Pictionary Ideas
From LoveToKnow BoardGames
Coming up with fun and creative new Pictionary ideas is one of the best parts of playing this game. Those who think that people who can draw well have an advantage in this game are missing an important point regarding what makes Pictionary such an appealing pastime. Excelling at Pictionary isn’t about artistic talent. It’s about thinking outside the box and coming up with unique ways to get a point across without speaking or using written words.
It’s entertaining to play Pictionary exactly as directed by the manufacturer. However, many people play the game so frequently that they enjoy coming up with their own ideas to change things up. It’s easy to customize this activity to your own interests by using just a little imagination.
Family Fun Pictionary Ideas
There are many interesting ways to tailor Pictionary just for your family. One great way to turn the game into a bonding experience is to create game cards with phrases that represent places you visited on your last family vacation.
In addition to being a great way to spend an evening at home, this idea serves at least three positive purposes:
- Children will have a frame of reference for the words on the cards, because they will represent places they have actually visited.
- This game can serve as an important reminder of good times spent together as a family. The game can spur conversations about the getaway that lead to reinforcement of lifelong memories of fun family time.
- Children will improve their vocabulary and critical thinking skills.
Examples of Family Vacation Pictionary
For example, if your family vacationed at the beach recently, you can make a set of cards with terms related to things you enjoyed during your trip.
Terms might include:
- Crab
- Hotel
- Palm Tree
- Sand
- Seaweed
- Seashell
- Wave
- Many other terms, based on your trip experience
If your family visited Disney World or Disneyland together, you don’t even have to invent your own cards to play a game that will trigger memories of your trip. You can purchase the Disney Pictionary DVD game, which will can add a multimedia dimension to your play time.
Ideas for Educational Pictionary
Pictionary can be an excellent teaching tool, particularly when working on learning and understanding vocabulary words. It can be used as a technique to help teach terminology specific to many different fields.
Using Pictionary as an instructional strategy simply involves creating your own Pictionary cards with the targeted words on them, teaching the children the rules, and devoting class or homework time to the activity. This is a fun way to help students learn new words and reinforce their understanding of terms they have already studied.
Example of Pictionary as a Teaching Tool
Pictionary is ideally suited for teaching American history, among a number of other subjects. Many history and social studies teachers use the wealth of readily available information about Colonial Williamsburg to teach youngsters about what things were like during the early days of the United States.
Such lessons could easily be accompanied by a Pictionary game that focuses on terminology specific to this time period. Pictionary cards might include:
- Apothecary
- Blacksmith
- Carpentry Tools
- Fife & Drum
- Powder Magazine
- Tavern
- Many other relevant vocabulary words and phrases
Pictionary is equally well-suited for other academic subjects, including:
- Biology
- Family and Consumer Science
- Foreign Languages
- Geography
- Many additional fields of study
Brainstorming for Pictionary Topics
There are so many different ways to play this game. To come up with new ideas, think about what that the players have in common, and try to think of topics and word lists that relate to shared experiences.
- Friends from college can create cards representing major landmarks in their college towns.
- High school buddies can make cards based on their favorite songs from the good old days.
- Girl Scouts can try to create drawings of different types of scouting projects.
The only limitation when it comes to inventing new ways to play Pictionary is your own imagination.
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This page has been accessed 43,636 times. This page was last modified 05:01, 22 October 2007.
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