How Drawing Encourages Character Design
Ask a child to draw "a hero" and watch what happens — a cape appears, then a strange helmet, then three eyes because "he can see everywhere." That's character design in its earliest and most honest form, happening one impulsive decision at a time.
What Character Design Looks Like for a Child
Character design is the act of inventing a being — a look, a personality suggested through appearance, a name, sometimes a whole backstory muttered under the breath while drawing. It doesn't require training or technique. A child deciding their invented creature should have "grumpy eyebrows" or "a tail made of fire" is already doing the core work that professional character designers do for animated films and games, just without the deadlines.
How Drawing Grows Character Design
Drawing the same invented character more than once is where character design really develops. The first version might be rough and inconsistent, but drawing it again — and again — pushes a child to make repeated decisions: does this character always wear that hat? Is the tail always striped? Those small, repeated choices are exactly how a character starts to feel like a distinct, ownable creation rather than a one-time doodle. Giving a character room to reappear across several drawings, over days or weeks, lets that consistency and ownership build naturally.
Simple Activity to Try
Invite your child to invent a brand-new creature that "nobody has ever seen before" — not a version of a favorite cartoon character, but something original. Ask them to give it three features no one else's creature has, then draw that same creature again a few days later and see what stayed the same and what changed.
Tips for Parents and Teachers
- Encourage inventing new characters, but don't discourage drawing favorite existing ones too — both are valuable.
- Celebrate strange, specific choices instead of steering toward "normal-looking" designs.
- Keep a running "character page" or folder where invented characters can be revisited.
- Ask playful questions about a character's personality to deepen the invention.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a problem if my child only draws characters from their favorite shows?
Not at all — copying and remixing favorite characters is a normal, healthy part of learning how characters are built, and original ideas often grow out of it over time.
How can I encourage more original characters?
Try open prompts like "what if this character had a superpower nobody's ever had?" rather than asking for realism or correctness.
Does character design require strong drawing skill?
No — a character can be recognizable and full of personality even as a few simple shapes. The invention matters more than the technique.
Conclusion
Every invented creature with a name and a personality is a small piece of character design taking shape. Give it room to be revisited and changed over time. To see how invented worlds and stories connect to character work, take a look at imaginary worlds in children's art and how drawing encourages storytelling, or find a fresh page to start on at our coloring pages.