Today we hosted an animation workshop at our house

The families attending were a mix of schooled and unschooled

All families who wanted to come along

Try something new

And have some fun

David led the workshop using his software

Zu3D

We had 18 children aged between 3 and 12

Learning how to make stop motion animations

With David’s software

On devices including iPads, laptops and phones

The day ran from 10 – 1

With regular breaks for play and garden adventures

The idea of the day was to give the children the chance

To learn how to use Zu3D

To use the software to animate some small figures

To act out a story or scene

Using stop motion animation

To add music and sound effects to their films

Add speech bubbles, titles and credits

And then to share their finished movies on the big screen

David worked very hard setting up the different animation stations

He had set ups for all round the house

Using laptops and webcams mostly

But also iPads and phones

Most people worked on table tops

But we also had one group making a larger animation on the floor

This is what it looked like before everyone arrived

The session was split into six chunks

Three short sessions at the interactive whiteboard

With David explaining the software and introducing key features

All the children were engaged and keen to get on and try Zu3D for themselves

The children worked in pairs mostly

One child moving the figures in the scene

And the other taking the pictures

The frames that made up their films

Some children animated Lego figures

Other used Playmobil and Happyland

We had a dinosaur film

A rubber duck

And some penguins in the jungle

Animation is a wonderful vehicle for learning

It facilitates storytelling, collaboration, communication

Decision making, problem solving

It encourages children to think creatively

To look at everyday things in a different way

I loved walking round our house today

Listening to the children working on their films

Hearing their laughter

Their different conversations

Listening to parents working with their children

To learn new things

To play together

It was really very special

And made me feel all at once at peace with our decision to home educate

And excited for the potential of more days like these

More days animating

More days bringing friends and families together

To do something different

Something new

Our future ideas for animation workshops include

Storyboarding and animating traditional tales / nursery rhymes

2D Fireworks animations

A collaborative film using green screening to combine live action and stop motion

A lot to feel positive and excited about

As we head into a new non-school year

If you would like to try Zu3D you can download a free trial here