Create a Sprite
Design and draw a colorful sprite character on paper or digitally, then animate simple movements like walking or jumping to learn basic game art.
About this tutorial
Design and draw a colorful sprite character on paper or digitally, then animate simple movements like walking or jumping to learn basic game art.
What you need
Step by step
- 1
Step 1
Think of a fun character and pick a simple action like walking or jumping and give it a name.
- 2
Step 2
Decide how many frames you want your animation to have from 2 to 6 frames.
- 3
Step 3
Use the ruler to draw side-by-side square grids on the paper with one grid for each frame.
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Step 4
Lightly sketch your sprite in the first grid showing the starting pose.
- 5
Step 5
Sketch the next grid with a small change to the pose like one leg or arm moved.
- 6
Step 6
Sketch the remaining frames with the next small changes so the movement will flow smoothly.
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Step 7
Trace clean outlines over every frame with the fine black marker.
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Step 8
Color each frame using simple flat colors for the sprite.
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Step 9
Erase any leftover pencil marks so each frame looks neat.
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Step 10
Test your animation by flipping the paper strip quickly or sliding your eyes across the frames to see the movement.
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Step 11
Make tiny edits to the frames to smooth the motion if anything looks jumpy.
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Step 12
Share your finished sprite and a short description of your animation on DIY.org
Fun facts
How do you design and animate a sprite character?
Start by brainstorming a simple character and sketching a few poses on paper or digitally. Choose a color palette, then draw your sprite at the size you want (for pixel art, work on a small grid). Create key frames for walking or jumping—usually 3–6 frames per motion—and refine the in-between drawings. Test by flipping paper pages or playing frames in animation software (Piskel, Krita, or a simple GIF maker). Adjust timing and details, then export frames for use in games or projects.
What materials do I need to make and animate a sprite?
For paper sprites: plain paper or graph/pixel paper, pencils, erasers, colored pencils or markers, scissors, and a lightbox or clipboard for tracing frames. For digital sprites: a tablet or computer, stylus (optional), and software like Piskel, Aseprite (trial), Krita, or even Scratch. You may also want a scanner or camera to import paper drawings, and a simple GIF maker or game engine to test the animation.
What ages is sprite design and animation suitable for?
This activity suits many ages with adjustments: preschoolers (3–5) can color characters and see simple flipbook motion with adult help. Elementary kids (6–9) can sketch multiple frames and try basic digital tools. Tweens and teens (10+) can learn pixel art, timing, and software workflows to create polished sprites. Supervise younger children with scissors or screens and tailor complexity to each child’s motor and attention skills.
What are the benefits of designing and animating sprites?
Creating sprites builds creativity, fine motor skills, sequencing, and visual storytelling. Animation teaches cause-and-effect, timing, and problem solving—useful for coding and game design. It also encourages patience and iterative improvement. Kids can progress from drawing to importing sprites in beginner coding platforms like Scratch, linking art to interactive projects and boosting confidence through tangible, playable results.
Watch & Learn
Need help?
What can I use if I don't have a fine black marker or a ruler?
Use a ballpoint pen or thin felt-tip to trace clean outlines and a straight edge like a paperback book or a piece of cardboard to draw the side-by-side square grids.
My animation looks jumpy when I flip the paper—what should I check or fix?
Check that each grid is the same size from the ruler step, that each pose change between frames is very small as you sketched in the middle steps, and erase stray pencil marks before retracing so the motion smooths out.
How can I adapt this activity for different ages?
For younger kids use only 2–3 large grids, a pre-drawn starting pose, and chunky crayons for coloring, while older kids can do 5–6 frames, add finer in-between sketches, and carefully trace with the fine black marker.
What are simple ways to extend or personalize the sprite after finishing the flip test?
Add a colored background to each frame, bind the strip into a flipbook or scan the frames to make a GIF, and then share your finished sprite with a short description on DIY.org as instructed.