How Your Child Can Create a Comic Strip

Do you have a child with an artistic ability? Looking for some creative writing ideas that support that talent?

Then you might want to inspire him to create a comic strip.

Comic strips are a great motivating writing project for a reluctant writer. That’s because they can be full of adventure or drama or humor or whatever your child wants. Best of all, they include a lot of drawing.

Let’s take a look at how to create these comical writing projects. (Sorry about the pun)

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How to Create a Comic Strip

Supplies

First, here’s what you’ll need.

• Paper
• Sharp pencil
• Good eraser
• Colored pencils
• Cardstock (optional)
• Drawing books (more on this below)

Two Types of Comic Strips

There are two types of comic strips that your child can choose from. One is the short humorous comic strip. The other is the long comic strip that has a story. Here’s more about them.

Short Humorous Comics

These are the quickest and easiest comic strips to create. They only need to be about 1-4 panels in length. Here’s what your child should think about before starting.

• What joke does he want to create a comic for?
• Who does he want for characters?
• Does he want a setting or background? If so, what?

Long Comics

Long comics involve a story line so your child will have to consider more things when developing it.

He’ll want to jot down his ideas on paper first. They can be in the form of an outline, a summary, or just general notes. They will make it easier for him when it comes time to create the actual comic strip.

Here is what he should think about.

• Plot – What happens in the comic strip?
• Characters – Who is in the comic strip and what kinds of personalities do they have?
• Setting – Where does it take place?
• Dialog – What do the characters say or think?

Creating the Comic Strip

Once your child has created his plan and taken notes, he should be ready to create his panels. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Draw the boxes for the panels. Rulers help with this.
2. Draw the characters and any important miscellaneous props. Drawing books can help here. More on that in a minute.
3. Draw the word or thought bubbles and write in the text. Printing is the conventional form of writing for comic strips.
4. Draw the background if desired.
5. Color with colored pencil.

Done! Then all he has to do is the most important part…share it with friends and family. Now about those helpful drawing books…

Drawing Books

There are many drawing books on the market that not only help children learn to draw, but also inspire creativity. Here are some that are available:

Some of my daughters’ all time favorites were the books by Mark Kistler. He’s both funny and inspirational. Here are his books.

 
Ed Emberley makes drawing very easy for kids using simple lines and shapes. Here are some of his books.

 
1-2-3 Draw is another great series for teaching drawing. It’s perfect for kids who want more detailed, realistic drawings.

 
Hopefully you and your child will find these books useful.

Many blessings,