Fun Pen & Paper Games for One Player

1. Paper Airplanes

Paper airplanes combine lots of kids' favorite things: crafting, vehicles, science experiments, and throwing things. Our guide to how to make a paper airplane will help you teach your child to make various paper planes.

2. Mazes

Draw up some mazes for your child to work their way through, or print some of these 50 printable mazes for free.

Coloring is a relaxing screen free activity for all ages. 

3. Coloring Pages

OK, coloring require colored pencils or crayons, not pens. But it's entertaining, relaxing, and helps kids express their creativity. Check out our ultimate collection of free printable coloring pages for kids.

4. Logic Puzzles

Foster your child's critical-thinking and problem-solving skills with some fun logic puzzles. We share 10 printable logic puzzles and games for kids, along with a blank grid so you can create your own.

5. Crosswords and Word Searches

Our collection of printable word puzzles for kids includes crosswords, word searches, and other fun word games to challenge your little learners.

6. Hidden Pictures

There are lots of hidden-picture printables in our roundup of 100 totally free printable activities for kids (which includes tons of other screen free boredom busters, too!).

7. Blindfold Drawing

Challenge your child to draw various things with their eyes closed. They may get a good laugh when they see the finished products!

8. Anagrams

Write a long word on a piece of paper. Have your child see how many smaller words they can make using the letters from the larger word. For example, from the word "Poppins" we can make the words "pop," "pin," "spin," and more.

Sudoku is a fun way to improve math skills. 

9. Sudoku

The goal of Sudoku is to fill a 9 x 9 grid so that each row, column, and 3 x 3 sub-grid includes each number from 1-9 only once. However, some easier games use smaller grids. Here are some free printable Sudoku puzzles with varying difficulty levels.

10. Paper Fortune Tellers

Learn how to make a fortune teller here, then have fun using it with friends and family.

11. Word Ladder

Give a your child a piece of paper with a word at the top. Challenge them to make a new word by changing one letter, then continuing the ladder until they can't come up with a new word. For example, "Brush" can be come "Crush," which can be changed to "Crust," and so on.

12. MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House)

This classic 80s game is a fun way for kids to "predict" their future. At the top of the paper, write "MASH". Create five sections for the following categories: spouse, number of kids, city, car, and job. Write four options for each category. Then, draw a "magic spiral," stopping when you feel like it or when someone says to. Count the number of loops in the spiral—that's the magic number. Starting with "mansion," count down the list of options until you get to that number and cross off that option. Keep going until only one option remains in each category!

13. Word Scrambles

Create word scrambles for your kids by mixing up the letters of words and challenging them to unscramble them. It's best if all of the words are from the same category.

14. Magic Squares

Challenge your child to fill a 3 x 3 grid with numbers so that each row, column, and diagonal adds up to the same number.

15. Rebus Puzzles

Draw pictures to represent words or phrases and have your child guess the meanings. For example, a banana broken in half would be a banana split!

Fun Pen & Paper Games for Two Players

16. Tic-Tac-Toe

This classic X's and O's game requires no explanation, just a bit of concentration!

17. Hangman

In Hangman—another classic game—one player thinks of a word or phrase and writes out a blank space for each letter. The other player guesses one letter at a time. If the letter in the word or phrase, the first player fills in the blanks. If not, they draw one part of a stick figure (the hangman) and write that letter underneath. The goal is to guess the word or phrase before the entire hangman is drawn.

18. Dots and Boxes

Draw a grid of dots. Player one draws a line that connects two adjacent dots. Player two draws another line to connect another two dots. When a player finishes the last side of a square, he or she puts their initials inside the square. When all of the squares have been drawn, the player with the most squares wins. Note: In some versions of this game, players get another turn for completing a square.

19. Sim

Draw six dots as the points of a hexagon. Players take turns drawing lines from dot to dot with their own color pen. The first person who is forced to draw a triangle formed from their own color loses.

20. Lasso

Draw a grid of dots. Players take turns drawing a line from one dot to another and circling it, staying within the confines of the grid. Players may only circle a dot that has not yet been circled, and lines may not cross any other line. The last person to draw a lasso before there are no available moves left is the winner.

