Over the last two weeks, Year 3 have been learning about ‘animations’ as part of their Computing lessons.

Firstly, we found out that ‘animations’ are quite simply a moving picture and it wasn’t long before the children started listing many examples of animations they have seen around them.

Next, we looked at how an animation is created and learnt that each picture used to make an animation is actually called a ‘frame’. We also were impressed when learning about the term ‘onion skinning’  – a technique used to see previous frames on the screen at the same time as creating the new frame (very cool!).

It was then time to set up our very own ‘animation studios’! In small groups, we began by drawing our first ‘frame’ on a mini whiteboard, next we used a camera that we plugged into the laptop to take a photo of each frame. We used a special programme on the laptops called, Cloud Stop Motion. As we created each frame, we put the onion skinning technique into practise and this really helped make the process much easier!

There were definitely a few teething problems to begin with, but with much patience and resilience  I am really proud to say that each group successfully created their very own animation and they were very entertaining to watch!

Well done, Year 3 – you smashed it! 🙂