How to use a sketchbook with kids: 20 ideas

A sketchbook gives kids a place to practice, experiment and see their progress. The best way to use one is little and often: a page a day or a few pages a week, a mix of practice and free ideas, and no grading. Here are 20 sketchbook ideas to get started.

Why a sketchbook helps

• It builds a habit. A book of their own feels important. See how often kids should draw.
• It shows progress. Flip back a month and the change is obvious.
• It’s private. Kids experiment more when nobody grades it.
• It holds ideas. Characters, comics, inventions, maps.

How to start

1. Pick a sketchbook that lies flat. Spiral-bound works well.
2. Write the date on every page. It turns the book into a timeline.
3. Make a “no erasing” rule for some pages. It loosens kids up.
4. Keep it with the pencils. Easy to grab.

20 sketchbook ideas

Practice pages

1. Draw a lesson character, then draw it again without looking.
2. Fill a page with eyes. See cartoon eyes.
3. One face, six feelings. See cartoon expressions.
4. Draw a circle ten times and turn each into something different.
5. Copy a character square by square on a grid you draw yourself.

From real life

1. Your shoe.
2. Your breakfast, as a monster.
3. The view out the window.
4. Your pet, sleeping.
5. Your hand in three poses.

Imagination

1. A creature that’s half one animal and half another.
2. Your dream bedroom.
3. A robot that does your chores.
4. A map of a made-up island.
5. What lives under your bed.

Stories

1. A four-panel comic. See making a comic with kids.
2. A character’s trading card with stats.
3. The next scene after a lesson drawing.
4. A movie poster for your own film.
5. “Today I...” in pictures.

Need more? Spin the drawing prompt generator or use the story drawing prompts.

Pair it with lessons

A great routine: do a step-by-step lesson, then turn to the sketchbook and draw the same character in your own way. On a How to Draw page the gray guide shows the finished drawing; in the sketchbook, kids try it on their own.

Don’t check it without asking

Respect the sketchbook. Ask “Want to show me anything?” instead of flipping through it.

The book that helps

The How to Draw Sketchbook is made to go with the How to Draw books: 100 extra pages to draw each character again, or invent new ones.

How to Draw: SketchbookSee it on Amazon

How to Draw: Cool Stuff 2See it on Amazon

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