t played those games, this is a good substitute (it’s basically a homemade, simplified version of Telestrations).

Everyone starts with a piece of paper (scrap paper is fine) and a pencil, and draws a picture. The more detailed the scene is, the better. Add a character, a setting (a building or scenery), and some kind of action. Once everyone’s done, pass the paper to the player on your left. One at a time, look at the picture you’ve received, and tell a story based on what you see. The more elaborate the picture, the more elaborate the story can be!

Decide as a group ahead of time if the artist who originally drew the picture gets to interrupt or correct the storyteller’s interpretation of his/her drawing… or just encourage them if the storyteller gets stuck. If your child does have trouble making up the story, encourage them to add more adjectives, or to imagine what it would feel like to be in that scene, or to tell you what the character in the scene might see, hear, or smell.

P.S. This is another one of those games where your child is building vocabulary, narrative skills (storytelling), sequencing skills, imagination, and patience!

Game description from https://www.imagineforest.com/blog/storytelling-activities-kids/