21. Bridges

Draw an abstract shape and divide it into at least 30 sections of various shapes and sizes. Players take turns building bridges with their own colored pen by starting in one section, crossing a second, and ending in a third. Players may not start, cross, or end in a section that has previously been used. The last player to build a bridge before moves run out wins.

22. Battleship 

You may not have known that this classic board game can also be played with pen and paper! Learn how to play pen and paper battleship in this YouTube video.

23. Drawing Contest

Name something for each player to draw and see who can do it better! To avoid hurt feelings, you might want to give each drawing an "award." For example, if the challenge is to draw a person, one might win for "best hair" while the other might win for "nicest eyes."

24. Caterpillar

Start with a grid of dots. The first player draws a horizontal or vertical line to connect two adjacent dots. The second player must continue that line from either end by drawing a horizontal or vertical line to another adjacent dot. Each dot may only be used once as part of the line. When the line can go no further, the last player who drew a line is the winner.

25. Bulls and Cows

This game is similar to Wordle, but with numbers! Make three columns labeled “Guess,” “Bulls,” and Cows.” Player one thinks of a number and tells player two how many digits are in that number. Player two guesses a number and writes it in the "Guess" column. ​Player one indicates how many “Cows” and “Bulls” they have. “Bulls” are digits that are in the number and in the correct place. “Cows” are digits that are in the number but in the wrong place. Player one continues making guesses until they correctly guess the number.

26. Connect 4

The pen and paper version of this classic board game is played with X's and O's instead of chips. Just make a grid of squares with seven columns and six rows. Players take turns writing an X or O in a square. The first person to get four in a row is the winner.

27. Symmetry Drawing

Draw a vertical line down the center of a paper. One player draws half of a picture on one side of the line. The second player completes it on the other side. How symmetrical does the picture turn out?

Create a masterpiece as a group!

Fun Pen & Paper Games for Three or More Players

28. Finish the Drawing

The first child begins a drawing and passes the paper to the second child, who adds to the drawing and continues to pass it along. Once every child has added to the drawing, see what the final masterpiece looks like!

29. Pictionary

To prepare this classic game, write down the names of people, places, things, etc. on slips of paper. Fold the papers and put them into a bowl. Players break into two teams. The first chosen artist pulls a slip of paper from the bowl and begins to draw what is on it. Their teammates have one minute to guess what it is. If they guess correctly, their team gets a point. Then it's the next team's turn. Play goes back and forth until all of the papers have been drawn. The team with the most points wins.

30. Categories

Each player creates five or more columns on a sheet of paper. Players come up with a category for each column, which could be anything from "girls' names" to "Disney movies." Choose a letter and set a one- to two-minute timer. Everyone should list a word or phrase starting with that letter for each category. When the timer runs out, players get a point for each word or phrase they wrote... but only if no other player wrote it! So, the challenge is to come up with unique responses.

31. Finish the Story

This is similar to Finish the Drawing but involves writing a collaborative story. You can either start with a pre-written opening sentence or have the first person write the first sentence. Then they pass the paper around and each person adds a sentence. At the end, one person reads the story aloud. This can get real silly, real fast!

32. Mad Libs

Mad Libs can be played with any amount of players, but the true wackiness of it makes it a super-fun party game. You can buy Mad Libs books in just about any theme, or you can write a short story yourself and put blanks in place of certain words. Under the blanks, write what type of word needs to be there (noun, adjective, person, place, etc. ) Then have players take turns choosing words to fill in the blanks. When all the blanks are filled, read the story aloud and let the laughter ensue.

33. Chain Reaction

The first player writes a word. The next player writes a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word, and so on. How long can the chain continue?

34. Paper Telephone

This one is just like the real game of telephone, but it involves drawing pictures. Here is a detailed explanation of how to play telephone.

35. Got Your Back

Each player gets a piece of paper and a pen or pencil and stands in a circle. One player places their paper on another player’s back and draws something on the page. The other player tries to guess what the first player drew by drawing it on their own paper. When everyone is done, compare the papers to see how similar (or not) they are!

All photographs courtesy of Canva

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