Pen and paper: My favorite easy recipe to have on hand for joy and creativity! These humble tools have the power to transform any situation into a realm of endless fun possibilities, not only for your kids but also for you, fellow grown-ups.
Today, I’m sharing ten easy activities that are my favorite for stimulating imagination, igniting creativity, and bringing a healthy dose of laughter to our family. They’re not just for kids; they’re perfect for grownups too! Some of these games are ones I learned from playing with friends in adulthood!
If you can find a paper and pen/pencil, you’ve got the cure for boredom, whether:
- Stuck on an airplane
- Enduring a sick day on the couch
- Waiting at a restaurant
- Feeling exhausted
- Passing time in a doctor’s waiting room (you can use the patient table paper!)
- Holding/nursing a baby while the older sibling wants to play
Pen and paper games like these are a lifesaver for keeping both you AND your children entertained in all kinds of situations. But not only are they great boredom-busters… they’re awesome for connecting as a family.
From collaborative drawing challenges to imaginative storytelling, these activities are guaranteed to spark joy and create unforgettable memories. In fact, several of these come straight from my favorite childhood memories with my family. We still play as adults when we get together!
So, browse through these ideas, and copy and paste this link in your Notes app for future reference. Next time you’re looking for something to do with your kids, grab a pen or pencil, a sheet of paper, and give some of these a try!
1. One Line Portrait
How to play:
- Without looking at your paper, AND without lifting your pen, try and draw a quick portrait of the other player.
- You can either take turns, or challenge yourselves by going at the same time.
- We love playing this on the chalkboard for a waste-free version (bonus: my toddler thinks he’s playing, too, as he scribbles along)
I love this challenge, not just for the kids, but for myself. It snaps me out of my perfectionist brain and is a good exercise for embracing going-with-the-flow. And that’s a great lesson for kids and parents, alike.
The results can be hilarious, but also oddly beautiful and surprisingly artistic!
2. Add-On Story
How to play:
- One person starts a story by secretly writing a few sentences at the top of a sheet of paper.
- That player then folds the top of the paper back to reveal only the last sentence.
- The next player continues on with the story, knowing only what the last sentence said.
- This continues until the end of the page (or whenever the story wraps up naturally!)
- Unfold the page and read the nonsensical story aloud!
I have such great memories playing this with my dad and sister on the airplane on family trips throughout childhood. It always ends up in cackles.
It’s challenging, because you have to get creative, using only the clues from the other player’s last sentence. It’s also good practice for not worrying about the outcome and just enjoying the act of imaginative storytelling in the moment.
*Note: If your child gets restless in between “turns,” you can have two different stories going at once!
3. Caption That!
How to play:
- This game works best with at least three players.
- Each player has a piece of paper and pen.
- Everyone starts by writing a random sentence or phrase at the top of the page.
- Once everyone has done so, the papers get passed to the left.
- Each player now does a quick drawing to represent the above sentence or phrase.
- Fold the paper back, showing only the drawing, and pass the papers to the left again.
- Now, seeing only the drawing, write a sentence or phrase as a caption to describe that picture.
- Fold the papers back to reveal only the new caption, and pass to the left again.
- This continues until you run out of space on the page!
- Finally, unfold the papers and get ready to wipe away tears of laughter. (I ALWAYS cry laughing when I play this!)
It’s so much fun to see how the captions and drawings change down the page!
There are several different names out there for this awesome game. “Eat Poop, You Cat,” “Pictionary Telephone,” “Scribblish,” and “Drawception” are just some of the other versions.
*Notes:
- Depending on the age and ability of the players, setting a timer for each round of drawing/captioning might be helpful to keep the game moving along. Although, in our family, it’s always my husband on whom we’re waiting to finish up!
- It’s also fun to start off the game with drawing a picture, rather than writing a sentence. This image below is from the last time I played with my stepdaughter and husband. When we asked her what the picture was at the top, she said “Our family playing with toys under the ceiling fan!” We were crying laughing that it turned into a vicious killer flower!
4. Build-a-Body
How to play:
- One person draws a head at the top of a sheet of paper, without showing the other player.
- That first player then folds back the sheet of paper to reveal only a little bit of the bottom of the head/neck they’ve drawn.
- The next player continues the drawing, picking up from where the first player left off, adding a chest and arms.
- This continues, with each player adding on to the body, folding the paper back, and leaving only a bit for the next person to go off of until the body is complete!
- Unfold the paper to see your hilarious masterpiece.
*Notes:
- If your child gets restless in between “turns,” you can have two different drawings going at once!
- Some kids may struggle with the concept of not knowing what they’re “supposed to be” drawing.
