120 cards

Drawing Prompt Cards to Deal One at a Time

Deal one drawing task at a time: for a partner, a whole table, or one person with a pencil.

One of you draws only the outlines. The other draws only the insides.

The first person draws a cart with no wheels. Each next person adds a part.

Fold the paper in three: one draws a head, the next a body, the next legs.

Panel 1 is a parcel on a doorstep, and it is moving. Draw panels 2 and 3.

Each person adds one path to the same park. Every path must join another.

One of you draws a planet. The other draws the one creature living on it.

One of you draws a road. The other draws everything travelling on it.

Each person adds a building to a skyline. No two may be the same height.

Each person adds one room to a house, then passes it on. No room twice.

Each person adds one flag to a string of bunting, each with a new design.

The first person draws a character. Each next person changes one thing.

Panel 2 is completely dark. Draw panels 1 and 3 so that it makes sense.

Read the card aloud, then draw what it says.

Next step Draw each other next Spin for one thing to draw

All 120 cards

With a partner 24

Design a bike for two, one end each. Make the middle fit.
Draw a hat each, swap, and draw the person who would wear it.
Draw a monster together: you may only add what your partner asks for.
Draw an empty frame each, swap, and fill the other's frame with a view.
Draw for a while, swap pages, then finish each other's picture.
Draw one street together: one starts at the left edge, one at the right.
Draw the same mug at once from opposite sides of the table. Compare.
Each draw a character, swap, and draw the two of them meeting.
Each draw the same tree: one in summer, one in winter. Line them up.
Each start a room, swap, and add the person who lives there.
Hold one pencil between you and draw a house without talking.
One draws a door. The other draws what is behind it on a second sheet.
One draws a scene. The other redraws it as it looks an hour later.
One draws only the shadows. The other draws only what casts them.
One draws the top half of a robot, the other the bottom. No peeking.

Show all 120 cards (105 more)

With a partner, continued

One of you draws a maze. The other draws what waits in the middle.
One of you draws a nest. The other draws what hatched and where it went.
One of you draws a pet. The other draws its house. Join the pages.
One of you draws a planet. The other draws the one creature living on it.
One of you draws a problem. The other draws an invention that fixes it.
One of you draws a road. The other draws everything travelling on it.
One of you draws a table. The other draws the meal, one dish at a time.
One of you draws only the outlines. The other draws only the insides.
One of you draws the weather. The other draws who is caught out in it.

Pass it round 24

Draw a train: each person adds a carriage with a different cargo.
Each adds one piece to a costume. The last person draws who wears it.
Each draws one animal in a queue. The last person draws what they queue for.
Each person adds a building to a skyline. No two may be the same height.
Each person adds an animal bigger than the last. Keep them all on the page.
Each person adds one flag to a string of bunting, each with a new design.
Each person adds one guest to a party. The last person draws the cake.
Each person adds one island to a sea, and a bridge to the island before.
Each person adds one part to the same machine. Go round the table twice.
Each person adds one path to the same park. Every path must join another.
Each person adds one room to a house, then passes it on. No room twice.
Each person adds one stall to the same market square.
Each person adds one topping to a giant pizza, then passes it on.
Each person adds one window to a block of flats: lit, dark or busy.
Everyone adds one passenger to the same bus.
Everyone adds one thing to the same street, then passes it on.
Everyone draws one thing on a shelf, then passes it. Fill three shelves.
The first person draws a cart with no wheels. Each next person adds a part.
The first person draws a character. Each next person changes one thing.
Fold the paper in three: one draws a head, the next a body, the next legs.
Pass it on: each person adds one plant to the same garden bed.
Pass one page round: each person adds one fish to the same sea.
Pass the page: each person adds one thing to a very full backpack.
Start a snake at one edge. Each person adds a piece with a new pattern.

Make a small thing 24

A badge for the tidiest dragon.
A banknote for the moon, with a number and a face.
A book cover for a story that has not been written yet.
A bookmark for a book about soup.
A cereal box for a breakfast that giants eat.
A coat of arms for the family pet.
A coin for a kingdom ruled by frogs. Draw both sides.
A door sign for a wizard who wants no visitors.
A flag for your bedroom.
A game board with six squares, a start and a finish.
A label for a jar of bottled thunder.
A library card for a robot.
A lost poster for one missing sock.
A medal for the best nap of the year.
A menu for a cafe run by squirrels.
A name tag for a very shy ghost.
A passport page for a penguin, with stamps from three places.
A playing card for a new suit that you invent.
A postcard from the top of a very windy hill.
A seed packet for a plant that grows umbrellas.
A stamp for a country of cats.
A sticker that says well done to a snail.
A ticket to somewhere you made up.
An instruction leaflet for putting on a hat, in four steps.

