Last updated: October 15, 2026
36 Pictionary Phrases: Actions, Idioms, and Funny Scenes
Move beyond single nouns with phrases that give the drawer a clear scene and the guessers a fair route to the answer.
Drawing “walking the dog” means showing a person, a dog, and a lead. Drawing “hold your horses” might mean showing someone clutching a group of horses. Both are phrases, but one is an everyday action and the other relies on knowing an expression. Decide which kind of challenge your group wants before mixing them into the same game.
The 36 phrases below come in three packs: everyday actions, silly situations, and English idioms. Start with actions if players are learning English or have different cultural backgrounds. Use idioms only when the group knows the expressions. Translating an idiom word for word does not necessarily preserve its meaning or make it a fair drawing prompt.
12 everyday actions
Draw the person, the main prop, and the movement. Most players can understand the scene without knowing a special expression.
- walking the dog
- missing the bus
- making pancakes
- losing your keys
- watering a plant
- taking a selfie
- washing the dishes
- blowing out candles
- packing a suitcase
- flying a kite
- building a sandcastle
- falling asleep
12 funny scenes
Put the surprising detail in the first sketch. An ordinary animal is only half of an unusual situation.
- a cat doing yoga
- a robot washing dishes
- a penguin on vacation
- a dog eating homework
- a dinosaur on a bicycle
- a fish wearing a hat
- a ghost drinking tea
- a snail in a race
- a bear at a picnic
- a giraffe in an elevator
- a pirate making soup
- an alien buying shoes
12 English idioms
Agree that literal pictures of the words are allowed. These answers use the short forms shown here, so spelling stays predictable.
- break the ice
- piece of cake
- spill the beans
- raining cats and dogs
- couch potato
- under the weather
- on thin ice
- a fish out of water
- hold your horses
- when pigs fly
- a storm in a teacup
- the elephant in the room
Show the action before the scenery
For “missing the bus,” draw a bus leaving, a person behind it, and a reaching arm. A detailed bus at a bus stop could mean “waiting for the bus,” so the gap between person and vehicle matters. Movement lines are useful when they show a direction, but extra lines around every object quickly become visual clutter.
For “a giraffe in an elevator,” draw the elevator box and the neck bending against the top. You do not need a building, a reception desk, or a crowd. The joke lives in the mismatch between the tall animal and the small space. Aim to show that mismatch in a few strokes before filling in spots or facial expressions.
Separate a language puzzle from a drawing puzzle
Before playing, ask whether everyone knows expressions such as “hold your horses” and “under the weather.” Explain unfamiliar ones or leave them out. Someone who has never heard an expression can recognize every object in the drawing and still have no way to name the answer. Everyday actions are a more forgiving starting point for a mixed-language group.
Then agree on literal pictures. Can “couch potato” be a potato on a sofa, or must the drawer show an inactive person? Both give a route to the same answer, but they ask for different kinds of interpretation. For a mixed-language group, allow literal drawings and use a separate idiom game. Keep the everyday-action game free of those surprises.
Choose wording the game can recognize
In a custom DoodleGuesser pack, the phrase you paste is the answer. Capital letters, spaces, and hyphens are normalized, but synonyms and different verb forms are not automatically accepted. If the entry is “walking the dog,” a guess of “walk a dog” is different. Tell players that the action pack uses the forms shown above.
Avoid putting two versions of the same answer into one pool. “Piece of cake” and “a piece of cake” produce the same picture but different answer wording. Choose one version and keep it consistent. If exact phrasing slows your group down, shorten your pack to nouns or play on paper with a host who can accept equivalent descriptions.
Run a short phrase game with friends
Create a private room from the home page and paste one pack or the complete 36-phrase list below into custom words. With six players and four rounds, you need 24 drawn answers, so the full list leaves some choice. With eight players and six rounds, 36 entries will not cover all 48 turns without reuse. Reduce the round count or add more distinct prompts.
For a small group, begin with actions and use the funny scenes in the next game. Save idioms for a separate game so everyone knows the kind of answer to expect. Keep private jokes out of a mixed group’s pack unless everyone understands them. An answer is satisfying when players can reconstruct it from the picture, even if the drawing itself is gloriously uneven.
Demonstrate who draws and who guesses
Before the first scored turn, tell everyone who sees the answer, who draws, and who submits guesses. This matters especially if players have tried drawing relays or paper memory games before: they may be expecting to copy a picture or identify their own sketch. One practice turn makes the roles clear.
For this pack, show one short example: the drawer sees “walking the dog,” sketches a person and a dog joined by a lead, and the other players submit guesses. Reveal the answer, then change the drawer. Explain the exact-answer rule at the same time. If you later try a paper memory game or a drawing relay, introduce it as a new format rather than silently changing who is meant to guess.
The complete pack to copy
Select the text below and paste it into a private room’s custom words field. You can remove entries before using the pack.
walking the dog, missing the bus, making pancakes, losing your keys, watering a plant, taking a selfie, washing the dishes, blowing out candles, packing a suitcase, flying a kite, building a sandcastle, falling asleep, a cat doing yoga, a robot washing dishes, a penguin on vacation, a dog eating homework, a dinosaur on a bicycle, a fish wearing a hat, a ghost drinking tea, a snail in a race, a bear at a picnic, a giraffe in an elevator, a pirate making soup, an alien buying shoes, break the ice, piece of cake, spill the beans, raining cats and dogs, couch potato, under the weather, on thin ice, a fish out of water, hold your horses, when pigs fly, a storm in a teacup, the elephant in the room
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