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Things to Do > Computer Resource Center > Electronic Curricula

Hot Shot Animation

arrow graphicDownload Project (25kb PDF)

Subject: Graphic Design, Math and English
Age Level: 10 years and up

Performance Standards Information
Learning and Self-management Tools and Techniques A4a
Tools and Techniques for Working with Others A5

Activity Goals

  • To have children create their own short animation films

Skills children will learn from the activity

  • Children will understand the concept of sequencing by working on a hands-on project.
  • Children will learn how to put together a Power Point presentation and import graphics/export graphics
Materials needed
  • Project Planning Sheets (Copy the sheets on the front and back because the children will need at least 5-6 copies each)
  • Pencils
  • Computers
  • Microsoft Power Point
  • KidPix and/or other graphics programs
Prerequisites
  • How to use KidPix
  • How to follow instructions
  • Basic understanding of sequencing
  • The rules of the computer room

Procedure

  1. Have the children begin drawing their pictures. It will take about 25-35 pictures to create a minute long animation show (the length of the show will depend upon how much time it takes to go from slide to slide). Make sure that the images are being saved in a file folder only for the animation show.
  2. When you set up your Power Point presentation, go into the Slide Sorter View. You can do that by clicking on the middle icon found towards the bottom left of your screen. Use the Blank Slide format and then click on the slide to select it.
  3. After the slide has been selected, Ctrl + C to copy the blank slide and then hit, Ctrl + V to paste it. Laying out the format of the show before importing the images will speed up the process and make it a lot easier for the children to navigate through. That way they won’t have to reformat every slide as we go.
  4. Click on the slide to go back to slide view.
  5. Insert a picture by clicking on Insert> Picture> From File… then select the picture and then hit OK.
  6. To place an image on the next slide, go to the scroll bar located at the right of the screen and click on the button located at the bottom right corner. The double arrows pointing up will take you to the previous slide, and the double arrows pointing down will take you to the next slide.
  7. Repeat this process for inserting the additional images.

Download a blank story board(8kb PDF)
Use it as a template for drawing the animation sequence

Extension Activities

  • You can have the children create theme based animation shows and then string them together to one long movie. Adding sound and music can give the show some more spice.
  • After the children have finished their animation, you could have a special preview of their work so that their families and members of the community could come and watch the shows. Provide some snacks and move one of the computers out of the room into a common area to view the show.

Points of Consideration

  • The more complex the drawings, the harder they will be to draw them over and over again. The important thing about this activity is not about how well the children can draw, but how creative they can be with simple images and the story line.
  • Every 6-7 shots (one shot being a single square on the project plan) equals one second. In order for the children to realize how many drawings they need to make in order to fill a minute, have a show prepared with about 25 drawings. Play the actual show for the children and then show them the slide sorter so that they can understand how flip animation works.
  • Sequencing is important for the animation to work out properly. In order to keep everything organized, set up (or have the children set up) folders to hold their images in. Then, make sure that they number each of their images in chronological order (i.e. “Shot 1, Shot 2, Shot 3”) so that they don’t have to search for random images. Setting up the images this way will make it much easier for the Coordinators and the children to import the graphics into PowerPoint.
  • Keep in mind that the more pictures used for a single movement, the smoother the animation will be. However, Power Point files take up a huge amount of memory so it’s important to find the right balance between the number of images and the file size.