What isn’t to love about a comic book? Young readers who are struggling to improve their reading skills benefit from the visual format of comic books, as their brains begin to link meaning between text and images.
For this art activity, students will color the “Life of the Buddha” comic book, they can add their own captions, and create any additional drawings in the additional space provided on the pages.
Before beginning this activity, students should first read The Life of the Buddha digital comic located in the Related Resources section below.
Objectives
After completing the activity, students will be able to:
- Work with paper and color
- Create a comic book that follows a linear narrative
- Retell a story using their own words
- Make the connection between art and documenting a moment in time
- Gain insight into who the historical Buddha was
Discussion/Motivation
Who was the Buddha?
Today, some may see the Buddha as a philosopher, a teacher, a social reformer and activist, as a superhuman, or even a god.
But the first thing to remember is that the Buddha was a human and was reacting to the time and culture he lived in. He was born a prince in Nepal during the 5th c. BCE. He renounced all of his worldly goods and princely life to seek truth and find an end to suffering.
The culture that he lived in believed that life is cyclical, meaning you are born, you die, and you are reborn again. The actions you make in your life (good or bad) influence the quality of your next life.
Please see the Quick Guide to Buddhism located in the Related Resource section for additional information on Buddhism.
Materials
- Paper
- Printer
- Stapler and staples
- Pencil
- Colored pencils, crayons, or pens
- Optional: hole punch and string (for an alternative to binding the comic with a stapler)
Procedure
- Read The Life of the Buddha (digital comic book located at bottom of this page)
- Download and print the Life of the Buddha coloring pdf packet.
- Have students color the images
- Students can then write their own captions, narrating the story in their own words
- When complete, staple the coloring pages to form a book
- OR
- Optional: using a hole punch, punch holes along the edges of the left side of the pages and then bind the pages by threading a string, yarn, etc. through the holes
