Christmas Drawing Challenge – A Prompt a Day to the 25th

All 62 prompts

Set 1: at home 25

Day 01: The box of decorations coming down from the attic Draw the ladder first, then the box halfway down, one strand of tinsel already escaping.
Day 02: Last year's lights in a knot on the floor One long tangled line, then add the bulbs along it. Leave a single bulb lit.
Day 03: The first card of the year, alone on the shelf A folded rectangle and its shadow. Leave the rest of the shelf empty on purpose.
Day 04: A paper chain half made, scissors and glue beside it Draw three finished links, then the loose strips fanned out on the table.
Day 05: The tree coming in through the front door, top first Frame it with the doorway. A trail of needles on the mat shows where it has been.
Day 06: The tree in its bucket, with nothing on it yet Only the shape and the bucket. Draw the gap where a branch is missing.
Day 07: The oldest ornament in the box, drawn far too large Fill the page with it. The chips and the worn paint are the point.

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Set 1: at home, continued

Day 08: A wreath going up on the door, slightly crooked Draw the door panels first, then the ring of leaves. Tilt it a little.
Day 09: The wall calendar with a row of days crossed off A grid, a line of crosses, and one circle drawn around the 25th.
Day 10: A to-do list on the fridge with half the lines checked off A sheet under a magnet, check marks down the left side, a pencil hanging on a string.
Day 11: Baking day: flour, cutters and a rolling pin across the table Start with the rolling pin across the middle, then the cutters, the flour and one tray.
Day 12: Cookies cooling on a wire rack, one already missing Rows of shapes on a grid of wires. Leave one gap and a few crumbs.
Day 13: The banister wound with a garland, one end already slipping Draw the handrail as a slope, then loop the garland around it. Let the last loop hang loose.
Day 14: A candle on the windowsill and the dark street behind it Shade everything outside the circle of the flame. Keep the flame as bare paper.
Day 15: The dog lying across the front of the tree like a guard A long low shape with its chin on its paws and one eye open.
Day 16: Wrapping day on the floor: paper, tape, scissors and ribbon Look straight down on it. The roll of paper runs corner to corner across the page.
Day 17: A gift done up badly but with feeling Lumpy corners, far too much tape, and a bow bigger than the box.
Day 18: The hiding place: one package on the top shelf of the closet Look up at it from the floor. Only a corner of the package shows over the shelf.
Day 19: Two slippers by the fire, one on its side Two soft shapes on the hearth. The glow comes from one side, so shade the other.
Day 20: The table set a day early, just to see how it looks Plates as ovals in two rows. Fold one napkin and leave the rest flat.
Day 21: The best glasses out of the cabinet, lined up to be washed Tall thin shapes in a row. Leave a white strip down each one for the shine.
Day 22: Coats and boots piled in the hallway as the guests arrive One heap, with a scarf trailing up the stairs. The boots are in pairs, mostly.
Day 23: A stack of presents, one of them clearly a bicycle Wrap the outline and do nothing to hide it. Put the bow on the seat.
Day 24: The stocking hung up and empty on the night before A flat L shape on its hook. That it is empty is the whole subject.
Day 25: The room on the morning of the twenty-fifth Paper everywhere, one empty box, and a chair nobody has sat in yet.

Set 2: out in town 25

Day 01: A shop window being dressed, the dresser's legs showing The glass rectangle first. Inside it a ladder, two legs and a half-hung garland.
Day 02: The town tree arriving flat on the back of a truck Draw the truck small and the tree long. The top hangs off the back with a flag tied on.
Day 03: Lights being strung between two lamp posts Two posts and one sagging line, with a worker in a lift bucket at the middle.
Day 04: A line at the post office, everyone holding a package Draw the line of feet first, then give every person a package of a different shape.
Day 05: A tree riding home on a bicycle trailer Keep the rider small. The tree sticks out in front and behind like a cloud.
Day 06: Carolers sharing a single umbrella Four heads under one dome. The songbooks stay dry and the shoulders do not.
Day 07: A bakery with its glass steamed over and one circle wiped clear Draw the loaves as soft shapes behind a haze. Only the wiped circle is sharp.
Day 08: A stall selling nothing but wooden toys A striped awning over a table. Line the toys up by height, smallest at the front.
Day 09: A bus with a wreath tied to its front A box on wheels seen head-on. The wreath hangs between the headlights.
Day 10: A dog waiting outside a shop in a festive bandana A sitting dog, its leash looped to a rail, both eyes on the door.
Day 11: A school gym set out with chairs for the winter concert Rows of chair backs getting smaller, and one music stand at the front.
Day 12: A bell ringer outside the station with a collection can A figure in a heavy coat with one arm raised. The breath shows as a small cloud.
Day 13: A florist's buckets of holly and fir out on the sidewalk Tall cylinders in a row, each with a different spiky outline sticking out of the top.
Day 14: The rink in the square, looked down on from a high window An oval dotted with small figures. Draw one of them sitting down on the ice.
Day 15: Rental skates lined up in pairs along a rail Repeat one boot shape, then change the laces and the lean of each pair.
Day 16: A cocoa stand and a row of mittened hands holding cups Draw the edge of the counter, then five pairs of mittens along it, each with a cup.
Day 17: The town clock with a wreath hung around its dial Draw the dial as a circle, ring it with leaves, and set the hands to four.
Day 18: A delivery van with its back doors open, full to the roof A square opening with boxes stacked like bricks, and one of them about to fall.
Day 19: A mail carrier's bag too full to close A shoulder bag with envelopes fanning out of the top, and one about to slide free.
Day 20: The toy shop window from the inside, noses pressed to the glass Draw the glass, then the flattened noses and ten finger marks.
Day 21: A brass band playing in coats and fingerless gloves The brass shapes first: one big tuba bell and two smaller horns.
Day 22: A tree lot at night under a string of bare bulbs Rows of dark triangles. Each bulb gets a small halo of untouched paper.
Day 23: The last package of the route, left on a doorstep A step, a door and a box. Add one paw print in the snow beside it.
Day 24: A shop closing early, its shutter half down and a note on the door A rectangle of slats stopped halfway. The note is one small tilted square.
Day 25: The square on the morning of the twenty-fifth, shops shut The big tree, the closed shutters and one set of footprints crossing the snow.

