A long river that flows across every boardLandscape, 3 colours. Draw the river first, straight across the joins. Each board adds its own stretch of bank.
A bar chart built from towers of the thing countedLandscape, 3 colours. Stack apples or cars in place of plain bars. The number sits on top of each tower.
A book report drawn as one scene from the storyPortrait, 3 colours. The scene fills the sheet. Title across the top third, your name small beneath.
A country poster with its outline as the main shapeLandscape, 3 colours. The outline fills the middle in one dark colour. Three facts sit in boxes below it.
A food web with arrows between the animalsLandscape, 4 colours. Plants along the bottom, hunters at the top. Make the arrows thicker than the outlines.
A how-to poster: tying a shoelace in five drawingsPortrait, 3 colours. Five boxes down the sheet with a fat number in each. Draw the lace in the darkest colour.
A neighbourhood map with the route to school markedLandscape, 4 colours. Roads as thick pale bands, the route in the darkest colour, a key box in one corner.
Show all 80 poster ideas (74 more)
School project, continued
A plant from root to flower with a soil linePortrait, 3 colours. Rule the soil a third of the way up. Roots below, stem above, labels down the right.
A seed on one half and the tree it becomes on the otherLandscape, 2 colours. Split the sheet in two. Tiny seed on the left, a tree touching the top edge on the right.
A solar system poster with the sun peeking in at one edgeLandscape, 5 colours. Only an arc of the sun shows at the left. The names go under, all on one line.
A timeline along the bottom with a picture over each dateLandscape, 3 colours. One thick line near the bottom edge, dates under it, a small drawing above each.
A volcano poster with numbered labels on level arrowsPortrait, 4 colours. The cone fills the middle under a title band. Every label sits level, never tilted.
An animal report poster with three fact boxesPortrait, 3 colours. The animal fills the top two thirds. Three boxes of equal size line the bottom.
An invention with its parts pulled apartLandscape, 3 colours. Draw the pieces floating apart along one line, biggest in the middle, names beneath.
The rules of a game as six picture boxesPortrait, 3 colours. Two columns of three boxes, a big number in each corner, one short line under each.
The water cycle running around the edge of the sheetLandscape, 3 colours. Fat arrows circle the border. Sea along the bottom, one big cloud at the top.
Your science question as one huge question markPortrait, 2 colours. Fill the mark with small drawings of the test. The question itself goes underneath.
Vote for me and club posters 16
A bake sale poster built around one giant cupcakePortrait, 3 colours. The cupcake fills two thirds. Day, time and place sit on the paper case, one per pleat.
A book fair poster as a leaning tower of booksPortrait, 4 colours. The spines carry the date, the room and the hours. Let the stack lean a little.
A chess club poster laid over a tilted checkerboardPortrait, 2 colours. The board slants across the sheet. One knight stands tall, and the words sit in pale squares.
A class election poster where your name is the biggest thingPortrait, 2 colours. Name across the middle, one drawing above it, one promise below in small capitals.
A food drive poster with a box filling upLandscape, 3 colours. An open box in the middle with cans arcing in. The deadline goes on the box flap.
A garden club poster where the letters sprout leavesLandscape, 3 colours. Fat letters on a soil line, roots under and shoots over. The details go below.
A kindness week poster with two hands and a paper starLandscape, 2 colours. The hands meet in the middle. One idea for each weekday runs along the bottom edge.
A lost-and-found poster with mittens and bottles on a shelfLandscape, 3 colours. Objects in a row like a shop shelf. Where to collect them goes in one fat banner.
A photo day reminder with the date in a mirrorPortrait, 2 colours. A mirror frame holds the date where a face would be. Keep everything else off the sheet.
A reading challenge poster with a tube to colour inPortrait, 2 colours. A tall tube up the middle with marks down its side. The class fills it week by week.
A recycling drive poster with three open binsLandscape, 3 colours. One bin per colour with its lid up. What goes in each is drawn falling from above.
A school play poster with a single prop from the storyPortrait, 3 colours. One object, huge and off to one side. Title in the empty side, dates at the foot.
A science fair poster with a rocket made of the datePortrait, 3 colours. The numbers stack into the rocket's body. The flames hold the room and the hour.
A talent show poster lit by one spotlightPortrait, 2 colours. A dark sheet with one pale cone from a top corner. All the words sit inside the light.
A team tryout poster with one ball in mid-airPortrait, 3 colours. Ball at the top right with speed lines. Where and when sit at the bottom left.
