Parents and caregivers looking for ways to keep screen-time down should open The Highlights Book of Things to Draw, and The Highlights Book of Things to Write. Both are collections of games and ideas with plenty of room for creating directly on their pages.
Things to Draw has step by step lessons on how to draw animals, as well as open-ended prompts like picturing the past. One spread has empty frames for creating self-portraits. Both books suggest designing cartoon self-portraits. These include templates with numbered panels so kids can plan for a beginning, middle and end to their comic.
Things to Write has ideas for poems, and pages for expressing feelings by writing a sympathy note or an autobiography. For budding journalists, there are prompts for making a newsletter, interviewing older relatives or neighbors, or going back in time.
Some ideas will inspire collaborations, such as writing postcards to friends with invitations for them to write back, or writing a story started by one person and finished by another.
The pages are designed with fun, colorful illustrations and borders, making them a perfect jumping-off point for anyone needing inspiration or anyone intimidated by the blank page.
Illustration from The Highlights Book of Things to Write
Illustration from The Highlights Book of Things to Draw