Although Pictionary doesn't allow letters or numbers, some chemical bonding patterns are unique and can be recognized without the use of these factors. Having students draw some compounds without letters can be a fun way to quiz them on their chemical knowledge as well as their structural memory. An example for upper-level chemistry students is the compound CH3CH2CH2CH3. Students can draw the separate bonds between the carbon and hydrogen for this example.
Depending on the age of the children playing the game, certain vocabulary words can be a good genre of topics for Pictionary. Since many vocabulary words are adjectives, it can be a little complicated to describe them using pictures, but this will add to the challenge of the game for students. Other good examples include verbs or adverbs. These allow for elements of context clues that can be helpful for students to identify words.
This biological category will be fun for students of all ages. Whether it be the human ankle or a bone in the rib cage, medical students to kindergartners can benefit from this category of Pictionary questions. Have students stay away from areas they may not be familiar with or that are age-sensitive. Organs, bones and generalized regions on the body would work best for this purpose. The anatomy of the brain alone can be a challenging but rewarding topic.
Drawing different countries requires at least a perfunctory knowledge of the different nationalities of the world. This game will be a good test to encourage students to learn about other countries and/or their corresponding geographic reference points. To make this concept even more challenging, simply add cultural/culinary reference points to each country. Have students draw an activity and then match it up to its corresponding country. One example could be tortillas and Mexico.