Stephen McCarthy has designed a printable activity diary for children to do during the lockdown.

Stephen McCarthy was relaxing in his lounge on Sunday, looking out over the sea from his Sumner home, when he had an idea.

It was day four of the nationwide Coronavirus lockdown, and the director of Christchurch design studio, McCarthy, decided to make his idea reality.

To create My Lockdown Diary he immediately started sketching the 28 pages of the diary, added detail and quickly made a website.

"It was pretty much done in a day," he said.

READ MORE:

* Coronavirus: Full coverage

* The Lockdown Files: Doc Ross and his isolation self portraits

* Kotahitanga pins raise nearly $40000

The diary is a "printable tool" which offers daily activities for children and is a way, McCarthy said, for families to keep a positive record of their experiences during the month-long lockdown.

"It all happened so quickly.

"Everyone's at home because of Covid-19, so I figured there's all these moments now that would be good for us to look back at ... like a time machine."

There are four weeks of daily prompts and activities to print and he hoped it might be useful for "children everywhere".

Want to share your story? Email vicki.anderson@stuff.co.nz

"It went live on Monday and I've had such a positive reaction. I hope children in lockdown in other countries might find it useful too."

He created it with a mix of "prompts" and a careful use of blank space.

"I didn't want it to be too constrictive so there are lots of blank spaces for children to record their experiences which are different to those of us oldies," he said.

"Children sometimes find it hard to talk about what they're feeling and drawing is a way of accessing that. Get the crayons out, do something tangible and away from digital distractions."

For parents it was good to see through a child's eyes, to get their perspective, because "sometimes they see things in a different, unclouded way".

Last March McCarthy designed heart-shaped Kotahitanga pins, which symbolised unity and togetherness. Proceeds from sales of the pins raised more than $40,000 for the Victim Support fund to support those affected by the Christchurch mosque attacks that killed 51 people and injured dozens more.

"I have discovered that when I get an idea to do something like this I need to just act quickly and get it down," he said.

To create the printable diary, he also drew on previous experience working on post-earthquake community campaign All Right.

"With All Right we learned that it was good for people to have something tangible to hold. There's so much digital stuff but this helps children take notice of things."

For those who did not have access to a printer at home, McCarthy suggested looking at the diary online and use it as a template on "whatever is available" to encourage children to make their own creation.

McCarthy viewed the project as a "positive distraction".

"I have done enough pages for 28 days but if the lockdown ends up being longer than that I'll just make more," he said.

"At the end of the lockdown they can staple it together and keep it as a reminder of their experiences. I like the idea of children finding it in years to come and having a positive reminder of their time in isolation."

Visit mylockdowndiary.com to download the diary.