• 72 ideas
  • Checked October 2026

Easy Idioms to Draw

Press for a saying to draw exactly as it sounds; each idiom has its real meaning underneath.

Easy Idioms to Draw

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  1. Watching paint dry: a stool facing a wet wallSaid of something very dull. A figure on a stool, chin in hand, in front of a wall with one drip.

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Animals 12

  • A fish out of water, sitting in a classroom chair Means someone in unfamiliar surroundings. Sit the fish upright at a desk among rows of empty chairs.
  • A fly on the wall at a meeting Means watching or listening without being noticed. Draw the room small and the fly large and close.
  • A wild goose chase around a pond Means a long, tiring search that leads nowhere. Runner and goose circle the pond a lap apart.
  • Barking up the wrong tree: the cat is one tree over Means looking in the wrong place. A dog barks at an empty trunk while the cat watches from the next.
  • The bee's knees: a bee showing off its knees Means something outstandingly good. Put the bee on a stage with a spotlight on its bent legs.
  • Clam up: a clam shut tight with a zipper Means to go silent. Draw two shell halves pressed together and a zipper pull at one end.
  • Crocodile tears: a crocodile dabbing its eye Means pretend crying. Give the crocodile a handkerchief, one huge teardrop and a small grin.
  • Get someone's goat: a goat led away on a rope Means to annoy someone. One figure leads the goat off while its owner frowns with folded arms.
  • Get your ducks in a row: five ducks lined up Means getting well prepared. Draw the same duck five times, each a little smaller than the last.
  • Hold your horses: a rider with two eager horses Means wait, or slow down. Lean the horses forward and the rider back, with the reins pulled tight.
  • The last straw drifting down onto a camel's load The straw that is one too many: the final small thing after a long run of them. The camel only sighs.
  • Looking a gift horse in the mouth: a bow on its neck Means finding fault with a present. A horse with a bow on its neck has its teeth checked.

Food 12

  • A grain of salt on a very large spoon To take something with a grain of salt is not to believe it too readily. One dot on a big spoon.
  • A hot potato tossed from hand to hand Means an awkward matter nobody wants to hold. Draw the potato in mid-air with wavy heat lines.
  • A piece of cake on a plate Means a task that is pleasant or easy. One wedge, two layers, a line of icing and a fork beside it.
  • The apple of discord, two hands reaching for it Means a thing that causes trouble or jealousy. One golden apple on a table, a hand from each side.
  • Biting off more than you can chew: a mouse, a huge cheese Means taking on more than you can manage. A small mouse holds a wedge of cheese twice its size.
  • Cheap as chips: a cone of chips with a tiny price tag Means a real bargain. Draw a paper cone of thick-cut fries and a tag with a very small number.
  • Crying over spilled milk: a tipped glass and a shrug The saying is do not: being upset will not put it back. A glass on its side and a white puddle.
  • Eyes bigger than the stomach: a plate piled sky high Means taking more food than you can eat. Stack the plate taller than the diner sitting behind it.
  • Not my cup of tea: a cup pushed politely away Means not the kind of thing a person likes. One flat hand, one cup and saucer sliding off.
  • Spill the beans: a tipped can and a trail of beans Means giving away a secret. Lay the can on its side and scatter small ovals across the table.
  • Take the biscuit: one hand, the last biscuit In Britain, said of something that is the most annoying of all. A plate of crumbs and one hand leaving.
  • Take the cake: a hand carrying off the whole cake In the US, to be the best of all, or the worst of all. Leave an empty plate and a few crumbs behind.

Weather and nature 12

  • A bed of roses: a bed with a quilt of blooms Means a comfortable or easy situation. Fill the quilt with spiral roses and add one pillow.
  • A snake in the grass: two eyes among the stems Means a hidden danger or a false friend. Tall grass, a pair of eyes and the tip of a tail.
  • Beating around the bush: footprints in a ring Means avoiding the main point. A bush in the middle and a circle of footprints that never reaches it.
  • Getting wind of it: a breeze carrying a note Means finding out about something. Draw the wind as three curling lines with a folded note riding them.
  • Grasp the nettle: a gloved hand around a nettle Means tackling a problem boldly. A firm fist around the stem, the saw-edged leaves above and below.
  • Heard it through the grapevine: a vine with ears Means learning something from gossip or rumor. Replace a few of the leaves with small listening ears.
  • Nip it in the bud: garden shears at a rosebud Means stopping something early, before it grows. Open blades, one tight bud, a long bare stem.
  • Once in a blue moon: a blue moon over a rooftop Means very rarely. Color only the moon and leave the roofs and chimneys as plain outlines.
  • Right as rain: a raindrop with a check mark Means just what was needed, or perfectly well. One large drop, a smile and a check mark beside it.
  • Stealing someone's thunder: a cloud with a borrowed bolt Means taking the attention or credit that belonged to another. One cloud tiptoes, one looks around.
  • Under the weather: one gray raincloud follows one walker Means feeling poorly. Everyone else stands in sunshine, and one gray cloud follows one figure.
  • Water under the bridge: a paper boat sailing through Means something past that cannot be changed and is best left. The boat is already beyond the arch.