Set 3: the twelve days 12

Day 01: The partridge alone in the pear tree, looking down at an empty lawn Bare branches, one pear left and one round bird. The lawn below stays blank for now.
Day 02: Two turtle doves sharing a single perch Two teardrop bodies leaning together. One of them has its eyes shut.
Day 03: Three French hens crossing the yard in a line Three ovals on thin legs, each one a step ahead of the next.
Day 04: Four calling birds, each on a chimney pot of its own Four pots along a roof ridge, four open beaks, and a different note above each.
Day 05: Five gold rings stacked on one finger of a glove A glove lying flat. The rings are five short bands with a shine mark on each.
Day 06: Six geese a-laying, and one very proud of her egg Six sitting birds in a row. Give one a raised head and an egg that shows.
Day 07: Seven swans a-swimming in a garden pond far too small Seven long necks crowded into one small oval of water.
Day 08: Eight maids a-milking, shown only by eight stools and pails No figures at all. Eight three-legged stools, eight buckets and one cat waiting.
Day 09: Nine ladies dancing, shown as nine pairs of shoes in mid-step Only the floor and the feet. Change the angle of every shoe.
Day 10: Ten lords a-leaping over the same garden hedge in turn One hedge and a line of leapers. Catch each at a different point in the jump.
Day 11: Eleven pipers piping, seen from the back of the band Eleven backs and raised elbows. All the pipes point the same way.
Day 12: Twelve drummers drumming, and the partridge with its wings over its ears Fill the page with drums as circles. Find room for one small bird at the top.

How this list was compiled: Original prompts written for Draw This Next on 2026-09-30: 62 prompts in 3 sets. Set 1, at home, is 25 prompts for 1 to 25 December, and set 2, out in town, is 25 more for the same dates. The twelve days set follows the twelve gifts of the carol in order, one a day from 25 December. Every prompt and hint is our own work. Each title opens with its day number so that the written-out list stays in day order. Checked on 2026-09-30 and again on 2026-10-03 against Wikipedia: The Twelve Days of Christmas (song), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Days_of_Christmas_(song) (the twelve gifts and their order in the version most sung today, Frederic Austin's arrangement of 1909: a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, twelve drummers drumming; the 1780 printing has colly birds where Austin has calling birds); and Twelve Days of Christmas, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas (in Western Christianity the twelve days begin on Christmas Day, 25 December, and end on the evening of 5 January, Twelfth Night). No prompt is taken from any published challenge list, and no title repeats one on another list of this site (the first gift of the carol is also a subject on the Christmas drawing ideas list, where it has no day and no twist). Licence: own work

How it works

This Christmas drawing challenge has a prompt for each of the 25 days to Christmas, 1 to 25 December. Set 1 stays at home as the day gets nearer. The list under the tool gives each set in day order.

Read the full guide

How the Christmas drawing challenge runs

Start on 1 December with Day 01 and draw one prompt a day. Set 1 moves through the house: the box from the attic, baking day, wrapping on the floor, the empty stocking on the 24th. Set 2 goes out in town for the same dates. The sheet shows the set named in the menu, day by day, and each hint says what to draw first.

A 12 days of Christmas art challenge after the 25th

Choose the twelve days set for the gifts of the carol in their order, one a day from 25 December. Each gift has a twist: the seven swans share a garden pond far too small.

Missed a day? Draw two small ones the next evening instead of stopping.
For a 12 days of Christmas drawing challenge on one page, rule twelve boxes and fill one a day.

Questions and answers

What is a Christmas art challenge?

A list of dated prompts: you draw one each day in the run-up to Christmas. This one has a prompt for every day from 1 to 25 December and one for each of the twelve days that follow. Use any material and any size.

Which day do 12 days of Christmas art prompts start on?

On 25 December. In Western Christianity the twelve days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day and end on the evening of 5 January, Twelfth Night. So the partridge is drawn on the 25th and the twelve drummers on 5 January.

Can it run as a 30 day Christmas drawing challenge?

Yes. Draw the dated prompts to 25 December, then carry on with five of the carol's gifts from 26 to 30 December.

How is it different from the December drawing challenge?

The December drawing challenge keeps off Christmas on purpose: no tree and no stocking. Every prompt here is about the holiday, and each title opens with its day.

Christmas Drawing Challenge: Draw One Thing a Day