Makerspace Activities: Stop Motion Animation

One of our latest adventures in our Makerspace has been experimenting with video production.

The first type of video production that we experimented with was stop motion animation. We had Legos and we had iPads, so it was a match made in heaven.

For this activity, I downloaded two free apps: the Lego Movie Maker app and the Stop Motion Studio app. Both are great for beginners. 

The Lego Movie App is great for the true beginner and it comes with fun titles, intro slides, music, effects and more.It also guides you through how to take the pictures and add the various features. It is an excellent app for beginners and really helps kids begin to understand how stop motion animation works.

                                     

                                                Lego Movie Maker App

Here is an example of a Lego Movie Maker video that was made by a couple of kids in the Makerspace Club. They did this on their very first try!

The second app that I downloaded for this activity is called the Stop Motion Studio app. This app is also great for beginners. You can set a timer to record many images and record your voice. If you're willing to pay for it, there are also some other neat features to add to this app. You can purchase an extra, like green screen, individually or buy 'The Feature Pack' to get all of the extra features, like movie effects, themes, sound effects, and more. That certainly would be worth it if you were really enjoying creating these types of movies. At the moment, we are just beginning to explore what stop motion has to offer, so the free version worked just fine for us.

Stop Motion Studio App

Here are a couple videos that kids made at a club meeting using the Stop Motion Studio app.

I was really impressed with how quickly everyone picked up how to make a stop motion video and the creativity involved. All of the students who experimented with stop motion animation were able to create a finished product, and most did it in 30 minutes or less. This is a great, engaging, creative activity for our Makerspace!