Over 12 weekly sessions, 3rd-6th grade students learn how animation really works: the principles that create the illusion of life and the production steps behind their favorite shows and movies. Through short, hands-on exercises in hand-drawn animation, stop-mo, and claymation, every student practices the roles of character designer, storyboard artist, and animator. In each exercise, students will practice animation fundamentals and be encouraged to give it their unique creative spin.
Format: Weekly 1 hour and 15 minute sessions
Method: A mix of hand drawn art and stop motion animation, fully achievable by young hands
Group size: 12 students
Sample Curriculum
Week 1
Lesson - How animation creates the illusion of movement, and our first principle, Squash and Stretch: why animated art feels alive instead of stiff.
Activity - Flipbook Lab: Every student picks something squishy, stretchy, or bouncy to bring to life (a gummy worm, a water balloon, a pancake landing in a pan, a cat pouncing, their own face) and draws a 10-12 page flipbook with one rule: it has to squash and stretch. In the last 10 minutes, peg bar demo (registering paper, using the light box, flipping between drawings) so students know what's coming.
Week 2
Lesson: - Timing and Spacing: how the distance between drawings controls speed and weight.
Activity - Bouncing Ball: Students get a printed spacing chart with the ball's path marked and draw the ball at each mark on the peg bar (about 8 drawings). As each student finishes, they go to one of two capture stations (a tablet on a stand over a peg bar) to shoot their drawings and watch a pencil test of their own ball.
Week 3
Lesson - Anticipation: a small move before the big move makes an action read clearly. Examples and live demonstration.
Activity: Capture the remaining bouncing ball projects. Students who completed last week now have free choice on the animation pegs: draw anything they want as on the peg bar, improve their bouncing ball, or pick a challenge card (like "a ball that's nervous about jumping").
Week 4
Lesson: - Character Design: from simple shapes. Discussion of the psychology and visual communication of shapes.
Activity - Shape Sketch and Sculpt: Students pick 2-3 shapes from a shape card and make a quick sketch of their plan. Then they sculpt the character from those same shapes and add eyes. Models will be stored for animation at next class. At the end of this class the instructor will have an initial discussion about walk cycles.
Week 5
Lesson - Walk cycles: The instructor shows contrasting walks and discusses how timing and spacing change personality.
Activity - Walk the Walk. In pairs, each student takes a turn shooting about 1 second (10-12 photos). The partner is the assistant and second pair of hands/eyes, watching playback and calling out anything that moved by accident.
Week 6
Lesson - Follow-Through: how things settle after the main action stops, and how to fake it in clay.
Activity - Capture the remaining walk cycle projects. Students who completed last week now have free choice clay character design. If there is an available capture station they can try animating something.
Week 7
Lesson - Storyboarding and shot language: why every film is planned shot by shot before it's filmed, and what wide, medium, and close-up shots do. A lot like comics!
Activity - One Scene, Twelve Panels: Each student storyboards a simple scene with their clay character as the subject. Simlicity in story but creativity in execution is encouraged.
Week 8
Lesson - Character Design 3D to 2D: Discussion on how three dimensional shapes move in a two dimensional space.
Activity - Design and Key Poses: Students take their claymation characters and draw a production-ready character turn around with special poses.
Week 9
Lesson - Arcs and Overlapping Action: why natural movement travels in curves, and why tails, ears, and hair drag behind the body.
Activity: Students choose one: draw the in-betweens for their key poses, try a swing-and-drag tail experiment with a printed arc guide, or animate anything they want on paper.
Week 10
Lesson - From storyboard to shot: matching your camera to your panel. How distance and framing change what the audience sees, and how to get a close-up or a wide shot with a small clay character.
Activity: In pairs, each student takes a turn shooting their storyboarded scene. The partner is the assistant and second pair of hands/eyes, watching playback and calling out anything that moved by accident.
Week 11
Lesson: - Performance in Clay: how to make a character act, not just move. Anticipation, weight, and holding still for a beat.
Activity: Capture the remaining scene projects. Students who completed last week now have free choice clay character design. If there is an available capture station they can try animating something.
Week 12
Lesson - How a film gets finished: editing, sound, and credits. The instructor edits a short sequence live so students see how clips get cut together.
Activity: Capture the remaining scene projects, free choice, and final reel watch party!
