How to animate for kids: make your drawings move

What your kid makes

Your kid ends with a character your kid invented, drawn in the poses animators use, from a crouch to a squash, plus the four ideas that make any drawing feel alive. The character can go on into the Animation Studio as the star of a short film.

The 4 lessons

1. 

   Lesson 1. Slow or fast?

   The number of drawings sets the speed, and speed shows how heavy something is.

   1. Draw a character with a round body and two legs
   2. Decide if it's heavy or quick
   3. Write it next to the drawing

   Where: Paper

   Watch it free above

2. Lesson 2. Squash and stretch

   A ball squashes wider when it lands and stretches thinner when it falls.

   1. Draw your character normal
   2. Draw it squashed down low
   3. Draw it stretched up tall

   Where: Paper

   In the app

3. Lesson 3. Get ready first

   A small move the other way, right before the big move, makes a jump feel real.

   1. Stand up and jump, and notice the knees bend first
   2. Draw your character crouched down low
   3. Get it ready to jump

   Where: Paper

   In the app

4. Lesson 4. Slow in, slow out

   Every move slows down into its big poses, like a swing at each end.

   1. Draw four jump poses: stand, crouch, stretch, squash
   2. Number them 1 to 4
   3. Bring the character to the Animation Studio

   Where: Paper

   In the app

Lesson 1 transcript: Slow or fast?

1. 0:00

   Hi, I'm Tek! Let's make your drawings move like they're alive!

2. 0:05

   A cartoon is lots of drawings, shown one after another, really fast. Secret number one is timing.

3. 0:13

   Same move, different number of drawings. Three drawings? Zip! Twelve drawings? Nice and slow. More drawings make a move slower.

4. 0:25

   Now look at this. A rock and a feather fall at the same speed. Something feels wrong. That's flat.

5. 0:33

   Now it's alive! The heavy rock drops fast. Thud! The light feather floats down slowly.

6. 0:42

   Your turn. Draw a character with a round body and two legs. Is it heavy or quick? Write it next to it. Then press Next.