You can make a comic with a child in one sitting. You need paper, a pencil, and a short story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Draw a few quick characters, split the story into panels, add speech bubbles, then color it in. Drawing skill is not required. Stick figures work, and the story matters more than the art.
This guide walks through each step in order. It is written for parents, teachers and librarians who work with children ages 3 to 8, and it includes ideas for kids who say they can't draw or don't like to write.
TL;DR
- Start with a doodle warm-up, then pick a character, a small problem, and a beginning, middle and end.
- Plan the story in rough thumbnail sketches before drawing the final panels.
- Use speech bubbles for words, thought bubbles for thoughts, and captions for time and place.
- Keep the first comic short. A one-page or eight-panel comic is enough.
- Younger children can dictate the words while you write, and they draw the pictures.
Table of Contents
- What you need before you start
- Step 1: Warm up with silly doodles
- Step 2: Create a character and a small problem
- Step 3: Plan a beginning, middle and end
- Step 4: Turn the story into panels
- Step 5: Add speech bubbles, thought bubbles and captions
- Step 6: Ink and color
- Making a comic on a screen
- Ideas for young and reluctant writers
- Use comics to talk about feelings
- Keep the comic-making going with Duckwave Decks
- A 45-minute plan you can try today
- FAQ
- Sources
What you need before you start
Keep the supplies simple. A basic setup is blank paper, lead pencils and colored pencils. A lightbox, tracing paper, a computer and a scanner are optional extras. Operation Comic Book lists paper, a pencil, markers, crayons or ink pens, and imagination as the basic materials.
A ruler helps if your child wants neat panel borders. A template can also help. The Library of Congress guide includes an 8-page foldable template. If you want to skip the folding, our blank comic templates for teachers give you ready-made panels to print.
A few practical tips:
- Use a pencil first. Mistakes then feel small.
- Colored pencils are easier to control than other options. Teachers & Writers notes that markers can bleed and crayons can be hard to steer.
- Set aside 20 to 30 minutes for each step with young children. Spread the comic over several days if needed.
Step 1: Warm up with silly doodles
A blank page can freeze a child. Take the pressure off with a game. The Library of Congress guide asks children to doodle at least 10 of each shape, such as circles or blobs. Each shape can turn into a face, an animal or a monster.
Try this:
- Draw 10 circles on a page together.
- Add eyes, ears, hair or antennae to each one.
- Ask your child which one they would like to hear more about.
That one becomes your main character. Doodling first also shows a child that every drawing is allowed to be a little odd. That is a good start for a comic.
Step 2: Create a character and a small problem
Good comics for young children are built on one character who wants one thing. Ask three questions:
- Who is this character?
- What do they want?
- What gets in the way?
The Library of Congress guide asks children to identify characters, a problem, and ideas for the beginning, middle and end. Keep the problem small. A lost sock, a rainy picnic or a shy dinosaur at a new school is plenty.
If your child needs help generating ideas, a hero-and-villain exercise works well for older kids in this range. Teachers & Writers suggests designing a hero and a villain with five descriptive adjectives and three sentences each. For ages 3 to 5, shorten this to one word and one sentence.
For a fast routine, see our guide to co-creating a character in 10 to 20 minutes. If the ideas still don't come, our storytelling prompts by age give you ready-to-use starters.
Step 3: Plan a beginning, middle and end
Before any panels, tell the story out loud. The Library of Congress guide builds a first comic around three ideas: what happens at the beginning, middle and end.
A simple frame you can use:
- Beginning: meet the character and show what they want.
- Middle: something goes wrong.
- End: the problem is solved, or the character learns something.
For slightly older children, Teachers & Writers recommends plotting a beginning, middle, conflict and resolution. Younger children can act the story out first, or dictate it to you. Our article on teaching story structure by grade with dictation and acting shows how.
Write one sentence for each part. These sentences become your panels.
Step 4: Turn the story into panels
A panel is one box of action. BBC Bitesize explains that each piece of action belongs inside a panel, panels are separated by gutters (the gaps between them), and panel size and placement shape how the page flows.
