My boys are all about the comic books at the moment.
I’m not even sure what started it, the big kids have been reading comics and graphic novels off and on for ages, and the little one loves them for all the cool pictures, but just recently the boys started making their own, and so I made them some printable comic book templates to help them along.
I don’t know what started their new found love of creating comics, but you can bet I am going to encourage it!
Comics are such a great way to encourage reading, writing and storytelling, and to work on all the skills needed to be a successful reader and writer. Plus they are loads of fun!
Today I was writing dictated captions to an angry bird comic strip written by Noah (aged four) before I had even had breakfast!
Making comics is perfect for a pre-writer like Noah as he can tell his story in pictures, making him feel confident and capable. He can easily dictate captions for me to write for him, as he learns that words have power and meaning. And he can create images to go along with those words.
Comics are also great for reluctant writers like my seven year old. He can get his story going with pictures before he writes even a single word which helps him sort out how the story will work, and clearly see that it needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. And because there is not much space for words he only needs to write short sentences and one word exclamations, not at all daunting for someone who says he ‘hates writing’.
Free Printable Comic Book Templates
Of course if you are keen on making comic books, you need some printable comic book templates.
I’ve made two sets of comic book templates to share.
The first set has bigger and fewer spaces – good for smaller kids or artists who want to ad LOTS of details. This set has two pages with added speech bubbles and exclamations and two pages which just the spaces.
You can download the larger set of printable comic book templates here.
The second set has smaller and more spaces – good for older kids and those that like to write lots of scenes into their stories. This set has two pages with added speech bubbles and exclamations and two pages which just the spaces.
You can download the smaller set of printable comic book templates here.
We also made some extra pages with more speech bubbles, thought bubbles, exclamations and arrows. One page in black and white, the other with a few coloured pieces. You should have enough pieces to write even the most detailed comic!
You can download the set of comic book extras here.
All the printables shared in this post are A4 sized pdf files, if you are printing on US ‘letter sized’ paper be sure to select ‘fit’ or ‘shrink to fit’ from your printer options.
The free printables at picklebums.com are for personal use only, you may not sell, share, or link directly to these files.
I hope this will start a fun comic craze in your house too!
Are you kids into comics?
What are some of their favourites?
I use a regular family inkjet printer to print the comic book pages. I print onto A4 copy paper, but you can use US ‘Letter’ sized paper, just make sure to select ‘shrink to fit’ from your printer options before you print. We used water based markers to add the details, but you could also print and laminate the pages so they can be used with a dry erase marker over and over.
Maxabella says
Super cool, Kate. My kids love making comics and we have some templates that I made on the computer, but these are a whole level above. They will love them!! x
Cathleen says
This looks like so much fun! My girls are 5 and I don’t know if they’ve ever even seen a comic book. (OH NO…BAD MOM ALERT! ;) ) What’s a good one to start out at this age? They are just starting to read on their own…
katepickle says
I’ve got a friend writing a fab post about comics and graphic novels for kids, I’ll make sure I share a link here as soon as it is published!
katepickle says
Here you go… some great recommendations for comics and graphic novels from one of my favourite book blogger!
http://childrensbooksdaily.com/graphic-novels-and-comic-books/
Cathleen says
Thank you! That was so sweet of you to remember! I’ll check it out now… :)
Tracy says
I’m not sure if you will even see this, but I have some really good ones for the k-2nd age group that my daughter enjoyed. “Bird and Squirrel” is a big hit (3 books in the series), as is “The Flying Beaver Brothers” (4 book series) and any of the “My Little Pony” or “Disney Fairy” graphic novels. They are all easy to read, not too “busy” as far as the drawings go (some older graphic novels are really too visually stimulating and hard to follow for a young child). There are also 2 books called “Mr. Pants- It’s Go time” and “Mr. Pants-Slacks Camera Action” that my daughter has been reading since she was 7. There are I think 4 books in the “Hildafolk” series that are wonderful, very visually appealing, and sweet, surreal stories. Enjoy! We have checked all of these out at our local library. Yours may have a “Juvenile Graphic Novel” section which helps in finding these titles, or just search them on the computer catalog.
menaka says
This is all my boys have been doing this weekend! writing comic books. thanks for this!
Gretchen says
Oh my goodness…this is awesome! My daughter is 9 and is comic book OBSESSED. She is so excited about these printables. Thank you for making these available.
