18 Fun Picture Drag and Drop Activities for Students of all Ages

Dragging and dropping images to boxes or on top of other images is one of the most interactive exercises you can do with your students. Depending on the question and purpose, drag and drop activities can teach students various types of knowledge in different courses throughout the years. Whether they're in kindergarten, primary school, middle school or high school, a drag and drop question type is always a good idea.

In this blog post, I will share digital learning activities using image drag and drop question types for students of all ages throughout different courses.

• Picture Count Drag & Drop !NEW!
• Picture Drag & Drop Language Activities
• Picture Drag & Drop Math Activities
• Picture Drag & Drop Science Activities
• Picture Drag & Drop Music & Arts Activities

💡 Before we begin: All the activities are made with BookWidgets. You can use them for free or design new, fun picture drag and drop lesson ideas yourself. Click this group link, log into your BookWidgets account (or create one), and you'll find all the activities listed in the group. After duplicating, you can make changes to the activity, customizing it for your students.

The New Picture Count Drag & Drop Question Type in BookWidgets

When you're familiar to working with BookWidgets, you'll notice a lot of these activities feature a "Picture drag and drop" question type with new possibilities. This new question type is called the "Picture Count Drag & Drop" within BookWidgets when you choose a (Video) Quiz or (Split) Worksheet Widget. This type of image drag and drop question allows students to drag the same image and drop it to a box or on top of another image over and over again.

Let's compare the Picture Drag & Drop with the Picture Count Drag & Drop question:

💡The biggest difference is the bar with images on top. Although it looks the same, in the first question type, you can only drag & drop the image once. The image will disappear from the top bar once your students have used it. In the new question type, the images stay in the top bar and students can drag & drop an image multiple times.

All the activities starring the new question type will have a star ⭐️ in the title.

Picture Drag & Drop Language Activities

Make your language lessons more interactive with drag-and-drop vocabulary and grammar activities. Students visually match, sort, and build words by dragging images or text into the correct boxes—perfect for practicing grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. These digital language exercises are ideal for reinforcing key language skills in a fun and engaging way.

1. Compound Words ⭐️

Boost your students’ vocabulary skills with this engaging compound word drag-and-drop activity created in BookWidgets. Learners drag image-based word parts into the correct boxes to complete compound words like sunlight, flowerpot, or housework. Some word parts appear in multiple compound words, helping students develop language flexibility and spelling accuracy. This interactive digital word building activity is ideal for elementary language lessons, ESL vocabulary practice, or literacy centers. Use this fun and effective compound word game for students to make word formation both visual and memorable.

💡 Pro tip: This picture count question type is all about dragging images. By adding audio, you can also use your voice and students get to listen to the pronunciation of the words. In this "compound words" lesson example, it's also better to add audio for when students don't exactely understand the meaning of the image. Click the cogwheel next to the image. Now, record or upload audio.

2. Fruit Baskets ⭐️

This fun drag-and-drop fruit activity helps young learners build essential vocabulary in a visual and interactive way. Students drag fruit images—like apples, bananas, and grapes—into three different labeled baskets while learning to recognize and name each fruit. The activity supports language development, pronunciation, and word-picture association in an engaging format. At the same time, students practice basic counting skills, making this a perfect cross-curricular exercise. It’s ideal for early language lessons, ESL learners, or interactive smartboard use in the classroom.

💡 Pro tip: Add a background image to make the activity more playful and lifelike. When working with background images, make sure to edit the drop box option and set them up like in the image below.

3. Farm Animals ⭐️

In this interactive drag-and-drop farm animal activity, students practice key animal vocabulary while building a farm scene by dragging images to the correct locations. They read or listen to simple instructions like “Place two horses behind the fence on the right” and match them with the visuals, reinforcing word comprehension and listening skills. This engaging language development activity also includes counting tasks, helping students connect numbers to words in context. Students place animals like pigs, chickens, frogs, and fish in the right spots, improving both vocabulary retention and spatial awareness. It’s the perfect digital ESL or early language learning activity for young learners in a fun farm-themed setting.

💡 Pro tip: Click the gear icon next to the images to change the image size. Scroll down and change the dimentions below "resolution". In this activity, the animal images differ in size.