Sketch thumbnails first
Thumbnails are tiny, rough sketches of the whole page. Draw six small boxes on scrap paper and sketch each scene in a few seconds. Stick figures are fine. The point is to see the whole story at once and fix problems before the real drawing. Moving a scene is much easier when it is the size of a postage stamp.
Change the view
A comic gets more exciting when the "camera" moves. BBC Bitesize suggests varying shots: long shot, mid shot, close-up, extreme close-up, bird's-eye view and worm's-eye view. With young kids, try just two: a wide shot to show where we are, and a close-up of a face to show how the character feels.
Draw the final panels
On the final page, Teachers & Writers recommends finishing the foregrounds and main action first, then adding backgrounds. This keeps the character as the star of each panel.
Step 5: Add speech bubbles, thought bubbles and captions
Words go in three places. BBC Bitesize describes speech bubbles for what characters say, thought bubbles for what they think, and captions for when and where things happen or for background information.
A few tips for natural dialogue:
- Keep lines short. Two or three words in a bubble is fine.
- Include at least one question and one answer.
- Read the lines out loud. If it sounds odd, change it.
- Use punctuation to show feelings. An exclamation mark or a row of dots tells the reader a lot.
A BBC Teach lesson built around Beano comics adds that captions can introduce a new scene and ellipses can show a pause or signal that more is coming.
Leave space for the bubbles before you draw. Sketch the bubbles lightly in pencil first, then write inside them. Otherwise the words get squeezed in at the end.
Step 6: Ink and color
When the pencil lines look right, go over them with a thin black marker. Then color with colored pencils, as above. Let the ink dry first. Children aged 3 to 5 may prefer to skip inking and go straight to color.
When the comic is done, share it. A U.S. comics workshop for students ages 9 to 18 ended with students presenting their work to classmates, parents and guests, and they took home digital and hard copies. You can do a small version at home: staple the pages, read the comic aloud, and put it on the fridge or the classroom shelf.
Making a comic on a screen
Some children enjoy digital tools more than paper. A syndicated guide to digital comics describes web tools that let children drag and drop characters, backgrounds and speech bubbles. It also describes drawing apps and a photo method: take pictures on a phone, arrange them in panels, apply comic-style filters, add speech bubbles and stickers, then export the finished comic.
The photo method is a good fit for children who say they can't draw. They can pose stuffed animals or act out scenes with family members, and the story still belongs to them.
For children ages 3 to 8, we suggest paper first. It is quicker to start, there is no account to set up, and an adult can sit alongside without managing a screen. Move to digital once the child knows what a panel and a bubble are.
Ideas for young and reluctant writers
Many children are happy to draw and resist writing. Comics suit them. The Yale National Initiative describes comics as a way to engage reluctant writers by teaching visual characters, settings, plots and movement, and ways to show shouting or whispering.
Try these approaches:
- Start small. MoMA's educator guide, written for teachers and students, offers a step-by-step route to a short comic. A short, manageable first comic lets a child learn visual storytelling by making one.
- Use stick figures. Skip details. The story is the goal.
- Share your own comic. Teachers & Writers advises using comics made by students as models, because professionally designed comics can make children feel they will never be able to make one. Draw a quick, messy comic yourself and let your child see it.
- Make it a team job. One child draws, one writes the bubbles. Teachers & Writers suggests giving each team a theme.
- Hand out concrete prompts. Some children freeze with open choices. Give them a mix of a person, a place and a thing, and let them build from there. Our story cubes ideas offer 30 prompts and 10 games for this.
In a classroom, you can run all of this in a corner. Our classroom storytelling centers lay out three routines to try. For more drawing-based activities, see storytelling art projects for ages 3 to 8.
Use comics to talk about feelings
A comic is a safe place to show how a character feels. A face in a close-up, a shaking line or a thought bubble gives children words and pictures for emotions they may not be able to say out loud.
