Bouncy ball with a swirl, caught mid-bounceA circle with an S of two colors inside. Dotted arcs show the last two bounces.
Flip-top crayon box, eight tips in a rowWax crayons in a box with its front cut in a V. Eight pointed tips, every one a different color.
Kaleidoscope tube and the pattern inside itDraw the tube in stripes, then a circle beside it split into six wedges that mirror each other.
Marbles spilling from a drawstring bagCircles with a twist of color inside and one highlight dot each. The bag is blue with a yellow cord.
Pull-along wooden duck on four wheelsA yellow duck with red wheels and an orange beak. The pull string ends in a blue bead.
Shape sorter cube with three pieces left overA yellow cube with holes cut in it: circle, square, triangle, star. The loose pieces lie beside it.
Sock puppet with button eyesA striped sock bent at the wrist. Two buttons that do not match, and a red felt tongue.
Spinning top blurred into stripesAn onion shape on a point. Bands of red, yellow and blue run round it, with curved motion lines.
Spring toy walking down a stairA coil arching from one step to the next. Draw close ovals that fan apart at the top of the arch.
Stacking rings on a cone-shaped postFive fat oval bands, biggest at the bottom: red, orange, yellow, green, blue. A round knob on top.
Tin robot with a winding key in its backBoxes for the head and body, red and blue. The key is a yellow figure eight on a short rod.
Toy train on a figure-eight wooden trackSeen from above. The track is a pale band with grooves; the engine is red, the two wagons blue and green.
Toy xylophone with eight colored barsThe bars shrink from left to right, one color each. Two mallets with round red heads lie across them.
Wall of studded plastic bricks in six colorsRectangles laid like brickwork, each with a row of small studs on top. No two neighbors the same color.
Wooden alphabet blocks spelling a short wordCubes drawn corner-on. One letter per face in a bold primary color, with a thin frame round it.
Yo-yo spinning in place, string pulled tightTwo red discs seen edge-on with a gap between. The string runs up to a finger loop; a star on the side.
Rainbows, stars and smileys 16
Double rainbow over a crayon-box houseThe house is a square with a triangle roof and a door. Two arches above it; the outer one is fainter.
Foil stars stuck crooked on a chore gridRule a grid with the days across the top. Stick a yellow five-point star in most boxes, a little crooked.
Heart filled with rainbow bandsOutline one big heart. Fill it with six arched stripes that follow its top edge. Thick black outline.
Lightning bolt in rainbow stripesA fat zigzag outline. Slice it into six diagonal bands and color each one in order.
Page frame of rainbow stripesSix thin bands all the way round the edge of the page, mitered at the corners like a picture frame.
Rainbow built from handprintsRows of hand shapes in an arch, one color per row. Trace your own hand small for the pattern.
Rainbow shoelaces tied in a big bowTwo loops and two tails. Stripe the lace in six colors on the slant, like a candy cane.
Rainbow stripes down a pair of knee socksTwo long tubes with a bent heel. Six bands of color repeat to the toe; the cuffs are white ribs.
Scribbled sun with a spiral middleStart at the center and spiral outward in yellow crayon. The rays are loops that never lift off.
Six-band rainbow in thick marker stripesRed on the outside, purple inside. Leave a thin white line between bands, then outline the whole arch.
Smiley balloon on a curly stringA yellow circle with two dots and a curve, a small knot below and a string in loops. One white shine mark.
Smiley rubber stamp and five fading printsA red handle on a round block. Five yellow smiley prints in a row, each a little fainter than the last.
Star with a grin and stick armsA fat yellow five-point star. Two dot eyes, a wide curve, and thin arms waving from two of the points.
Star-shaped sunglassesTwo five-point stars joined by a short bridge. Red frames and blue lenses with one white slash each.
Stars strung on yarn as a garlandFive-point stars in red, yellow, blue and green on a sagging line. Tilt each one a different way.