A walk-to-school day poster with a line of shoesLandscape, 4 colours. Shoes march left to right along the bottom. The day and meeting place ride above them.
Signs to hold up 16
A birthday sign with the age made of balloonsLandscape, 4 colours. Balloons bunch into the numeral. The name goes underneath on one line.
A car wash sign with an arrow made of bubblesLandscape, 3 colours. Price and arrow only. The bubbles get bigger toward the point so the eye follows.
A cheering sign with a megaphone shouting the wordsLandscape, 3 colours. Megaphone at the left. The words grow bigger the farther they travel from it.
A congratulations sign with a medal on a ribbonPortrait, 3 colours. The ribbon makes a V from the top corners. The name goes on the face of the medal.
A finish line sign for a fun runLandscape, 2 colours. Checkered border, three words in the middle, and an arrow for the last few steps.
A first day of school sign with the grade on a pencilPortrait, 3 colours. One fat pencil stands upright. The grade is lettered down its side.
A game day sign with your player's numberPortrait, 2 colours. The number fills the sheet. Outline it twice so it reads from the far end of the field.
A good luck sign with a shooting starPortrait, 2 colours. The star sits top right with its tail to the far corner. Two words ride along the tail.
A last day of school sign with a sun in sunglassesLandscape, 3 colours. The sun fills the left half. Three words stack on the right, thickest at the top.
A lemonade stand sign with one glass and a strawPortrait, 3 colours. The glass runs down the middle. The word climbs the straw, and the price sits on an ice cube.
A slow down sign with a snailPortrait, 2 colours. One word and one snail. The shell spirals out of the letter O.
A thank-you sign for the bus driverPortrait, 3 colours. Two words at the top, the bus drawn big below, and every signature small around it.
A welcome home sign with a house whose door stands openLandscape, 3 colours. Two words only, each stroke as thick as your hand. The house sits small at one end.
A welcome sign for a new classmate, signed by everyoneLandscape, 4 colours. One big hello in the middle. First names fill the border, each in its own pen.
A yard sale sign with a lamp, a chair and a bike on an arrowLandscape, 2 colours. The arrow takes half the sheet. The three objects ride along its shaft.
An airport pickup sign with a tiny plane looping the nameLandscape, 2 colours. The name in capitals from edge to edge. The plane leaves a dotted trail around it.
For your own wall 16
A concert stage seen from the back rowLandscape, 3 colours. Dark heads along the bottom edge, beams fanning from the top. The stage is one bright bar.
A dragon coiled around the border with its head in the middleLandscape, 3 colours. The tail starts in a corner and the body frames the sheet. Scales are rows of U shapes.
A giant slice of pizza with everything on itPortrait, 4 colours. Point at the bottom, crust across the top. Draw each topping as big as a fist.
A giraffe whose neck runs off the top of the sheetPortrait, 3 colours. Legs at the bottom edge, neck up the middle, head cropped by the top. Patches are flat shapes.
A jungle of leaves with two eyes looking outLandscape, 3 colours. Overlap big leaf shapes right to the edges. The eyes are the only round things.
A lighthouse with its beam cutting across the sheetPortrait, 3 colours. Tower at one side. The beam is a pale wedge to the far corner, and night fills the rest.
A moon with its craters, as big as the sheetPortrait, 2 colours. The circle touches three edges. Craters are rings with one dark side, all lit the same way.
A robot as tall as the boardPortrait, 3 colours. Square head, box body, pipe arms. Give it one dial as big as a plate on its chest.
A rocket launch seen from the groundPortrait, 3 colours. The rocket is small at the top. Its smoke widens to fill the bottom half of the sheet.
A spaceship cutaway with a room on every deckPortrait, 4 colours. Hull outline first, top of the sheet to the bottom. Decks are level bands, one object in each.
A wanted poster for your petPortrait, 2 colours. One big word at the top, the pet's face in a frame, the reward below in thick letters.
An owl whose eyes are the two biggest shapesPortrait, 3 colours. Two plate-sized circles near the top are the eyes. Feathers are rows of scallops below.
The eye of your favourite animal, enlargedLandscape, 3 colours. One eye from edge to edge. The glint is the only bare spot on the whole sheet.
One sneaker drawn as long as the sheetLandscape, 3 colours. Sole along the bottom edge, toe at the right. Give the side one bold stripe or star.
