Frame-by-Frame Animation in Year 2 Technology Lessons
Bringing Stories to Life
Year 2 students have recently started a creativity unit, where students dive into the world of frame-by-frame animation—the same technique used in classic cartoons and modern indie animations. Using beginner-friendly tools like Flip-a-Clip and ArtEater, our learners explore how animations are built one frame at a time, exploring storytelling from a new perspective – motion.
In the first few lessons, students experiment with simple small movements which combine to create animation using the Lasso tool, copy and paste. They will begin to build on this fundamental concept learning about onion skins, sound and timing. All of this leads to their first big challenge: retelling the quirky tale of Burger Boy using their new found animation skills. Along the way, they reflect on questions like, “Can I animate a story?” and “What techniques best bring my scene to life?”
These early weeks are hands-on, exploratory, and full of “aha!” moments as students begin turning still images into animated scenes. It won’t be long before they’ll be combining clips, adding sound, and publishing their first short animations to tell their own short stories!
Why not try Art Eater out at home and see what you can animate!
Animation. For everyone.
