Fun Time With Family Drawing

For some family game night ideas that go beyond board games and tap into your family's creative spirit, look no further.

More and more, families are trying to unplug, be present and really connect with each other; and many are turning to family game night to accomplish just that. If you're tiring of the same old board games on your shelf and you've already maxed out on charades, try these fun family art challenges for a fresh approach to your weekend game night.

These challenges and competitions require minimal supplies and are sure to get the creative juices flowing in the whole family!

1. Three Marker Challenge

For this challenge, everyone has a picture to color—either from a coloring book or some printable coloring pages online. Then each person closes their eyes and picks three markers out of a marker bin. The markers each person drew are the only ones they can use to color their picture.

2. Timed Drawing Prompts

For this activity, you'll need a drawing prompt. You can find some online or simply make your own by drawing a few lines or a pair of eyes on a piece of paper for everyone. The drawing prompt should be the same for the whole family. Start a timer, and let each person set to work with their own imagination and the drawing prompt. Then you can compare and see who came up with the most creative drawing before the time was up!

3. Pass the Drawing

For this collaborative drawing game, have everyone sit around the table with a blank paper. Allow everyone to draw for 10 seconds. Then pass the drawing to the person to your left. Let everyone draw for 10 seconds again. After two full rounds—so everyone has drawn on each page two times—see what you have!

4. One-Line Drawing

For this drawing challenge, you must draw an entire picture without picking up your pen or pencil. Start with a blank piece of paper. Decide what you want to draw, and go for it! Just keep pen to paper for the entire drawing!

5. Blind Contour Drawing

Here's a fun challenge I'm sure every art school graduate has done. Choose and object to place in the center of the room. It should be something fairly complex, not a square box, for example. Everyone must outline the object while looking only at the object and never at their paper. Challenge your hand to move in conjunction with your eye as you travel slowly around the edge of the object. Then take a look and see how everyone did!

6. Scribble Drawing

Everyone, grab a paper and scribble! (It feels great, doesn't it?) Now pass your paper to the person next to you. Next, stare into that scribble in front of you. What do you see? Is there a dog in there, a car, a tea pot? (Don't say spaghetti. Too easy!) Bring out that image you see in the scribble by adding lines and color of your own. Then see what everyone drew!

7. Make a Mural

Collaborate as a family to make one large art project. There are so many ways you can do this. You can take inspiration from a favorite artist. For example, everyone can grab some construction paper and cut out shapes to glue onto a Matisse-style collage. Another idea is to use a picture book as inspiration. During the summer, my kids and I spent a few days making a big jungle mural with Elmer-inspired elephants along with giraffes, butterflies, trees, grass, a waterfall and more. Choose a theme; gather all your art supplies; and set to work on your own family mural.

8. Roll a Monster

This is a fun game I came across on a few blogs. You roll a die, and the number corresponds with a body part you get to add to your monster. You can draw your monster, use felt cutouts, or you can build your monster with Play Doh, googly eyes, straws, etc. You can make your own version of the game, or you can download and print the game from Happy Brown House. She even has a printable die you can cut out and tape together. So cute!

9. Coloring Race

While in general I'm not a big fan of coloring books for kids, this activity requires a coloring book or some printable coloring pages. Ideally, everyone will have the same picture. Get some crayons ready, and see who can finish coloring their entire picture first. You may need to set some ground rules, such as: The entire page must be colored. You must use at least four different colors. You must color within the lines as much as possible.

10. Pictionary

We probably all know how to play Pictionary. It's that classic game night game where you select a word from a hat or bowl and draw that word. Your team has to guess what you're drawing in a set amount of time. It's the perfect game for a family of creatives or for kids who love to draw. Now, you can play without even having to come up with your own pile of words. The Game Gal (whom I just discovered) has a free game word generator online that's perfect for Pictionary—or charades or catchphrase.

I'd love to hear how these art challenges go over in your home, so please share back about your favorites! Also, please share these ideas with your friends on Pinterest or elsewhere!

Processing…

Success! You're on the list!