Nadezda says
Thanks a lot! They are awesome! We had a great fun in my family Enlish camp drawing them together – everyone joined starting with 4year olds. We had a scheme where one person started drawing, the other continued and then another and after that the strip came back to the creator – always unexpectable:)
Las comecuentos says
Thank you so much!! Are greats!
Jasmine says
Thankyou very much for sharing these!!! My son is loving making comics at the moment and these will be the perfect thing to add to our holiday activities for him and my daughters (who love to do what ever he’s doing).
Thanks again
Amie Plumley says
Thanks for the templates! Using them with my 2nd grade class. They love them!
Emma says
Wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing these, they are just what I need for my son.
Suzanne says
Thanks so much Kate for your creations. These will come in handy for all sorts of activities.
cell says
Thanks for this useful material
TINA says
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! THESE ARE GREAT :)
Marissa says
This is great! I’m pinning and including a link on my post about graphic novels. Thank you for providing a fun freebie that is so useful especially with boys who are creative in ways their mama never could dream up.
Felicia says
Thank You! This is very helpful for my son who is 7 years old. He has a Comic book project due in school, which he has a Super Hero who helps with issues in his community.
dwi says
Thanks for the sharing. They’re great and very useful for my students and especially for my son.
Catherine says
Thank you, what a great idea, and really kind of you to share
Jennifer says
Thank you so much for generously sharing these with us! I have a feeling that it will be a hit with my older son who loves to draw comics. :)
Kim says
Thank you for these!! I can not tell you how many times I have come to your site to download these time and time again! My girls love them and they have made some pretty fabulous comic books with them.
Jessica says
These are great! I’m going to use this in my classroom!
Make Your Perfect says
Thank you so much for these! I’m all about helping mom finds simple ways to find sanity, and these helped me find mine on this chaotic Saturday morning. So glad to have connected with you!
xo,
Gaby
HME says
Thank you so much. These are perfect for my boys. I appreciate you sharing them and making them so easy to print off.
Heather says
Wow! Awesome activity for emerging writers. And also for older kids to just have fun with. I’m a childcare educator of a group ranging in age from 6 – 12 years. This will go over big in all age groups. Thanks so much for sharing.
Emilie Parry says
Thank you so much for sharing! This is great for our writing center and writing activities! What a great way to get the children excited about writing! I can’t wait to share this with our Creative Tots! :-)
katepickle says
It would be fabulous for a writing center!
If you happen to snap some photos feel free to share them on our facebook page ( facebook.com/Picklebums) or on instagram ( add the hashtag #picklebumsprintables so I can find them)
Lorna says
Amazing resource thank you! My girls are so into comics that I think they are going to love making their own :)
AnneMarie Hauber says
Thank you so much! This is just what I am looking for! I can’t wait for my 2nd graders to transform their stories into comics!
katepickle says
We’d love to see your class’ comics! If you have photos feel free to share them on my facebook page or tag @picklebums on instagram!
Sarah Collick says
So helpful thankyou – my son missed a comic making workshop in school because of a hospital appointment and they forgot to save him any of the special paper so this is a lifesaver!
Catherine says
That’s great! Super idea! Thank you very much!
Donna Watson says
Fantastic templates – I know my class will love them! Thank you
Luisa Prada says
Thank you so much, they are great!
Donna says
Just found these on FB. My grandson will love these! Thank you.
Steph says
My son asked me to print a blank comic for him. After going through pages of rubbish i finally came across your page. I downloaded all 3 files and now both of my kids are having a blast. I’ll definitely be printing them out again!
Thank you x
Lindsay says
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful printable! My 5 year old son spent 1.5 hours illustrating his own 8 page comic and he is absolutely thrilled. My four year old daughter also really enjoyed making a few comic book pages of her own. This is an amazing resource!
Lisa says
Thank you so much!!
S. Yoder says
Absolutely fantastic. I have gotten some gorgeous products using these as Literature Reviews and the students truly enjoy using them. Thanks for saving me time!
S. Yoder says
And I’m using them with high school Seniors!
Heather says
Thanks so much for these cool comic templates. My 6 year old son is so excited to use them!
P. Edwards says
Thank you SO much for these printables!! My son is in 7th grade and has to write a graphic novel. There has been very little instruction from the teacher regarding this. These pages are saving him (me) so much time.