Make Believe Animation Project

  • Think of Alice as she fell down the rabbit hole into that amazing and colourful wonderland; for children every day should be an adventure and a chance to develop the power of their imagination.  

    In our discussions with primary schools in the Tower Hamlets area we had identified a need for pupils to engage with digital media. Also highlighted was the desire to increase children’s story telling skills. 

    As a result we devised Make Believe, a cross-school animation project aimed at both KS1 and KS2 which engaged the whole class.  

    The plan was simple; to take some of our most well loved nursery rhymes and allow the children to unleash their creative potential upon them using nothing more than paper, pens and digital media.  

  • Make Believe Animation Project

  • The Project

    Working together with a four school cluster, we asked each school to put forward a class to work with us to create a 3 minute animation which would then be shared with the rest of the school.  

    Over the course of the project the children learnt about digital technology and a variety of different aspects of animation. The deeper learning here centred on team working, co-operation, communication and building confidence in their own creativity; empowering the children to use their imagination to create something remarkable.  

  • The project was delivered very professionally from start to finish. A lot of planning had clearly gone in to it. The children loved it!

    — Lisa Leblonde, Teacher, Malmesbury Primary School
  • Day 1 – The Basics of Animation

    We began by explaining to our budding animators the basics of animation, how still images are played back fast enough to trick the brain. The children were then shown the key equipment that is used to create an animation before they had a go at making their own zoetrope strips and two-page flip books  

    Finally, in their groups, the children put forward their ideas and voted to decide which nursery rhyme they were going to animate.  

  • Day 2 – Storyboarding and Making

    On the second day we began by storyboarding the chosen nursery rhyme. Working in teams the children were asked to think through the key events of the story and plot them out. The teams were given a range of roles and responsibilities, highlighting to the children the different skills required in an effective team. Key roles included resource manager, time manager and team leader.  

    Next the children began to design and make their characters using scissors, pens, pencils and glue sticks. We provided an image bank to draw inspiration from and some templates to work from for the younger or less able pupils.  

  • Day 3

    This was one of the most exciting days for the children as it was time to put all of their hard work together. Still working in teams they used a camera, tripod and computer to bring their paper characters to life one frame at a time. Turn taking, patience and calm communication were key skills developed during this process. 

    A member from each group joined the audio team to record dialogue and sound effects for the characters. The older children created some great lines! The children also used Audacity software to listen and edit sound effects from a library we put together for the project. 

    The animations and sound were then edited by Dave Darch and showcased to the whole school with presentations and certificates for all those hard-working animators!  

  • We love what we do and nothing makes us happier than to know that the children and teaching staff have benefitted too. This is why feedback and testimonials like the following mean so much to us.  

     

    “It was exciting for the children to know that they were part of a project that involved other schools and their children” Class teacher, Wellington Primary School

     It took a long time to take all the pictures but we all worked together and took turns” Year 2 pupil, Wellington Primary School

    “The children were very inspired by the project. They were fascinated by the zoetrope strips” TA, Old Ford Primary School

    “I really enjoyed taking a nursery rhyme we all knew and making it come to life in our own way” Year 5 pupil, Old Palace Primary School 
     
    If you are a school and want to teach children how to use digital media, work effectively together as a team and produce exciting work that can be shared with the whole school, parents and governors then get in touch with us today and talk to us about how we can help. 

  • Watch the finished animations on our Youtube channel
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