Design Your Very Own Superhero!
Design and create your own superhero: draw a costume, invent powers and a backstory, and make a short comic strip to tell their adventure.
About this activity
Design and create your own superhero: draw a costume, invent powers and a backstory, and make a short comic strip to tell their adventure.
What you need
Step by step
- 1
Step 1
Find a quiet spot and write your superhero's name big at the top of a blank sheet of paper.
- 2
Step 2
On the same sheet list three superpowers your hero has, one power per line.
- 3
Step 3
Write a short backstory of three sentences that explains how your hero got their powers.
- 4
Step 4
On a new sheet lightly sketch your hero's full body with your pencil.
- 5
Step 5
Add costume details like an emblem cape mask or gadget belt to your pencil drawing.
- 6
Step 6
Choose two main colors for the costume and color those areas with your coloring materials.
- 7
Step 7
On a sticky note write your hero's signature move and stick it next to the drawing.
- 8
Step 8
On a different sticky note write one weakness and stick it beside the drawing.
- 9
Step 9
Use your ruler to draw four equal comic panels on a fresh sheet of paper.
- 10
Step 10
In pencil sketch the story across the four panels showing a beginning a middle and an end.
- 11
Step 11
Add speech bubbles and captions to each panel with your pencil.
- 12
Step 12
Color the comic panels using your coloring materials.
- 13
Step 13
Share your finished superhero and comic on DIY.org.
Fun facts
How do I help my child design their own superhero and make a comic strip?
Start by brainstorming your hero’s name, powers, and backstory together. Sketch a costume, color it, and decide on a simple weakness or goal. Plan a 4–6 panel comic: set up the scene, show a problem, reveal a power, and end with resolution. Add speech bubbles and captions. Help younger children with drawing or panel layout, then display the finished comic or act it out as a mini-play.
What materials do I need to design a superhero and create a short comic?
You’ll need basic art supplies: plain paper or a comic strip template, pencils, erasers, fine-tip pens, and colored pencils or markers. Optional: ruler for panels, scissors and glue for collage elements, stickers, and scrap fabric for costume textures. For digital versions, use a tablet and drawing app. Keep non-toxic materials and child-safe scissors for young children; organize supplies in a tray to avoid mess.
What ages is designing a superhero and making a comic strip suitable for?
This activity works for a wide range: preschoolers (ages 4–6) with adult help to draw simple shapes and pick colors; early elementary (7–9) can design costumes, name powers, and make short 4-panel comics with guidance; older kids (10+) can create detailed art, complex backstories, and longer strips. Adjust complexity, fine-motor tasks, and storytelling length to each child’s interest and skill level; supervise cutting or gluing.
What are the benefits, safety tips, and fun variations for the superhero design activity?
Designing a superhero builds creativity, storytelling, empathy, and fine motor skills while boosting confidence. It helps children practice problem-solving and character development. For safety, use non-toxic art supplies and age-appropriate scissors. Variations: make a team comic with friends, use recycled materials to design costumes, create a stop-motion short with toys, or make a digital comic using simple apps. Celebrate each story to encourage continued creativity.
Watch & Learn
Need help?
If I don't have sticky notes or a ruler, what can I use instead for the signature move/weakness notes and the four equal comic panels?
Use small squares cut from scrap paper and tape them next to the drawing for the 'On a sticky note write your hero's signature move' and 'write one weakness' steps, and use a straight edge like a book or a piece of cardboard in place of the ruler when you draw the four equal comic panels.
My character's proportions and panel lines look wrong when I 'lightly sketch your hero's full body' and 'draw four equal comic panels' — how can I fix that?
Begin the 'lightly sketch your hero's full body' step with simple shapes (circle for head, ovals for torso/limbs) and erase guidelines before adding costume details, and mark the panel edges lightly with your ruler or book edge so the four panels line up evenly.
How can I adapt the activity for younger or older kids?
For younger children, make the backstory one sentence, allow a stick-figure full-body sketch and one-color costume choices, while older kids can expand the three-sentence backstory, add detailed emblems, a gadget belt, and extra or shaded comic panels for more storytelling.
What are some ways to extend or personalize the superhero and comic before sharing it on DIY.org?
Create a matching villain and attach their weakness on another sticky note, make a cardboard mask from the costume sketch, add an extra comic page showing the signature move in action across new panels, and photograph the finished pages to upload to DIY.org.