My kids like to play games. The older ones are amazing at card games. My oldest son was in a hand cast and still beat me at Dutch Blitz (a version of speed). With such a wide age range, it’s sometimes difficult to find a game we can all play. Enter the drawing dice game.
What are drawing dice games?
I came upon the drawing dice game while searching for dice games to play in groups. There are many variations of this game, and all include some kind of template like the “draw a dragon dice game” grid pictured below. The games involve players rolling dice to determine what to draw in their pictures. To play you only need paper and a pen/pencil for each player, dice, and a game board.
How do you play drawing dice games?
Players can either have their own dice, or can use one for the group. I found it easier for everyone to have their own dice, but still take turns rolling one at a time.
Let’s say you are player one. Starting with your first turn, you roll the dice (did you know that “dice” is now considered both singular and plural?) to determine which head and body to use in your picture. Say you roll a three. You will then draw a heart for a head and the banner shape for the body. The rest of the players will then take turns rolling for their first turn.
Play continues through all six turns, with players adding to their dragon drawings. I think it’s more fun to tell participants to not look at one another’s pictures during the game. Once the last person has completed his/her drawing, players can count to three and reveal their silly pictures.
Printable drawing dice games
I created the Draw a dragon dice game for one of my daughters, who loves dragons. You can get your copy of the template with instructions by filling out the form at the end of the post.
The first game I played with my kids used the “draw a face” template you can find at Drawinghowtodraw.com. We also tried out the “draw a landscape” table also on this site. There is no link to print out the grids directly from the page. You can, however, click on the templates to have them open in another page. From there, you can click on the picture and either save it or copy and paste it in another document (such as Google docs) then print it.
There are a number of dice drawing games on MakingLearningFun. These are theme based and include animals, pirates, Santa Claus, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Cookie Monster, and more. The games on this site are more competitive in nature. Each number on the dice is assigned to one part of the whole picture. The person to complete the picture is the winner. These games are printable directly from the site.
As part of an Easter lesson for a Sunday school class you can try this game from AnswersinGenesis.org In this game, you would divide kids into two teams. A drawing of a cross on a hill is the completed picture. Each portion of the picture (left side of cross, hill, etc.) is assigned a number on the dice. In order to roll the dice, teams have to answer review questions from the Easter lesson. There is a printable pdf of the lesson and the drawing available on the site. You could also use this technique to review other kinds of facts and make up your own picture.
For high school and higher
Although the games I mentioned are suitable for all ages, I found a version that is geared for high school or higher. Developed by a high school art teacher, this game involves drawing more complex pictures. You can find it here at theartofeducation.edu The bonus of this game, in my opinion, is that each column contains a portion of a sentence (Adjective, noun, verb, adverb, prepositional phrase) which is an added grammar lesson! After each person rolls five times, he/she ends up with a sentence to illustrate. I think this game could be played with upper elementary and middle school aged kids as well.
Do you have a favorite drawing dice game I haven’t mentioned? Include it in a comment below to share. Happy drawing!