4. Baking a Cake

This practical drag-and-drop grocery shopping activity helps students build everyday vocabulary while preparing for real-life situations. Students read a short recipe task—like baking a cake—and must drag the correct grocery items (eggs, flour, sugar, and butter) into the shopping cart. It’s a fun and visual way to teach food-related vocabulary and reading comprehension. This activity also encourages students to follow instructions and apply language in meaningful, real-world contexts. It’s ideal for ESL learners, life skills lessons, and interactive language practice in the classroom.

💡 Pro tip: When adding images to this digital question, choose the "Find image online" option. You'll immediately get acces to the integrated and free Pixabay image library. It will save you a lot of time!

Picture Drag & Drop Math Activities

Make math more engaging with interactive drag-and-drop exercises in BookWidgets. Students build number sense, practice counting, sort shapes, and solve equations by dragging visual elements into the correct groups or positions. These digital math activities boost understanding through hands-on learning and are perfect for both in-class and remote teaching.

5. 3D Geometry Nets

In this interactive geometry drag-and-drop activity, students match 2D geometry nets to their corresponding 3D shapes. By dragging nets into labeled boxes, students reinforce their understanding of geometric structures. This visual math exercise helps learners connect flat shapes to real-world 3D objects, improving spatial reasoning and geometry vocabulary. The activity is ideal for practicing geometry nets in a hands-on, digital format. It’s a perfect addition to any math lesson on 3D shapes and works well for both classroom and remote learning.

6. Units of Measurement

In this interactive drag-and-drop measurement activity, students practice matching everyday objects to the correct units of measurement. They drag images—like a bottle of water, a pencil, or a bag of flour—into boxes labeled with units such as liters, grams, or centimeters. This activity strengthens students' understanding of metric units and when to use them in real-life situations. It’s a great way to reinforce math and science vocabulary through visual and hands-on learning. Perfect for upper elementary school, this BookWidgets math activity makes learning about measurement fun and practical.

7. Count the Money ⭐️

In this drag-and-drop euro activity, students match images of coins and bills to written euro amounts. They practice recognizing euro currency and calculating totals by dragging the correct combination of money into labeled boxes. This activity supports essential math and financial literacy skills in a fun and visual way. It’s perfect for teaching students how to count money and understand real-world spending.

💡 Pro tip: For some activities, like counting money, students can use a different set of images to form their answer to the question. It will still be correct, but they use other bills and coins. As a teacher, you can configure different image groups with correct answers.

8. What's the Change? ⭐️

In this second drag-and-drop money lesson plan, students practice giving the correct amount of euro change by dragging coins and bills into the right box (or hands). Based on the purchase instructions above, they must calculate how much change is needed and select the appropriate denominations. This activity strengthens math skills, especially addition and subtraction with money, while also building real-life financial literacy. It’s ideal for practicing euro currency recognition and problem-solving in an engaging way. Perfect for math and economics lessons, this BookWidgets exercise makes learning about money both fun and practical.

💡 Pro tip: Use a text question type to provide more elaborate instructions. You can easily add a table to make instructions more clear.

9. Counting Colored Candy ⭐️

In this fun counting lesson plan for early childhood, students practice color recognition and counting by dragging colored candy into the correct candy jars. This digital math activity helps young learners to connect words to visuals and build their language skills. At the same time, they count how many candies go into each jar, supporting early math development. This interactive task is perfect for introducing basic sorting, colors, and numbers in a playful and engaging way. Preschool and kindergarten students strengthen both math and language skills through hands-on digital learning.

💡 Pro tip: Create a background image using Canva or Adobe Express and repeat the images to make it a more comprehensive learning activity.

10. Recognizing shapes ⭐️

In this engaging activity for early learners, students match everyday objects with their correct geometric shapes. They drag images—like a clock, a ball, the sun —into boxes labeled circle, square, and triangle. This activity helps children build essential shape recognition through interactive learning. It’s perfect for teaching math in preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

11. Counting to 10

In this fun and visual counting activity for early learners, students practice number recognition and counting to ten. They drag and drop number images next to groups of objects—like apples, balloons, or books—on a colorful background. This interactive drag-and-drop activity helps young children connect numerals with quantities in a meaningful way. It’s perfect for building early math and number sense skills in preschool and kindergarten.