One wave curling over a tiny boatLandscape, 3 colours. The wave fills the sheet from edge to edge. Leave the foam as bare board.
One word you live by in letters as tall as your forearmLandscape, 2 colours. Pencil top and bottom guidelines. Fill the letters solid and shade one side of each.
Big poster 16
A banner with one letter on each boardPortrait, 2 colours. One letter per sheet, as tall as the board. Hang them on a string in order.
A class map that everyone adds a building toLandscape, 4 colours. Tape four boards together. Roads first in thick grey, then each person draws one building.
A dinosaur as long as the hallwayLandscape, 3 colours. Tape the boards in a row, draw one long back line across them, then share out the parts.
A game board big enough to play on the floorLandscape, 4 colours. A snaking path of plate-sized spaces. Number them thick, start and finish in corners.
A giant crossword of this month's spelling wordsLandscape, 2 colours. Rule fist-sized squares across two boards. Clues go on a third, numbered thick.
A giant jigsaw to cut up and rebuildLandscape, 3 colours. Draw one bold picture across the boards, number the backs, and mix the pieces up.
A giant thank-you card signed with drawingsLandscape, 4 colours. Two boards hinged with tape. Words on the outside, one small drawing each inside.
A long river that flows across every boardLandscape, 3 colours. Draw the river first, straight across the joins. Each board adds its own stretch of bank.
A month on the wall with a picture for every dateLandscape, 3 colours. Rule the grid across two boards. Date small in a corner, and the picture fills the box.
A paper quilt, one square per personPortrait, 5 colours. Rule equal squares. Everyone fills one with a pattern, all in the same five colours.
A paper train with one car for each personLandscape, 4 colours. One long track along the bottom. Each car is its own sheet, coupled to the next with tape.
A sea floor that grows all weekLandscape, 4 colours. A low sand line across four boards. Add three creatures a day, the big ones first.
A story told one board at a time down the hallwayLandscape, 3 colours. The same border width on each board. One big moment apiece, speech in thick capitals.
A street where every board is one buildingPortrait, 3 colours. Use the same ground line and door height on every sheet so the street joins up.
A weather wall with a board each for sun, rain, wind and snowPortrait, 2 colours. One symbol fills each sheet. A paper arrow gets moved to today's board.
A welcome banner drawn by four people at onceLandscape, 3 colours. Pencil the letters across the joins first. Two people outline while two fill.
How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-09-30: 80 whole posters for a loose sheet of poster board in five groups by what the poster is for (school project, vote for me and club posters, signs to hold up, for your own wall, big poster), each hint opening with the sheet's direction and a count of colors and then saying what makes it read from across a room. The hints give layout only, so no fact is stated. Kept apart from wall-drawing-ideas, whiteboard-drawing-ideas and the Posters group of graduation-drawing-ideas; no item repeats a title from any other list on the site (checked by script). No election line names a real school, person or party, and no maker of markers or board is named. Licence: own work
How it works
Stuck on what to draw on a poster? Pick what it is for: a school project, a club, a sign to hold up, your own wall. Each idea says which way to turn the sheet and what to draw biggest.
Read the full guide
What to draw on a poster board for school
School project holds layouts with one big labeled drawing under a title band: a volcano poster with numbered labels on level arrows, a timeline along the bottom with a picture over each date. Letter the title first, in pencil, so the drawing has to fit under it.
Bigger than one sheet
Big poster answers what to draw on a big poster made of several boards taped together or drawn by many hands: a class map that everyone adds a building to, a paper train with one car for each person. Tape the backs before anyone draws.
Stand across the room before you ink. If the main shape does not read from there, make it bigger.
Thick lines first, thin lines last. A poster is read by its thickest marks.
Pencil the words before the picture. Letters need more room than you think.
Questions and answers
What should I draw on a poster for a school project?
One big drawing that explains the topic, with labels on straight lines and a title band across the top. Try a food web with arrows between the animals or a plant from root to flower with a soil line.
How many colours should a poster have?
Few. Every idea here names two to five. Use the darkest one for the words and the main outline, and keep one colour for the thing you want seen first.
How do I make a sign people can read from far away?
Use two or three words in strokes as thick as your hand, with one simple picture. Signs to hold up has a finish line sign for a fun run and an airport pickup sign with a tiny plane looping the name.
How is this different from wall drawing ideas?
Wall drawing ideas are painted straight onto a wall and stay there. These are for a loose sheet that gets carried to school, held up or pinned.