Close your eyes. Not just pretend. Really shut them.Imagine your words living in your heart, dripping like syrup through your veins, down your arm, past your elbow (ticklish), through your wrist, and ker-splat! into your fingers. Now draw a letter.
Any letter.
This is where your hand, heart, and brain come together. Here are some animation exercises to get you started.
Build a Thaumatrope and Twirl Up Some Optical Magic
Get ready to create a classic spinning illusion toy that fuses two drawings into one mesmerizing image using just string, card, and imagination. Whether it's a cat and a fish or a banana and a toaster, you'll be a master of early animation in no time.
Make a Flipbook with Stickers, Not Sketches
Ditch the pencil and grab your stickers—this flipbook project is perfect for crafty fingers who want instant animated action without drawing a thing. Just flip, laugh, and let the sticky mayhem begin.
Spin Your Scribbles Into Hypnotic Animated Circles
Draw your own mini-movie in 16 silly frames, drop it into a homemade zoetrope, and watch your doodles leap to life. This looping animation activity is a joyful, hands-on intro to motion that anyone can try—no screens required.
Scratch, Scrawl, and Project Your Story in Light
Turn a strip of clear 16mm film into a glowing canvas of animation using markers, craft knives, and pure imagination. This noisy, DIY art form blends visual storytelling with sound and light—perfect for curious rebels and cinema lovers.
Make Your ABCs Shimmy, Shake, and Star in a Story
Letters take on lives of their own in this creative workshop where the alphabet becomes a cast of characters. Using Post-its and pencils, animate stories that mix literacy with playful motion and endless invention.
Team Up to Make One Giant, Joyful Animation Loop
Create wild little animation loops, then swap frames with friends to build a mega-animation made of rhythm, randomness, and collective creativity. This looping jam is perfect for group fun, storytelling, and chaos that never quits.
