This activity combines imagination, creativity and science. Children will have to put their art skills and precision to the test as they build models, take photographs and bring their stories to life!
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Top tip!
If you don’t have clay or playdough, you can use toys and play figures for this activity, instead.Equipment needed
- Clay or playdough, if you prefer
- A camera (a smartphone camera will do)
- A laptop or PC with PowerPoint (or another slideshow enabling device)
- Bulldog clips (optional)
About the activity
First, get the kids to make a figure out of clay or playdough. This can take any form they like – a person, animal, monster, mythical creature…anything at all! They might want to make several figures so they can have different characters in their animation.
Next, get the kids to take photographs that will make up the animation. This is done by taking a photo (against a plane background will work best), moving the figure into a different position, taking another photo and so on. Encourage the kids to act out a narrative storyline across the photos – and why not use props, too?!
Make sure the kids understand that they can only use a series of images for their stories – there will be no words or sound. With that in mind, how can they best move and mould their figures and take pictures to tell their story?
Once finished, they can see their animations come to life by looking through their photos quickly. One option for this is to put the photos in consecutive order in a rapid slideshow in PowerPoint. This should create a short film made up of stills. Alternatively, you can develop their photographs and attach them together in consecutive order with a bulldog clip. This way, they’ll have a flipbook that they can flick through to reveal their story!
