Like a lot of good ideas, this one started small. We noticed that our own coloring books were great for keeping little hands busy — but they never actually taught anything about drawing. Once the page was colored, it was done. There was no next step, no bridge from "filling in someone else's picture" to "making your own."
So we started sketching out a different kind of page — one where the picture your child just colored could double as the guide for drawing it themselves. A few lines removed here, a little less guidance there, just enough to turn coloring time into the first real practice at drawing.
"What if the coloring book itself taught kids to draw?"
That question turned into Doodle Prompts: a family-made project built one page, one test, one kid's reaction at a time. We're building it the way we'd want it built for our own family — age-appropriate, unhurried, and genuinely useful, not just cute.
Why Age-Specific Matters
A one-year-old and a ten-year-old don't need the same book — they need completely different amounts of guidance. That's why Doodle Prompts isn't one generic coloring book. It's three: one for ages 1–3, one for 4–6, and one for 7–10, each calibrated to exactly how much line a child at that age is ready to draw on their own.
What We're Building Toward
We're not trying to build a hundred books overnight. We're starting with one age band and one theme, getting it right, and growing from there — the same patient, one-step-at-a-time approach we're hoping kids take away from the books themselves.
Family-Made
Built and tested by an actual parent and child, not a content team.
Age-Appropriate First
Every design choice starts with what's actually right for that age, not what's easiest to produce.
Screen-Free
Just paper and crayons — creativity that doesn't need a device.