Homemade Pictionary Game Information

Materials

• You should be able to gather all the supplies you need to create a homemade Pictionary game by making one trip to a local hobby store. For the game board, buy a sheet of white poster board; for a sturdier board, you might use foam core board. Also buy a set of brightly colored markers. Pick up four sheets each of green, red, yellow, blue and orange card stock. You'll also need some unlined notepads, unless you have lots of scratch paper at home, as well as the following items that you may already have: tokens from an old game (you could also use different coins), pencils, dice and a one-minute timer.

Game Board

• With the black marker, make a border of squares around the edges of the board. Using the colored markers, make a large dot in the center of each, alternating red, yellow, blue, green and orange, and leaving some of the squares white. Decide on the categories that each color will represent, and draw a key on the game board. For example, red=TV &movies, orange=sports, green=food, yellow=travel, blue=family trivia. On the white squares, write in black either, "Take Another Turn" or "Lose a Turn."

  These directions will provide a basic board; however, you can certainly get fancier if you choose, by adding illustrations or creating a more maze-like path. In the center of the board, you might like to name your game: "The Wood Family Pictionary," for example.

The Cards

• Your homemade cards will be different than those in the commercial game in two ways. Your cards will only feature one category, and your questions will be personalized. Type up a list of items to fit each of the categories you have created. For example, you might include the names of favorite family TV shows, the location of your last vacation, an aunt's name and so on. Type a list for each category, leaving lots of space between each item, and print the list on the appropriate colored card stock. Cut the items apart; these will serve as cards for your game. Set the cards face down in separate stacks next to the game board.

Playing the Game

• Play proceeds in the homemade game much like in the original, with the exception that teams don't choose a category; they simply throw the dice and pick a card matching the square on which they land. One of the team members then has one minute to draw the item so that his teammates are able to try to guess what he has drawn.