Create a DIY Flip-Book With Your Little Artist

Make a doodle flip-book together with your child using sketches, paintings, collages, or written words.

By Diana MacKenzie
Apr 21, 2017

Ages

3-13

Create a DIY Flip-Book With Your Little Artist

Apr 21, 2017

A doodle flip-book is a small book with images on each page that change slightly, so that when you quickly flip through the pages of the book it gives the illusion of movement or animation. Making an original doodle flip-book with your child is simple — all you need are these simple materials and some creativity.

What You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Pens, crayons or markers
  • Collage papers
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Masking tape
  • Stapler

How to Make Doodle Books

Step 1: Cut the paper into your desired size. You can cut pieces of 9"x12" white drawing paper into smaller 3"x6" pieces. Hand-held sizes in rectangles or squares are ideal because it's easier to flip the book's pages quickly and get the desired animation effect. Plus, the more papers in your book the better, because it will also help your book flip more effectively.

Step 2: Bind your book. If you don't have access to a heavy duty stapler, try stapling smaller sets of paper with a regular stapler and taping them together with masking tape. Or, you can punch a few holes and secure the pages with round head brass fasteners along the spine. With these, you can add and remove pages to the book more easily than with staples.

Step 3: Fill in your book. Not sure what to put in your flip-book? Make something that gradually 'moves' across the page, like this inching caterpillar.
 

 




Or, you can create a visual story about something that changes in size: from small to big, or shrinks from large to small. Here's an example of a few pages from a story called One Big Fish.
 

 

 

 

 

 


Another good alternative to stapled stacks of paper is using sticky notes. For more examples of how to make a DIY flip-book, you can check out YouTube.

Help your child fill in his own doodle books with anything from sketches, paintings, collages, or written words and then flip away!

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