Idioms by Kids

See a short slide show of 30 of the 970 idioms

This site has over 1000 pictures of  Idioms.  They do not illustrate what an idiom means, but show the literal meaning.  Sometimes the children knew what the idioms meant and drew pictures of the actual real meaning but most of the time the students drew the literal meaning and the results are often funny.  You can add your drawings to the website!  See this one by Heath! who contributed a "wolf in sheep's clothing."   Mr. Nakanishi's class have done a number of idioms.  Check them out.

Go directly to a page that has a link to every one of these images and then "go crazy"viewing them. 

Or....

You can use the alphabetical index above.  

 Over a period of years the children in my class went "kooky"  learning about idioms 

and drawing pictures of them. I thought that the "kids"

were going to send me to the "nuthouse"

This one illustrates 

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is. 

This one shows the idiom 

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue sea

Click Idioms below for Bigger Image

Bee in Her Bonnet                                        Big Apple

Dead Meat                                            Icing on the Cake

See a short slide show of 30 of the 970 idioms

There are 1000 more idiom drawings on this website!

To see more pictures click on the part of the alphabet you think the idiom starts with, to see pictures that have been drawn to illustrate what the idiom says. (not what it actually means).  (Eventually I hope to put in a "search" feature.) 

All of the pictures that are linked have been drawn by children from Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada.    The children who drew them were 9-11 years old when they drew them.  These pictures illustrate what an idiom actually says and not what the idiom actually means.  We used a loose definition of idioms to basically define idioms to be idiotic.  In other words they are expressions that generally need explanations to be understood.  They often have very interesting origins but sometimes their origins are not even known.  What each student did was draw pictures of exactly what the idiom said, not what the idiom meant.  The idioms were explained after the student had drawn the picture and then put up on the wall.  These are some pictures of my classroom (Mr. Taylor) at Rutherford Elementary School in Nanaimo, B.C. 

See a short slide show of 30 of the 970 idioms

Add your drawings to the website! so far we only have one drawing that came in from the Internet.  That one was sent by Heath. (a wolf in sheep's clothing) We hope to add your drawings as well. 

Guess the Idiom Click to see a short slide show and see if you can guess what the idiom is! (Use the Back Arrow when finished)

Answers to the slide show

Go directly to a page that has a link to every one of these images and then "go crazy"viewing them. 

If you want a large file with a huge collection of generally child safe idioms click here.    

Permission to use these pictures for non-commercial purposes has been granted by the "kids" who drew these pictures.  If you wish to use them commercially, you should contact us to seek explicit permissions from the children who drew them. Contact  us!

Other websites that are related to this idiom website.

If you wish to find out what an idiom actually means and how to use it in a sentence you should check out  Wayne Magnuson's list of idioms.    

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Visit an interesting site of jokes, anecdotes, history, sayings, poems, philosophical thoughts, riddles etc.  These are things that my dad cut out of newspapers and magazines over his 86 years on this earth.  A random selection that will interest you, entertain you and educate you.  ... it's called Random Ramblings.  It can also be reached at www.ramblings.idiomsbykids.com

Web site hosted by Nisa in Nanaimo.  

Visitors since January 10, 2006