Students learn the basics of stop-motion animation in this project-based workshop. Groups design their own clay characters and then produce a short animated film using multimedia tools.
Before and during the visit, students engage in each step of the process, from developing a story concept, to sculpting clay characters, to filming a stop motion animation movie.
The clay animation workshop develops literacy and math skills through storytelling and sequencing, and emphasizes creativity, communication, patience and cooperation.
The animation activity can be adapted to almost any classroom curriculum and provides an engaging learning platform to explore a wide array of topics. For example, students can animate a scene from a play or novel, represent a scene from history, or illustrate a scientific discovery.
Clay Animation Field Trip Information
- Duration: Two hours
- Grade Level: Grades 3–12
- Group Size: 15–30 students, working in teams of 4–6
- Students take away: clay figures and a clay animation movie on DVD
- Suggested content areas: language arts, science, social studies, and math
The Learning Experience
- Literacy skills—Students can create written content about the story they want to tell.
- Math skills—Students can calculate the number of frames needed to produce a movie of a certain length and learn about sequencing through the steps involved in the reproduction of motion, and by creating storyboards of the events for the movie.
- Visual arts skills—Students exercise visual arts and fine motor skills through sculpting and filming.
- Technology skills—Students use a video camera, a computer, and professional software to create their movie.
- Critical thinking skills—Students respond to one another's films.
- Collaboration skills—Students work in small groups and negotiate roles and project details.
- Decision-making skills—Students make choices about their characters and stories.
