Children work on their sketches at the cartoon-making workshop at Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Evergreen Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Spiderman and the latest toons on the block like Doraemon and Ben 10 bring much joy to children with their adventures and goofy expressions. But the idea to put them on paper may force many to break out in a cold sweat.

A workshop at Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan on Sunday although made sure that some children aspiring to be cartoonists felt confident about their skills. Thirty-one children took part in the cartoon-making workshop organised by the wing of the education department.

The participants were taught how to draw cartoon characters and there was an expert to guide them. Encouraged by the cartoonist, the children used their imagination to come up with their own toons.

The eager children participating in the workshop were asked to create cartoon characters and portray how they might react on the first day of monsoon. Grappling with the scorching heat for the past few months, the children wished for the first downpour of the season. Their experiences and emotion flowed on the page on Sunday, as the children expressed themselves in their creations.

While some showed their toons happy with the first rain, some pouted at the skies, angry that monsoon arrived late in the city.

Trained by the cartoonist present at Kilkari, the children also came up with punch lines for their cartoon characters.

Rajan Kumar, a Class VIII student of PN Anglo Sanskrit School, was on cloud nine after the day’s exercise.

He said: “I love cartoons a lot but I did not know how to sketch them. So this workshop was of a great help to me. Now I can also make cartoon characters of own and the best part is I do not need to copy popular toons like Mickey Mouse and Doraemon. I can create cartoons from my own imagination.”

Anshu Kumar, a Class V student of St Michael’s High School, said: “We were told about how to capture facial expressions and that was the best part about the workshop.”

Nishu Kumari, a Class VIII student of Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya, Manpura, said: “I am happy that I can make cartoons on my own now.”

Harsh Kumar, a Class VI student of Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya, Begumpur, Muskaan, a Class V student of AGN Public School, 12-year-old Mohammad Zameer and 10-year-old Anand Raj were some of the other participants who let their creativity flow.

Anita Thakur, the programme officer of Kilkari Bihar Bal Bhavan, said this was the first time such a workshop was organised at Kilkari.