The Children's Theatre Company's Drawing Lessons educator guide uses character exploration to help students build empathy for several characters and connect the work to their own identities. You can use the same idea at home. After the comic is finished, ask:
- How does this character feel in panel three?
- What would help them feel better?
- Has anything like this happened to you?
For teachers planning this work in a preschool setting, our guide to storytelling for emotional learning is aligned with CASEL.
Give your cast variety
Children should see many kinds of people in the stories they make. The Comics Unleashed manual recommends characters with varied ethnicities, races, genders, abilities and orientations. It also warns against tokenism and one-dimensional personalities.
In practice, ask your child to give each character a goal, something they are good at, and something they find hard. That makes every character a person, not a label.
What we think about comics and kids
At Icon Literary, we build stories, card decks and activities around original characters, and we have seen how quickly a child latches onto a character with a clear personality. That is why we suggest starting every comic with a character, not a plot.
We design our work to teach emotional literacy without lecturing. Our approach is that feelings show up best when they live inside a story: a nervous duck, a grumpy neighbor, a surprise in the last panel. A child who draws that moment is practicing the same skills they will need to name their feelings later.
We also believe the look of a story matters. Children respond to bold shapes, playful color and a little silliness. A comic doesn't have to be neat to be good. It has to be theirs.
Our hope is that you finish this guide with a stack of strange, wonderful pages that your child is proud of.
Derek Amarillas
Keep the comic-making going with Duckwave Decks
Once a child has made one comic, the next question is usually "what should I draw now?" Our Duckwave Decks are themed card decks from the Duckwave Universe, available for a one-off price of $7. They can give you fresh characters and scenes to pull into a story.
If you want regular new material for home or class, you can also look at our member site, where we share printables and ongoing fresh content.
A 45-minute plan you can try today
If you want a ready schedule for a first session, use this one:
| Time | Activity | What the child makes |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 minutes | Doodle 10 shapes | A page of silly faces |
| 5 to 15 minutes | Pick one character and a small problem | Name, one wish, one obstacle |
| 15 to 20 minutes | Tell the story aloud in three parts | A beginning, middle and end |
| 20 to 30 minutes | Sketch six thumbnails | A rough page plan |
| 30 to 40 minutes | Draw the panels and add bubbles | A pencil comic |
| 40 to 45 minutes | Read it aloud | A first audience |
If the session runs long, stop after the thumbnails and finish another day. Inking and color can wait. Children often come back to a comic with more energy when they have a clear plan on the table.
FAQ
What age can children start making comics?
Children as young as 3 can make comics if an adult writes down their words. They draw the pictures and tell you what each character says. By ages 6 to 8, many children can write short bubbles on their own and plan a six-panel page.
How many panels should a child's first comic have?
Six is a good number for a first page, and eight works if you use a foldable template. This gives enough room for a beginning, middle and end without feeling like a big project. A comic with three panels is fine for the youngest children.
What if my child says they can't draw?
Start with silly shape doodles, and let them use stick figures. Comics rely on storytelling more than on polished art. You can also try photo-based comics, where a child poses toys or people and adds speech bubbles afterward.
Should we use paper or a digital tool?
For ages 3 to 8, we suggest paper first because it is quick and needs no setup. Digital tools can be a good next step for children who enjoy screens or want to share their work. Either way, plan the story on paper before you start.
Sources
- Library of Congress: Comic Creator guide
- Teachers & Writers Magazine: Launching comics (issue 39, no. 4)
- Operation Comic Book: Comic Book Academy
- BBC Bitesize: How to write a comic
- BBC Teach: How to make comic book stories with Beano
- ERIC: Integrating Technology, Art, and Writing: Creating Comics
- Art Daily: Create your own digital comics whether you can draw or not
- Yale National Initiative: Unit 16.03.04
- MoMA: How to Make Comics
- Children's Theatre Company: Drawing Lessons Educator Guide
- Comics Unleashed: Harnessing the Power of Comic Books to Promote Inclusion and Diversity