How to draw money - a free money drawing guide

I don't have a ruler or a black pen—what can I use instead to draw my play money?

Use any straight-edged object like a book or credit card to lightly mark the rectangle with your pencil, replace the black pen for tracing with a fine-tip marker or dark coloured pen, swap coloured pencils for crayons or markers when you colour the bill, and use a phone camera to take the final photo for sharing on DIY.org.

My traced lines smudge and the shading looks flat—how can I fix that?

Make faint pencil construction lines as the instructions say, wait for the ink to dry before erasing remaining pencil lines carefully, use gentle eraser strokes to clean up smudges, and build up shading on the portrait with layered light and dark pencil strokes to show depth.

How can I adapt this drawing activity for younger or older kids?

For younger kids simplify by drawing a larger rectangle, pre-drawing the center portrait and corner boxes, and using chunky markers, while older kids can add detailed repeated background patterns, neat serial numbers, fine shading, tiny finishing details, and intricate banner lettering before tracing with pen.

What are some fun ways to extend or personalise our finished play money?

Create a full set of denominations with different colours, design a matching back for each bill, add a hand-drawn security seal or metallic sticker, sign and number each bill with tidy digits, and laminate or take a photo to share your creation on DIY.org.