Picture Drag & Drop Science Activities

Bring science lessons to life with interactive drag-and-drop activities in BookWidgets. Students can label diagrams, build molecules, or sort animals into habitats—all while developing key scientific thinking skills. These hands-on digital exercises make STEM learning more visual, engaging, and effective.

12. Subtances and Mixtures

In this interactive chemistry activity, students learn to distinguish between pure substances and mixtures by sorting images into the correct categories. They drag items like salt, water, and gold into labeled boxes: “Substance” or “Mixture.” This activity reinforces students' understanding of basic chemistry concepts in a visual and engaging way. It’s perfect for middle school and high school science lessons focusing on classification of matter.

💡 Pro tip: BookWidgets flashcards have a text-to-speech optionality. Enable it for the words so students can recognize the letters and listen to them.

13. Plant Cell vs Animal Cell ⭐️

In this engaging drag-and-drop science activity, students explore the differences and similarities between plant and animal cells. They drag images of cell parts—like the mitochondrion, cell wall, chloroplast, and nucleus—into the correct boxes labeled "Plant Cell" or "Animal Cell." This interactive biology lesson plan helps students visually understand cell structure and function. It’s ideal for middle and high school students learning about cells in life science.

💡 Pro tip: Looking for the best icons to add as images to the BookWidgets picture count drag & drop question? You can use The Noun Project to find any icon you desire.

14. Stages of the Moon

In this geography drag-and-drop activity, students learn about the phases of the moon by placing each moon stage onto the correct spot in the moon cycle. They drag images like “full moon,” “new moon,” “waxing crescent,” and more to complete the lunar sequence. This visual learning tool supports students in understanding the cyclical nature of the moon phases. It’s a perfect fit for earth science or astronomy lessons in elementary and middle school.

15. Animals and their Habitats

In this engaging drag-and-drop activity geography lessons, students learn about animal habitats by placing animals on their correct continents. Using a world map as the background, students drag images like kangaroos, penguins, elephants, and polar bears to where they naturally live. This interactive task reinforces geographic knowledge and builds animal classification skills. It’s perfect for cross-curricular learning, combining biology and world geography. Teachers can use this activity to make learning about ecosystems and animal habitats both visual and fun.

16. Senses in the Garden ⭐️

In this digital lesson activity for early learners, students explore the world using their senses. They drag and drop images of outdoor objects—like flowers, birds, grass, and wind—into the correct sense boxes: see, smell, hear, and touch. This activity helps children build essential vocabulary and sensory awareness while learning how to categorize real-world experiences. It’s a fun way to strengthen language development and science skills in early childhood education. Perfect for lessons about the five senses, this digital task brings nature and learning together in a visual, hands-on way.

Picture Drag & Drop Music & Arts Activities

Bring science lessons to life with interactive drag-and-drop activities in BookWidgets. Students can label diagrams, build molecules, or sort animals into habitats—all while developing key scientific thinking skills. These hands-on digital exercises make STEM learning more visual, engaging, and effective.

17. Recognizing Instruments ⭐️

In this fun music activity, students listen to three different songs and identify the instruments used in each. They drag and drop images of instruments—such as the guitar, drums, violin, or trumpet—into the correct box labeled with the song title. This activity strengthens students' listening skills and helps them recognize the sound and role of musical instruments in various genres. It’s perfect for integrating music appreciation with interactive, visual learning. Ideal for both primary and secondary music lessons, this drag-and-drop task supports auditory development and instrument recognition in a fun, digital way.

💡 Pro tip: Expand the activity by providing elaborate instructions using a text question first. Here, you can add tables with video, and audio elements.

18. Color Theory ⭐️

In this colorful drag-and-drop activity, students explore the basics of color theory by mixing primary colors to create secondary colors. They drag paintbrushes dipped in red, blue, or yellow onto paint smudges labeled with target colors like green, orange, or purple. This interactive exercise helps students visually understand how color mixing works. It’s a fun and effective way to reinforce art vocabulary while learning about primary and secondary colors.

Wrap up

That's it! I hope this collection of online drag and drop lesson activities for both young and older learners inspired you to digitize parts of your lessons and engage your students. These activities are designed to spark curiosity and foster a love for learning. Here's to a classroom filled with joy, creativity, and endless discovery!

Remember to navigate to this BookWidgets group to find all the free image drag and drop lessons I just shared.

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