5 Minute Marvels
Tim, along with his daughters Grace, 6, and Cate, 4, started a nightly tradition. The idea is simple; choose a comic book character and draw them for just five minutes. They do this each night before bed and have compiled quite the impressive portfolio. Volstagg, Big Bear, Dazzler, the Legion of Super-Pets are just some of the characters they’ve drawn so far.
#1 – Set the clock for five minutes and stick to it. There’s no huge time commitment here. At just five minutes, it’s easy to find the time to pick a superhero or a supervillain and draw with your child … cousin … neice/nephew … neighbor … student … etc.
#2 Check your self-consciousness at the door. When you’re a kid, you’ll draw for hours with no thought to your skills. You were good. You just knew it. It was all about the joy of drawing and imagining. When you’re an adult … you worry … you fret … you criticize. But, just remember: No matter what … the kid you’re drawing with thinks you’re awesome. Just draw. And, with only five minutes between you … there’s no time to be a perfectionist.
#3 Talk while you draw. Talk about the hero or villain you’re drawing. If you know a lot about comics, share it. If the kid knows more, ask questions. If the only thing you both know is “Spider-Man is cool,” talk about that.
#4 Have fun. Umm … I think I’ll leave this up to you.
#5 Draw tomorrow. The only thing better than sharing the first “5 Minute Marvel” with the child in your life is … the second one.
Tim also runs a comic blog called Marvel Smart Ass where he shares his love of all things Marvel and has gotten a few notable comic folks to get in on the 5 Minute Marvels experiment. Colleen Coover and Jim McCann to name a few. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets more as time goes on, this is a fantastic idea.
my goodness that's adorable! :)
that vid thanking Colleen Coover is too cute!
I may try this with my little niece and nephew when I babysit them.
That was me with that long-winded post, btw ;)
Wow! I get my name mentioned in an actual Has Boobs, Reads Comics blog!! That along has made my day!! Thanks, Jill.
My oldest son, Brandon informed me that he does not like super-heroes. He received this toy Batcave last year or the year before. Came with a Batman figure, a Robin figure and a little Bat-cycle. He let me have them. He uses the Batcave for his little rubber ducks he has. he calls it the Duck-Cave.
I have tried numerous times to get him to draw but doesn't want to. However he amazes me in another way. He is into ITunes on the computer. he is obsessed with listening to CDs, downloading CDs, listening to Beatles Radio. We have been able to bribe him with ITunes for good behavior instead of having to buy toys our stuff.
But the thing that impresses me is he has tons of letter and number magnets. He has numbers from 1 to 22 down the side of our stove. next to each number is a bunch of indecipherable letter combinations that even master linguists wouldn't be able to figure out.
I asked him what they were. They are songs on his own CD. #1 was Love me Do. I think #2 was Look Out Here Comes Tomorrow by the Monkees. All of them were songs by the Beatles, Rolling Stones or Monkees.
So he may not have my taste in comics, but he's got my taste in music.
There's always his baby brother…who loves to suck on my B'Wana Beast toy from the Brave and Bold line. ;)
What a great idea! The Guy used to do comics with our kids, where the kids dictated the story…but that gets overwhelming (too much drawing) to keep up for too long.
That is such a great idea. I should do that with my kids now that the oldest two are of creative age. Thanks for sharing this story Jill. This was truly inspirational.
Well me kiddo is 5 months, so I doubt I can do it with him. But this is a very fun thin to think 'bout. Keepin it in mind for when Aidin is older ^_^
Cheers,
Jono