Turn your child's story into a cartoon (the dragon gets a voice)

Kids tell stories the way a shaken soda bottle opens. There is a dragon, and the dragon is also a teacher, and then a bus falls in love with a moon. It makes no sense and it is wonderful. The trick to turning your child's story into a cartoon is not making it make sense. It is catching it before bedtime erases it, and giving it a shape a short film can hold.

This guide works whether you use a film tool, a pencil and a phone, or just a notebook. You will get a way to capture the story, a way to trim it, example scripts, and the mistakes that turn a magic story into a boring one.

Can you really turn a child's story into a cartoon?

Yes. A short cartoon only needs a beginning, a middle and an ending, plus a few strong pictures. Your child's story already has those, usually buried under six extra dragons. Your job is to write it down, pick the three moments that matter most, and keep their exact words where you can.

A personalized story video for kids works best when it is short. A 20 or 30 second film sounds tiny, but it is long enough for a hero, a problem and a big finish. Kids will rewatch a short film fifteen times. They will abandon a long one at minute two to go lick a window.

How do you capture the story without ruining it?

Ask one open question, then stay quiet and type. "What happened to the dragon next?" works better than "Was the dragon sad?" because kids love to answer a yes or no question with a no. Write their words exactly, including "and then" and the made-up words. You can tidy later.

• Record it on your phone. A voice memo catches the giggles and the dramatic pauses you would never remember.
• Ask about sounds. "What noise does the rocket make?" gives you a sound effect and a laugh.
• Ask about one color. "What color is the dragon?" gives the film its look in one answer.
• Ask how it ends. Kids often have not decided. Let them. The ending they pick on the spot is usually the best one.

How do you trim a kid's story into a short cartoon script?

Find three moments: who the hero is, what goes wrong, and how it gets fixed. Everything else becomes a lovely memory in the notebook, not a scene. A 20 second film holds about 40 to 50 spoken words, so each moment gets one or two short sentences.

Here is a real-sized example. Say your five-year-old told you a twelve-minute epic about a cat who drives a bus. The trimmed script might be:

Mittens drives the number 9 bus. One day the bus gets hungry. Mittens feeds it one hundred pancakes. Now the bus can fly. Next stop: the moon.

That is 30 words. Each sentence is a picture. And "the bus gets hungry" is the kind of line only a child writes.

What kinds of kids' stories make the best cartoons?

Stories with one clear hero, something that goes wrong, and a funny or cozy ending. Stories with a strong image (a flying bus, a shy volcano) do better than stories that are mostly talking. Here are types that almost always work:

• The pet as a hero The family dog saves the town from a sock monster. Pets are already stars in your kid's head.
• The toy that comes alive The stuffed rabbit goes on a trip while everyone sleeps. Cozy, small, perfect for bedtime.
• The weird job A shark who works at a bakery. Kids love a creature doing a grown-up job badly.
• The big feeling A little cloud who is scared to rain. Gentle stories help kids talk about feelings without a lecture.
• The sequel Your kid will ask "and what happened next?" Say yes. Every series starts somewhere.
• The family cameo Grandma is the queen of the ice cream planet. Everybody in the family wants a part after the first film.

Step by step: from bedtime story to finished cartoon

1. Step 1

   Catch it. Record or type the story as your child tells it. Do not correct anything yet.

2. Step 2

   Circle three moments. Hero, problem, ending. Ask your child which part is "the best part" and make sure it stays.

3. Step 3

   Write one paragraph per moment. Short sentences. Keep their words. Read it out loud and time it on your phone.

4. Step 4

   Pick the look. One main color and one mood: silly, cozy, or brave.

5. Step 5

   Make it, then screen it. Draw it, film it, or have it made. Then hold a premiere on the sofa with popcorn and a ticket made of a sticky note.

Should the cartoon show your child?

It does not have to, and often it is better if it does not. Many kids would rather be the author than the character. Put their name in the credits ("A story by Ada, age 6") and let the dragon be the star. If they want to be in it, a drawn hero with their favorite boots and their name is enough. A drawn film needs no photo of your child, which also means nothing personal is floating around if the film gets forwarded to Great-uncle Bob's entire contact list.

The quick way: a story cartoon in Nine

If you want the film made for you, Nine makes short drawn films with a voice, music and sound effects. The easiest way in for a child's story is A script: paste the trimmed story, and each paragraph becomes a scene, in your order and with your words. Short on time? Just an idea takes one sentence, like "a cat drives a bus that learns to fly." Or use A voice recording of your child telling it, and the film runs on their voice.

The crew makes it while you watch, and this is where the author takes over. Your child says "make the bus purple!" or "faster!", you type it in plain words, and a new version arrives. Or hand them the chamber on your phone to move things and change colors. Each change is a new version of a short film, so it is a game of small steps, and kids love being the boss of their own story. You get a video file in wide, tall and square. Nine never sends it anywhere, so the premiere stays yours. Plans start at $29 a month, with films up to 20 seconds on Film. See pricing or try it.

More ideas: make a cartoon starring your kid, a bedtime story video with your child's name, turn a voice memo into a cartoon, and fun family video project ideas, or how to make a cartoon with your kids as a rainy-day activity.