Create your own pet: free character-building activity and worksheet

Design a one-of-a-kind pet in this tutorial—and check out our free, downloadable character creation worksheet.

Looking for a creative activity to spark your imagination? Whether you’re a student, educator, or just someone who loves to doodle, this drawing activity is a great exercise to get your creativity flowing. Get ready to design a one-of-a-kind pet in this tutorial, or check out our free, downloadable character creation worksheet—an excellent resource for teachers, art clubs, or families looking for a rainy-day project at home.

This art exercise is more than just a fun way to pass the time—it’s also a fantastic way to develop character designs, break out of artist block, or inspire new storytelling ideas. Plus, it’s great for your brain and mental health! A 2017 scientific study showed that “Art-making evokes reward pathways… even short spans of artistic activity can improve self perceptions of creative abilities, and, art-making could be a way to regulate mood, addictive behaviors and evoke a sense of pleasure.” (Kaimal et al. 2017, sec. Conclusions)

Whether you develop your funky pet design into a full-fledged comic or just enjoy designing a new creature, this art activity is a great way to flex your creativity.

Ready to Get Started? Follow These Steps!

Supplies

  • paper
  • pencil, pen, markers, paint… whatever medium your heart desires!

OR

  • electronic device
  • digital drawing app, like Procreate

1. Pick a body shape

Round, square, squiggly, blob-like—anything goes!

2. Choose what your pet is made of

Is your pet… Scaly? Hairy? Slimy? Fluffy? Metallic? Made of plants? An elemental being?

4. Does your pet have horns?

One? Two? Curved? Straight? Maybe they’re even glowing?

3. What food does your pet eat?

(Tip: This might help you choose a mouth shape!)

5. How many arms and legs does your pet have? What are they like?

Two? Four? A hundred tiny ones? Do they have hooves, claws, or paws?

6. What type of eyes do they have? How many?

One giant eye? Tiny beady eyes? Cartoonish and oversized?

7. What about ears?

Floppy, pointy, extra-large, or none at all?

8. How about a tail… or two?

A tail can tell a lot about your pet. Is it fuzzy? Scaly? Feathered? Whiplike? Prehensile (tails that can hold onto things)?

9. Does your pet have wings?

Are they large, like a butterfly, or small, like a bee? Are they feathered, like a bird, or scaly, like a dragon?

10. What colors are your pet?

Bright and bold, like a parrot? Or does it need to hide, using the colors of its environment to camouflage?

11. What can your pet do?

Can it jump, climb, swim, do tricks, run fast, fly, lay eggs, breathe fire?

12. What’s your pet’s mood?

Friendly, mean, mischievous, sleepy, curious?

13. Where does your pet live?

The bottom of the ocean, desert, forest, city, jungle, cave, lake, swamp, space or an alternate dimension?

Once you’ve answered these questions, start sketching! There are no wrong answers—just pure, imaginative fun.

What are you waiting for? Grab your art supplies and start designing your pet today!

Want a Little Extra Help? Download Our Free Worksheet

We’ve put together a free downloadable worksheet to guide you through this design activity step by step.

Whether you’re a teacher looking for a classroom-friendly art activity or an aspiring artist searching for inspiration, the Create Your Own Pet Worksheet is the perfect way to jumpstart your creative process.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE WORKSHEET

Show Off Your Creations

We’d love to see the funky, wild, and wonderful creatures you create! Share your drawings on Instagram and tag us @spy_hop to feature your work.

About Thomas, the Artist Behind This Worksheet

Thomas/Tommy Kastrati (he/they), a Statewide Media Arts Mentor at Spy Hop, created this exercise as part of our in-school community arts program which reaches students across the Salt Lake Valley. The goal of this exercise was to help students create unique characters, which they later constructed and used for stop-motion animation films!

With a background in media arts, Thomas helps young artists bring their stories to life through design, film, and animation.

Reference List

Kaimal, Girija, Hasan Ayaz, Joanna Herres, Rebekka Dieterich-Hartwell, Bindal Makwana, Donna H. Kaiser, and Jennifer A. Nasser. 2017. “Functional near-infrared spectroscopy assessment of reward perception based on visual self-expression: Coloring, doodling, and free drawing.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 55 (September): 85–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2017.05.004