Learn Together
Animation helps children practice patience and develops inhibitory control because you can only move your characters a little at a time. When you play back your movie, you will see your creativity in motion!
Materials
- Smartphone or tablet
- Small objects like toys, office supplies, or game pieces
- Smartphone or tablet stand (optional)
- Cardboard (optional)
- Cloth or colored paper (optional)
- Tape (optional)
- Legos or clay (optional)
Make Together
Stop motion animation is a type of filmmaking created by taking still pictures and playing back one after the other to create a moving image. Films like Missing Link, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Coraline use puppets animated one photo at a time to make the character move.
For inspiration, check out the music video Dog of My Dreams created by CMOM partner Ants on a Log or watch the video created at CMOM in our newest exhibit Inside Art called Take the Train to CMOM. How were the objects moving by themselves? You can use anything to create stop motion animation, even scraps of paper or collage.
Create your own stop motion animation!
- Use the camera and photos app on your smartphone or tablet or download the free app we use at CMOM, Stop Motion Studio from iTunes or on Google Play.
- Create your film on a table with a wall behind it for the background. You can create your own wall with a piece of cardboard. Add colored paper or a cloth to change the background.
- Choose a cast of characters like small toys, office supplies, or game pieces. You can use legos or clay to design your characters.
- Use a stand to keep your camera still or have a family member take photos while you move your characters.
- In animation, you only move the character a little bit with every photo. The smaller the movement and the more photos you have, the smoother your animation will be. When using a stop motion app you can play back your photos all at once.
- Keep making movies, you will get better with practice!