Objects and tools 12

  • A dime a dozen: twelve buttons on one coin In the US, said of anything common and cheap. Fit twelve matching buttons on a single small coin.
  • Around the clock: tiny figures walking the rim Means day and night, never stopping. Twelve small walkers, one at each hour mark.
  • At the drop of a hat: a hat caught in mid-fall Means at once, without waiting. Draw the hat halfway to the floor with two short speed lines.
  • Back to the drawing board: a fresh sheet pinned up Means starting a plan again from the beginning. Crumpled paper in the wastebasket, a blank sheet on the board.
  • Burning the midnight oil: a lamp beside a clock at twelve Means working late into the night. An oil lamp with a flame, an open book and both hands at twelve.
  • From A to Z: two letters as bookends Means covering the whole range. A big A and a big Z hold up a row of books between them.
  • Hitting the nail on the head: a hammer square on a nail Means saying or doing exactly the right thing. A hammer flat on a nail head and three impact lines.
  • The pot calling the kettle black, both covered in soot Said when the one who blames is just as much at fault. A sooty pot points a handle at a sooty kettle.
  • Stones and a glass house: a pebble kept in a pocket Those open to blame for a thing should not blame others for it. A house of panes, a hand in a pocket.
  • Strike while the iron is hot: a hammer over a glowing bar Means acting at once while the chance is there. An anvil, a bar glowing at one end, a raised hammer.
  • Tooting your own horn: a trumpet playing itself Means bragging. Curl the trumpet around so that its mouthpiece reaches its own bell.
  • Watching paint dry: a stool facing a wet wall Said of something very dull. A figure on a stool, chin in hand, in front of a wall with one drip.

Places and travel 12

  • The ball is in your court: a ball beside a net Means the next move is yours. A net across the page and one ball resting on the near side.
  • The best of both worlds: a hammock between two planets Means enjoying two different good things together. Tie each end of the hammock to a small world.
  • Call it a day: the sun clocking out Means declaring the work finished. A setting sun with a lunchbox walks past a time clock.
  • Cool your jets: a small jet plane fanning itself Means calm down. Give the plane a paper fan in one wing and puffs of steam from both engines.
  • Falling off the turnip truck: one turnip left on the road Means being new to things and easy to fool. One turnip bounces on the road behind a loaded truck.
  • Gone south: a compass with everything sliding to S Means a result nobody planned for. Tilt the compass and let the letters N, E and W slip downward.
  • Hit the hay: a dive into a haystack bed Means to go to bed. A haystack with a pillow on top and a figure in pajamas mid-dive.
  • Hit the road: boots stepping onto a long road Means to leave, or to set off on a journey. Two boots at the bottom, a road shrinking to a dot.
  • Jump ship: a leap from a ship to a rowboat Means leaving a job or an activity suddenly. A sailor in mid-air between a tall hull and a small boat.
  • Rock the boat: one passenger standing up Means doing something that upsets a settled group. Tilt the boat and have the others grip the sides.
  • Stay in your lane: a runner between two lines Means minding your own business. Draw four lanes from above and one runner in the middle of hers.
  • To and fro: a swing drawn at both ends of its arc Means moving back and forth. Draw the swing twice, pale on the left and dark on the right.

Metaphors 12

  • A book is a door: a cover opening onto a landscape Hinge the front cover like a door, add a handle, and draw hills and a path where the pages would be.
  • All the world is a stage: a globe under a spotlight Curtains at both sides, floorboards below, and one cone of light falling on the globe.
  • An idea is a seed: a light bulb sprouting in a pot A flower pot, a short stem with two leaves, and a glowing bulb where the flower would be.
  • The city is a beehive: hexagon cells for windows Build each tower from six-sided windows and send tiny commuters in and out like bees.
  • The classroom was a zoo: an animal at every desk Rows of desks in one-point perspective, and a different small animal sitting at each one.
  • The clouds are cotton candy: pink puffs on sticks over hills Fluffy scribbled puffs with a stick under each, floating over a line of hills.
  • Her smile was sunshine: a smile that throws sunbeams A metaphor calls one thing another. Draw a simple face and send rays out from the smile alone.
  • Life is a roller coaster: a track through the seasons One long track of climbs and drops, with spring, summer, fall and winter trees beside it in turn.
  • The moon is a lantern hanging from a hook A crescent moon on a short chain, with a ring of soft light around it.
  • The road was a ribbon, twisting to show its underside Run the road over three hills and give it one twist, with the underside in a darker tone.
  • The snow is a white blanket tucked over rooftops Draw the snow as bedding: a quilted edge, a fold at the top, and the houses asleep underneath.
  • The stars are diamonds: a faceted stone for every star Swap every star for a cut gem: a flat top, a point below and two or three facet lines.

How it works

Idioms to draw word for word, 72 sayings, each idiom with its real meaning in the hint: animals, food, weather and nature, objects and tools, places and travel, and twelve metaphors. The page opens on the 33 easy ones.

Read the full guide

Draw what the words say

An idiom means something other than its words. Hold your horses means wait. The fun of drawing one is to take it at its word: a rider with two eager horses on tight reins. Write the saying under the picture and let a friend guess the meaning.

Cute metaphors to draw

A metaphor calls one thing another: the snow is a white blanket, the moon is a lantern. Metaphors holds twelve metaphor examples, five of them easy to draw. Choose Any level under the button for all 72. Kind, under More filters, keeps the list to one group.

  • Draw the saying first and write its meaning on the back. Then it works as a guessing card.

Questions and answers

What is the easiest idiom to draw?

A piece of cake: one wedge on a plate. Spill the beans is a tipped can and a trail of ovals, and once in a blue moon is a single blue circle over a roof. Easy holds 33.

What is an idiom?

A common phrase whose meaning differs from what its words say. Someone who spills the beans has given away a secret, and no beans are involved. Every idiom's hint here gives the meaning in plain words.

Is an idiom the same as a metaphor?

No. A metaphor makes an image by calling one thing another, as in the classroom was a zoo. An idiom is a fixed phrase with a meaning of its own, and changing even a small word can break it.

How can a class use idioms to draw?

Each student draws one idiom word for word and the others guess the saying, then its meaning. The idiom groups keep to animals, food, weather, objects and travel, so the pictures stay simple.

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