For example, my stepdaughter begged me to tell her if we were drawing a boy or a girl and to describe what the outfit “should” look like. I encouraged her to let go of the idea that there were any rules or guidelines and tried to explain that the fun is in not knowing.
But, this can be a hard concept for kids to grasp, especially once they are in school and so much emphasis is placed on following instructions and assignments perfectly! These kinds of drawing games that encourage creativity and whimsy are a nice break from that often restrictive mindset.
5. Eyes Closed Challenge
How to play:
- Give each other specific prompts for drawings (i.e. a frog sitting on a lily pad, catching flies)
- Put your pens to the paper, close your eyes, and try to draw the prompt! No cheating!
*Note: The more specific the prompt, the more fun and hilarious the outcome. However, it is a good idea to start with simple prompts, because this is challenging!
Here are some examples from the last time we played:
6. Scribble Inspiration
How to play:
- Each player has ten seconds to make big scribbles all over a piece of paper.
- When the ten seconds is up, pass the paper to each other.
- You then have five minutes or less to use the other player’s scribbles as inspiration for a drawing.
- We like to use pencil for the initial scribble and pen or marker for the inspired drawing to help it stand out.
It’s really cool to see what each other sees out of the random scribbles. It’s also a fun way to connect through collaboration, knowing the other person’s drawing wouldn’t have ever existed without your scribble inspiration!
7. Make Up a “Mad Libs”
How to play:
- Each player has a sheet of paper and writes a simple, short story with pencil.
- Once the story is written, erase key words (like main character names, places, descriptive words, and actions), and replace them with an underlined blank space.
- Notate in small writing whether the key word was a noun, adjective, verb, number, part of body, etc. (Kids may need help with this at first, but there’s no better way to learn the parts of speech than Mad Libs!)
- The players then ask each other for the missing words and fill in the blanks with the new words, without showing their stories to each other.
- Read the new stories out loud to each other and get ready to giggle!
Read more Mad-Libs inspired activities and ideas here:
Five Reasons Mad Libs Is Easily The Most Underrated Game Of All Time
8. Non-Dominant Hand Challenge
How to play:
- Challenge each other to draw specific things OR write specific words with your non-dominant hand (i.e. “draw a parrot” with your left hand if you are right-handed, or “write your signature with your right hand if you are left-handed”)
- For added fun, look away while the other person is drawing and see if they can “trick you” into thinking they used their dominant or non-dominant hand
Of course, if you happen to be among the 1% of the population that is ambidextrous, this’ll be easy for you!
9. Outrageous Prompts
How to play:
- This one is pretty self explanatory: Give each other outrageous, specific, ridiculous prompts. The weirder and more detailed, the better!
- Don’t forget to write down the prompt and artist name somewhere on the picture. Go ahead and snap pictures before you recycle the paper, too. I found these on my phone from when our family played a few years back and it was so much fun to look through them!
Here are some outrageous drawing prompts to get you started!
(Once you get the hang of it, try letting your children come up with their own wacky and weirdly specific prompts — it will be heartwarming, hilarious, and more personal)
1. A family of hedgehogs on a roller coaster ride through a marshmallow forest.
2. An underwater picnic where a family of penguins munches on jellyfish sandwiches while cheering for a giant dancing squid.
3. Cranky astronauts riding rocket-powered unicorns, arguing with swiss-cheese aliens.
4. Hungry rhinos playing soccer on a field made out of broccoli, while tater tot fans cheer them on.
5. Cats having a tea party in a treehouse, eating cookies shaped like meowing dinosaurs.
6. Our family as superheroes with special powers!
7. Bears roasting marshmallows over a volcano while a family of mice is secretly stealing their graham crackers.
8. Mischievous monkeys dressed as pirates, sailing in a banana boat in search of ice cream.
9. A duck giving a speech as he runs for president of the pond.
10. Me and you as movie stars on the red carpet, being interviewed about our glamorous outfits while we eat sandwiches.
10. Pass The Poem
How to play:
- One person writes a short line to start a poem (like, “There once was a little old frog named George”)
- The next player writes a line underneath, trying their best to rhyme with the line above (for example: “He sat on a log and was really bored”)
- That same player writes a new line underneath. (By switching it up, you get to take turns rhyming or not rhyming.)
- Continue with the rhyming couplets until you either run out of space or the poem naturally comes to an end!
Let the pen and paper fun begin!
I hope some of these ideas will help you out the next time you need something simple, fun, mess-free, and creative to do as a family.
Did you play any of these games as a child? What would you add to the list of creative, fun pen-and-paper games? Share in the comments; let’s keep the list going!
Hi! I’m Mia.
Mom, stepmom, wife, songwriter, performer, and theater educator.
I love sharing ideas, tips, and templates for connecting with kids through low-to-no budget, waste-free, creative play.
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