Sun, cloud and rainbow as fridge magnetsThree chunky shapes with thick outlines: a yellow sun, a blue cloud, a small arch. One dot of shine on each.
Snacks 16
Alphabet soup with HI on the spoonA red bowl of orange alphabet soup with letters afloat. The spoon lifts out two of them.
Animal crackers walking in single fileA lion, an elephant and a camel in plain tan, one behind the other. A few pin-prick dots on each.
Banana with a sticker on the peelA yellow curve with a brown tip. The sticker is a small blue oval; invent what it says.
Bowl of ring cereal in six colorsA blue bowl seen from above. Small rings float on white milk and overlap at the edges.
Candy buttons on a paper stripRows of small dots on white paper tape: pink, yellow, blue. The strip curls at one end.
Celery sticks with raisins riding on topA green trough filled with tan spread. Four dark raisins sit in a row along each stick.
Crumpled juice box, straw chewed flatA small box in two bright colors with dented sides. The straw bends at its ridges and is flat at the end.
Crustless sandwich quarters in a pinwheelWhite bread cut into four triangles and turned point to point on a blue plate. Filling shows in each cut.
Freezer pop pushed halfway up its sleeveA long clear sleeve, snipped at the top. The ice inside is one bright color and squared at the end.
Fruit gummies sorted by colorSmall rounded shapes in five heaps: red, orange, yellow, green, purple. One white highlight on each.
Fruit leather unrolling into a long tongueA red spiral on a strip of clear backing. The loose end runs off across the table.
Half-pint school milk carton, top folded openA small box with a gable top pulled into a spout. Blue and white, with a red stripe round the base.
Log cabin built from pretzel sticksStack short brown sticks in a square, crossing at the corners. Dots of salt along each one.
Lunch tray with a food in every compartmentA rectangle with five wells. Fill each with one thing in one color: peas, corn, a roll, fruit, milk.
Orange segments arranged as a smileFive crescents in a curve on a plate. Two grapes above them make the eyes.
Square cheese crackers stacked in a towerOrange squares with a hole in the middle and pinched edges. The tower leans a little to one side.
School and craft 16
Construction paper fanned out in six colorsSix rectangles spread like a hand of cards: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Keep the corners square.
Craft-stick frame painted four colorsFour flat sticks glued in a square, one color each. The round ends overlap at the corners.
Macaroni necklace threaded on yarnShort curved tubes on a red strand. Paint some of them blue, yellow and green; leave the rest plain.
Paper chain in two colors by turnsInterlocked loops of red and yellow paper. Draw each as an oval band passing through the next.
Paper-plate mask with yarn hairA circle with two eye holes cut out and a crayoned mouth. Loops of orange yarn are glued round the rim.
Pegboard of fused beads, half finishedA square board of pegs. Tiny tube beads build a rainbow from one corner; the rest of the pegs are bare.
Pipe-cleaner spider with stick-on eyesA pompom body and eight bent fuzzy legs. The eyes are white circles with a loose black dot in each.
Pony-bead bracelet in a repeating patternBarrel-shaped beads on elastic: red, yellow, blue, then again. A knot with two short ends.
Potato-print pattern of stars and heartsChunky shapes stamped in rows. The edges are uneven and the paint is thinner in the middle of each print.
Purple glue stick wound all the way upA cylinder with a twist base and a tall rounded tip. The cap lies beside it; a purple smear on the paper.
Round-ended scissors cutting a zigzagRed plastic handles, blunt blades. A yellow sheet of paper with a zigzag cut running in from the edge.
Ruler, eraser and sharpener lined upA yellow ruler with tick marks, a pink eraser with a worn corner, a blue sharpener and one curl of shaving.
Stencil ruler with a circle, a star and a heart cut outA see-through green strip with three shapes cut through it. A pencil traces the star onto paper beside it.
Tin lunch pail with a picture you designA rectangular box with a handle and two clasps. Put your own picture on the front: a rocket, a horse.
