6 Engaging ways to bring animation into your lessons

Why teach animation?

Animation is everywhere students look, from the shows they stream at home to the apps they tap on a tablet. But how often do they stop and think about what goes into making those characters move? Teaching animation gives you a way to connect something students already love with skills they genuinely need: creative problem-solving, sequencing, storytelling, and digital literacy.

It’s also one of the most naturally cross-curricular topics you’ll find. A single animation project touches visual arts, narrative writing, math (think timing and frame rates), and technology. Whether your students are in 3rd grade or 8th grade, there’s a version of animation instruction that fits your classroom and your curriculum goals.

The activities below are designed to work across elementary and middle school settings, with tips for adapting up or down by grade level. Each one pairs well with ClickView’s animation video resources, so you’ve got ready-made visual support built right in.

6 classroom activities for teaching animation

1) Discover the 12 principles of animation

Before students create anything, it helps to ground them in the fundamentals. The 12 principles of animation, originally developed by Disney animators in the 1930s, cover concepts like squash and stretch, timing, and anticipation. These principles explain why animated movement feels believable (or doesn’t).

This activity works well as a whole-class introduction to a broader animation unit, or as a standalone visual arts lesson.

How to run it:

• Start by watching ClickView’s The 12 Principles of Animation video with your class. At seven minutes, it’s a manageable length for grades 3 through 5 and works equally well for middle school students.
• Pause after each principle and ask students to sketch a quick example of what they just learned. For instance, after watching the segment on “squash and stretch,” they could draw a bouncing ball showing the shape change at each stage.
• Once all 12 principles have been covered, assign each student (or pair of students) one principle to illustrate on a poster. Display the finished set as a reference wall for the rest of the unit.

Adapt it: For younger students (grades 1 and 2), focus on three or four of the most visual principles, like squash and stretch, timing, and exaggeration. For middle schoolers, challenge them to find and share real examples from animated films or TV shows that demonstrate each principle.

2) Build a flipbook

There’s something satisfying about making a stack of paper come to life with just your thumb. Flipbooks are one of the simplest ways to help students understand how animation works at its most basic level: a series of still images, each slightly different from the last, played in rapid sequence to create the illusion of movement.

How to run it:

• Give each student a small notepad or a stack of sticky notes.
• Ask them to draw a simple action across 15 to 20 pages, changing the image slightly on each page. Good starting subjects include a ball bouncing, a flower growing, or a stick figure waving.
• Before they begin, show ClickView’s [How to Make an Animation](https://www.clickview.net/us/elementary/videos/40907164/how-to-make-an-animation) video to introduce the brainstorm-and-plan stage. Even though it’s a short video (one minute), it sets the right mindset: plan first, then draw.
• Once students finish, have them flip through their books and share with a partner. What worked? What would they change if they had more pages?

Adapt it: For younger students, keep it to 10 pages and a very simple motion (a sun rising, a face changing expression). For middle schoolers, set a minimum of 25 pages and encourage them to incorporate one of the 12 principles from Activity 1.

3) Plan and storyboard an original animation

Every great animated film starts with a plan. This activity moves students from “drawing pictures” to thinking like animators, asking them to develop a concept, map out a sequence, and consider how their story unfolds frame by frame.

Storyboarding is also a strong literacy connection. Students practice narrative structure, sequencing, and visual storytelling all at once. Have you noticed how engaged students become when they realize their story is going to move?

How to run it:

• Begin with ClickView’s Creative Process video (four minutes, grades 3 to 5). It walks students through how professional animators brainstorm, plan, and develop ideas before they ever start drawing or modeling.
• After watching, give each student a storyboard template (a sheet of paper divided into six to nine panels).
• Ask them to plan a short animation with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Each panel represents a key moment in the story.
• Below each panel, students write a one- or two-sentence description of what’s happening and any dialogue or sound effects they’d include.
• Have students share their storyboards in small groups and give each other feedback before moving on to production (if you’re pairing this with Activity 2 or Activity 4).

Adapt it: For elementary students, provide sentence starters under each panel (“In this scene, the character…”). For middle schoolers, add a requirement to include a specific narrative element, such as a plot twist, a flashback, or a change in perspective.

This activity moves students from “drawing pictures” to thinking like animators, asking them to develop a concept, map out a sequence, and consider how their story unfolds frame by frame.

Storyboarding is also a strong literacy connection. Students practice narrative structure, sequencing, and visual storytelling all at once. Have you noticed how engaged students become when they realize their story is going to move?

How to run it:

• Begin with ClickView’s Creative Process video (four minutes, grades 3 to 5). It walks students through how professional animators brainstorm, plan, and develop ideas before they ever start drawing or modeling.
• After watching, give each student a storyboard template (a sheet of paper divided into six to nine panels).
• Ask them to plan a short animation with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Each panel represents a key moment in the story. You could have them connect their sequence to a topic or theme being studied in class.
• Below each panel, students write a one- or two-sentence description of what’s happening and any dialogue or sound effects they’d include.
• Have students share their storyboards in small groups and give each other feedback before moving on to production (if you’re pairing this with Activity 2 or Activity 4).

