300 Words to Draw: Easy, Medium & Hard Ideas
Running out of ideas for your next drawing game? Here are 300 words to draw, split into easy, medium and hard. Every list is separated by commas, so you can copy it straight into the custom words box of a private room.
These words work for drawing games with paper and a timer, for party games at home, and for online drawing games like You Draw. We picked words that can actually be drawn: objects, animals, places and actions with a clear shape, plus some trickier ideas for experienced players.
How to use these lists
- Online: press Create room, open custom words and paste one list (or mix several). With 10 or more custom words you can turn on Use only my words, and nothing else comes up.
- On paper: print the page, cut the words into slips and draw them from a bowl. Put easy words in one bowl and hard words in another, and let players choose.
- Mixed groups: give younger or newer players the easy list and let experienced players draw from the hard one. Everyone gets a word they can actually draw.
100 easy words to draw
Simple, everyday things with an obvious shape. Great for warm-up rounds, kids and anyone who says they “can't draw”.
apple, banana, ball, balloon, bed, bee, bell, bird, boat, book, bread, bridge, broom, bus, butterfly, cake, camera, candle, car, carrot, cat, chair, cheese, clock, cloud, cookie, cow, crown, cup, dog, door, duck, egg, eye, fish, flag, flower, fork, frog, ghost, glasses, guitar, hammer, hand, hat, heart, horse, house, ice cream, key, kite, ladder, lamp, leaf, lemon, lion, lollipop, moon, mouse, mushroom, nose, octopus, owl, pencil, pig, pizza, rainbow, robot, rocket, sandwich, scissors, shoe, smile, snail, snake, snowman, sock, spider, spoon, star, sun, sword, table, teapot, tent, toothbrush, train, tree, truck, turtle, umbrella, whale, window, worm, zebra, pumpkin, trophy, cherry, crab, bucket
100 medium words to draw
Things that need a little context, a scene or two parts. A good default for most groups.
airport, alarm clock, ambulance, anchor, astronaut, backpack, barbecue, beach, beard, birthday, blender, bowling, bubble, cactus, campfire, castle, caterpillar, chef, chimney, circus, coconut, compass, cowboy, dentist, desert, diamond, dinosaur, dragon, drum, earthquake, elevator, fireworks, firefighter, fishing, garden, giraffe, hamburger, haircut, headphones, helicopter, hospital, hot dog, iceberg, igloo, island, jellyfish, juggler, kangaroo, king, lighthouse, magnet, map, mermaid, microphone, mirror, motorcycle, mountain, museum, ninja, nurse, parachute, passport, peacock, penguin, piano, picnic, pirate, popcorn, puzzle, queen, rain, roller coaster, sailboat, scarecrow, shark, skateboard, skeleton, sleep, snowflake, spaghetti, statue, submarine, sunglasses, superhero, sushi, swimming, telescope, tornado, tractor, treasure, unicorn, vampire, volcano, waterfall, wedding, windmill, witch, wizard, yoga, zoo
100 hard words to draw
Abstract ideas, jobs, events and phrases. These need clever thinking, arrows and scenes. Save them for experienced players.
advertisement, allergy, applause, archaeologist, autograph, avalanche, babysitter, bankrupt, blackout, blizzard, brainstorm, bribe, camouflage, celebrity, ceremony, champion, chess, cinema, climate, clone, coach, comedian, commute, confused, constellation, cupid, deadline, democracy, detective, diet, dizzy, documentary, echo, eclipse, electricity, emergency, evolution, exercise, fashion, fireplace, flashlight, gossip, graduation, gravity, hibernate, hiccup, history, homework, honeymoon, hypnotize, invisible, jealous, jet lag, karaoke, knight, library, lottery, marathon, meditation, midnight, migration, mime, nightmare, nostalgia, orchestra, oxygen, password, photosynthesis, pickpocket, pilgrim, procrastinate, pyramid, quarantine, recycle, reflection, retirement, sarcasm, selfie, shadow, shipwreck, sleepwalking, sneeze, spotlight, stepladder, stopwatch, surprise party, teleport, thunderstorm, time travel, traffic jam, translate, treadmill, tsunami, vacation, vegetarian, ventriloquist, voicemail, wi-fi, wink, yawn
Tips for drawing hard words
Hard words are where the most points are, but only if someone guesses them. A few tricks help:
- Draw a situation. “Deadline” is a calendar with a circled date and a stick figure running. “Jet lag” is a plane, a moon and a yawning person.
- Use symbols everyone knows. A light bulb means “idea”, a heart means “love”, a dove means peace, a crown means royalty, a bed with a moon means night or sleep.
- Split it up. “Stepladder” is a step plus a ladder. “Shipwreck” is a ship plus something broken.
- Point with arrows. For “reflection”, draw a person and a mirror with an arrow between them.
More tricks like these are in how to draw fast: 12 tips for drawing games.
Make your own list
The most fun word lists are often the ones only your group understands: friends' nicknames, places you've been together, inside jokes, the teacher's favourite phrases or your company's products. A good custom list has:
- At least 20 words, so the same word doesn't come up twice in one game.
- Words people can picture. “Happiness” is hard; “birthday party” is easy and means almost the same.
- A mix of difficulty, so everyone gets a word they can draw.
- No duplicates or near-duplicates, like “dog” and “puppy” in the same list.
Need more ideas? Our 12 themed word lists cover movies, food, holidays, sports and more, and the words for kids list is perfect for younger players and families.
Can I use these lists anywhere?
Yes. These lists are our own and free to use for game nights, parties, classrooms and any drawing game, online or on paper.