Tub of modeling dough with a squashed snakeA short round tub with a yellow lid. Beside it, a blue rope of dough flattened by a thumbprint.
Watercolor tin with eight ovals of paintA long tin with a hinged lid. The ovals are worn hollow in the middle, and the yellow one has gone green.
Playground and patterns 16
Ball pit seen from aboveFill the page with circles in four colors, overlapping. One white highlight on each, all on the same side.
Checkerboard in red and yellowRule eight rows of eight. Fill alternate squares red, the others yellow, and outline the whole board in blue.
Climbing dome built from trianglesHalf a sphere of bars joined at knots, every panel a triangle. Color the bars red, yellow and blue by turns.
Confetti squiggles in primary colorsShort wiggles, triangles and dots scattered evenly over the page. None touches another.
Glow stars in a made-up constellationSmall five-point stars joined by dotted lines. Name the shape they make and letter it underneath.
Hopscotch squares chalked on a pathSingle and double squares by turns, numbered one to ten. Chalk lines wobble; a pebble sits on the three.
Jump rope frozen at the top of its arcTwo handles, red and blue, held apart. The rope is one high curve with motion lines beneath it.
Monkey bars seen from underneathTwo long rails and a row of rungs shrinking toward the far end, bright against a plain blue sky.
Plastic hoops overlapping on grassFive rings in five colors lying where they fell. Where two cross, decide which one is on top.
Play mat printed with roads and roundaboutsA rectangle seen from above. Gray roads loop past a green park, a blue pond and a red fire station.
Polka dots in four colors, none touchingDraw round a coin. Scatter the circles evenly and color them red, yellow, blue and green in no order.
Sandbox with a bucket, a shovel and a castleA square wooden frame seen from a corner. The bucket is red, the shovel blue, the castle bucket-shaped.
Seesaw with a ball on the low endA long green plank on a red pivot, tipped. The ball is yellow; the high end points at the sky.
Slide with a ladder and a bump halfwayA red chute, a blue ladder and yellow handrails, seen from the side. The bump is one small wave.
Swing set with one swing in mid-airA blue A-frame. One seat hangs still and the other is drawn at the top of its arc, chains at a slant.
Tetherball hanging still beside its poleA tall pole with a rope from the top and a yellow ball at the end of it. One red stripe near the base.
How it works
Stacking rings, a juice box, round-ended scissors, hopscotch in chalk: these 80 kidcore drawing ideas are childhood things in bright red, yellow, blue and green. No toy maker, snack brand or cartoon is named.
Read the full guide
Primary colors and thick outlines
Draw each thing the way a toy is made: flat red, yellow, blue and green, simple shapes and one thick dark outline. Skip the shading. A single white highlight on anything plastic is enough. Markers suit the look because the color goes down flat and bright.
Five kinds of subject
Toys. Rainbows, stars and smileys. Snacks. School and craft. Playground and patterns. The pattern ideas, such as Polka dots in four colors, none touching, and Confetti squiggles in primary colors, also work as a background behind any of the others.
Color first and outline second, so the black line stays crisp on top.
Leave a thin white gap between two marker colors and they will not bleed together.
Questions and answers
What are easy kidcore things to draw?
Press once, then choose Easy in the list under the button. Six-band rainbow in thick marker stripes is one arch drawn six times; Crumpled juice box, straw chewed flat is a dented box and a ridged tube.
What colors does kidcore use?
On this list, mostly red, yellow, blue and green, with orange and purple added for rainbows, all bright and flat. White paper and a dark outline do the rest.
How is kidcore different from Y2K?
Y2K drawing ideas is chrome gadgets, gloss and see-through plastic. This list is younger: wooden blocks, wax crayons, lunch-tray snacks and a playground, all in primary colors.
How do I fill a whole page in this style?
Pick one toy, one snack and one pattern. Draw the toy large, tuck the snack beside it and run the pattern behind both, edge to edge. Drop stars and smileys into the gaps.