Adapt it: For elementary students, provide sentence starters under each panel (“In this scene, the character…”). For middle schoolers, add a requirement to include a specific narrative element, such as a plot twist, a flashback, or a change in perspective.

4) Create a stop-motion short

Stop-motion animation is a fantastic bridge between traditional art and digital media. Students physically move objects, photograph each position, and then play the images back as a video. It’s tactile, collaborative, and surprisingly simple to set up.

Before students dive in, ClickView’s The Cartoon video (six minutes, grades K to 3) introduces different types of animation, including claymation and stop-motion. It’s a helpful reference point for students to understand where their project fits in the bigger picture. For students using iPads

You might also want to show students an example of stop-motion, which is where the Handmade Happiness video comes in handy.

How to run it:

• Gather materials: modeling clay, LEGO bricks, paper cutouts, or even everyday classroom objects all work well.
• Students use a tablet or smartphone (or a classroom device) along with a free stop-motion app to capture frames. Most apps let students take photos one at a time and play them back automatically.
• Aim for 30 to 50 frames for a short clip of a few seconds. Remind students that small, consistent movements between frames produce the smoothest results.
• Once clips are complete, have students watch each other’s work and discuss the effect of each.

Adapt it: For younger students, keep it collaborative: small groups of three or four working on a single short scene. For middle schoolers, set a minimum length (five to 10 seconds of finished video) and require a brief written reflection on what they learned about the animation process.

5) Analyze an animated film

Not every animation lesson needs to involve creating something from scratch. Sometimes the most powerful learning happens when students slow down and look critically at animation they already know and love. What choices did the animators make, and why?

This activity develops critical viewing and analytical thinking, and it connects naturally to language arts through written or spoken responses.

How to run it:

• Choose a short animated clip (two to four minutes) from a well-known film or series. Pick something with strong visual storytelling and clear examples of animation principles.
• Before watching, give students a viewing guide with two or three focus questions. For example:
• Which of the 12 principles of animation do you notice in this clip?
• How does the animation style support the mood or tone of the story?
• What details did the animators include that you might not notice on a first viewing?
• Watch the clip twice: once for enjoyment, once for analysis.
• After viewing, students respond in writing (a short paragraph) or through a class discussion. Encourage them to use specific examples from the clip to support their observations.

Adapt it: For elementary students, narrow the focus to one or two questions and use a think-pair-share format. For middle schoolers, have them compare animation styles across two different clips (for example, hand-drawn versus computer-generated) and present their analysis to the class.

6) Host a class animation festival

What better way to wrap up an animation unit than with a screening? A class animation festival gives students a real audience for their work and turns the process of sharing into its own learning experience. It also builds presentation skills, constructive feedback habits, and a sense of creative community.

How to run it:

• Set a deadline for all animation projects (flipbooks, stop-motion shorts, or digital animations) to be completed.
• On festival day, arrange the classroom as a mini theater. If students created flipbooks, set up a “gallery walk” where classmates flip through each other’s work. For digital projects, connect a device to a projector and screen each piece.
• Give every student a simple feedback form with prompts like: “One thing I really liked about this animation was…” and “One suggestion I have is…”
• After all screenings, lead a brief whole-class reflection: What surprised you about the animation process? What would you do differently next time?
• Consider inviting another class, parents, or school staff to the screening to raise the stakes (in a good way) and celebrate students’ creativity.

Adapt it: For younger students, keep feedback verbal and guided by the teacher. For middle schoolers, add a “director’s statement” requirement where each student writes a short paragraph explaining their creative choices before the screening.

Tips for ongoing integration

Animation doesn’t have to live in a single unit and then disappear from your lesson plans. Here are a few ways to keep it present throughout the year:

• Connect animation to reading and writing. When students study narrative structure, character development, or descriptive language, ask them to think about how an animator would translate those elements visually. A quick storyboarding exercise pairs well with almost any fiction unit.
• Use animation as a formative assessment tool. Instead of a written summary, let students create a short flipbook or stop-motion clip that demonstrates a concept they’ve learned in science, social studies, or math.
• Build a class animation library. Keep a running collection of student-created animations that future classes can watch and learn from. It’s a great motivator when students know their work has a lasting audience.
• Revisit ClickView’s animation resources regularly. The topic page brings together videos on the creative process, principles of animation, and different animation styles, so you’ve always got a visual anchor ready when the topic comes up.

Animation gives students a way to combine art, storytelling, and technology into something they’re genuinely proud of. Whether you’re running a full unit or weaving a single activity into an existing lesson, the skills students build through animation, from planning and sequencing to collaboration and critical analysis, carry over into every subject area. Give one of these activities a try, and you might be surprised by what your students create.

Sources

1. Thomas, F. and Johnston, O. (1981). The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions.
2. Priebe, K. A. (2011). The Advanced Art of Stop-Motion Animation. Boston: Course Technology.
3. International Society for Technology in Education (2024). ‘ISTE Standards for Students’. Available at: https://www.iste.org/standards/students (Accessed: 13 May 2026).