Three panels 24

Draw the same room in three panels: morning, noon and night.
Panel 1 is a balloon slipping out of a hand. Draw what comes next.
Panel 1 is a kite stuck in a tree. Draw panels 2 and 3.
Panel 1 is a parcel on a doorstep, and it is moving. Draw panels 2 and 3.
Panel 1 is a sandcastle and a wave far off. Draw panels 2 and 3.
Panel 1 is a seed in the ground. Draw panels 2 and 3.
Panel 1 is a snail at a starting line. Draw the rest of the race.
Panel 1 is an egg with a crack in it. Draw panels 2 and 3.
Panel 2 is a loud splash. Draw what came before and what came after.
Panel 2 is an enormous sneeze. Draw panels 1 and 3.
Panel 2 is completely dark. Draw panels 1 and 3 so that it makes sense.
Panel 3 is a cat sitting in a box much too small. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is a dog asleep in a muddy puddle. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is a giraffe on a bus. Draw how it got on.
Panel 3 is a penguin holding an ice cream. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is a queue of ducks at a bus stop. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is a very surprised snowman. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is an empty biscuit tin. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is everyone wearing the same hat. Draw panels 1 and 2.
Panel 3 is panel 1 again with one thing changed. Draw all three.
Tell a three-panel story where the main character is a teapot.
Three panels with no words: someone loses something and finds it.
Three panels, one zoom: far away, closer, very close.
Three panels: a snowball rolls downhill and is bigger in every one.

Maps and cutaways 24

A cross-section of a cake with a different surprise in every layer.
A cutaway of a hill with a dragon asleep under it.
A cutaway of a mole's tunnel with a kitchen and a bedroom.
A cutaway of a rocket with a room for every job on board.
A cutaway of a submarine with a crew of octopuses.
A cutaway of a wizard's hat and what is kept inside it.
A map of a dream, with a key that explains the symbols.
A map of a park with a pond, a path and a place to hide.
A map of a school run by its pupils, with every room renamed.
A map of a supermarket for someone who only wants cake.
A map of a village built along the branches of one enormous tree.
A map of a zoo where every animal has moved into the wrong house.
A map of an ant's journey across a picnic blanket.
A map of an island shaped like your hand, with five named bays.
A map of the room you are in, with an X where the best seat is.
A map of the walk from your bed to breakfast.
A map of your table, drawn from above.
A map showing the way from your door to a friend's door.
The inside of a clock, with invented parts that each do a job.
The inside of a pocket and everything in it.
The inside of a robot's head, with labels.
The inside of a snail's house, with every room labelled.
The inside of a toolbox, with every tool labelled.
The inside of a treehouse with three floors.

How this list was compiled: Original deck written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-01: whole drawing tasks of 80 characters or fewer, each able to stand alone on a slip of paper, sorted by who is at the table and what gets made (a partner, a group passing one page, a small object to design, a strip of three panels, a map or a cutaway) and never by kind of exercise. Own work with no outside facts. Written for children and families: nothing frightening, no weapons, nothing about bodies or health, no real person, brand, book, film, game or character. The level is a judgement, not a measurement: easy can be started at once, medium needs a decision first, hard needs a plan. No card repeats a line of any other list on the site (exact match, and six in ten shared content words), and cards that repeated the idea of a line in the lists it was compared with by subject were replaced. Licence: own work

How it works

These drawing prompt cards deal one whole task at a time. Press Next card for another; no card comes back until the deck has been through. Some cards need a partner or a table of friends, others one person and a pencil.

Read the full guide

Keep to one topic

Press Topic to keep to one kind of card: With a partner, Pass it round, Make a small thing, Three panels, or Maps and cutaways. The same list holds three levels. An easy card can be started at once, and a hard one wants a plan before the first line.

Print the deck as slips

After twelve cards the tool stops and offers Print, with the number of cards. It prints the cards of the topic you chose as slips to cut out and keep in a jar. In a classroom or a club they work as art prompt cards: one child draws a slip, reads it aloud, and everyone starts.

For Pass it round, agree one rule before the first card: nobody rubs out what someone else drew.
Read the card aloud once, then turn the phone face down. The drawing matters more than the wording.
A slip that falls flat goes back in the jar. Somebody else will want it.

Questions and answers

How do I use drawing prompt cards?

Deal one card and do what it says. With a group, deal one card for the whole table and compare the drawings at the end. On your own, deal three and keep the one that makes you reach for a pencil.

How many people do the cards need?

It depends on the topic. With a partner needs two. Pass it round needs three or more at one table. Make a small thing, Three panels, and Maps and cutaways suit one person or a whole class.

Can I print the cards?

Yes. Deal twelve cards and the end card offers Print, with the number of cards. Choose a topic first to print only that topic. Cut along the lines and keep the slips in a jar or an envelope.

Who are the cards written for?

Children and families. The words are plain, nothing is frightening, and no card needs more than paper and a pencil. An adult can read the cards aloud for the youngest at the table.