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Digital Animation

Success Zone / Neill -
2026 Fall

Students will conceptualize original characters and bring them to life with photographs, clay or objects. Hands-on projects will cover the fundamentals of animation utilizing such techniques as flipbooks, paper cutouts, claymation, and stop-motion animation. Invent your own story and characters and watch them come to life with a few moves.

Week Topic Lesson Description & Connections
1 Exploring the world of motion through animation Students will learn how still images create the illusion of motion by exploring fun examples like flipbooks, Claymation, and early cartoons. They will discover the roots of animation through pre-film “magic tricks” such as thaumatropes and zoetropes.
2 Create a Character and Background Each student will create a background and simple character for a short stop-motion animation. Completed animations will be screened for the class.
3 Understanding Frames Students create flipbooks to explore how repetition, sequencing, and timing affect the animation.
4 Character Animation Revisited Students will illustrate a background and character on paper to create a scene. Concepts like anticipation, squash and stretch, and timing with be introduced.
5 Anime Found Objects Students will animate everyday objects to create a short story or moving pattern.
6 Human-Size Stop-Motion Animation Students will learn about the origins of stop motion. Students will then work in teams to create a life-size stop-motion animation.
7 Clay Animation Students will learn about Claymation, a specific type of stop motion. Students build poseable clay characters and create a short stop-motion story emphasizing movement, emotion, and expression. The focus will be on expressing character and emotion through physical movement.
8 Plan and Start Animation Students begin developing a final animation project using techniques learned throughout the residency. Students will build characters, scenes, and plotlines for their animation.
9 Production and Feedback Students will continue production and participate in instructor and peer feedback sessions.
10 Final Showcase The program concludes with a celebration of student work. All completed animations will be shown through a culminating screening.
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Map/Locations
Locations
Neill Elementary
3830 Harvest Corner Dr
Richmond, TX 77406
SZ-JNE-8

  Young Audiences of Houston

Neill Elementary
Thursdays, Oct 1 - Dec 17
3:45 - 4:45 PM

  No Class Oct 15 & Nov 26

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Grades   2nd - 5th
Price: $ 220 00