Animated Adventures
School & Community Programs

Animation is medium that combines many elements: art, media, math, physics and media literacy. It is an ideal art activity for school children because it is very engaging, interactive and suitable for different learning styles--and it's a great way for them to apply what they've learned in other disciplines.

Animated Adventures offers a variety of programs for schools, as well as community centers, museums, and libraries. Programs are available for nearly every group, size and budget. Lessons include connections to the Essential Academic Learning Requirements in the Arts (EALRs) for Washington State.

Take a look at a listing of our workshop partners and the following project descriptions:

Artist-in-Residence Projects: Two-week or longer all-school projects involving the entire student population (K-12) in the creation of an original animated film. After the project is completed, your school receives a DVD of the film, which can be screened as an exciting parent/community event. Variations offered:

• Cut-Out Cinema: Students gain valuable teamwork experience as each class group collaborates on developing a story or message, illustrating that story with drawings and cut-paper collage, and then animating the artwork frame-by-frame with digital cameras. Popular themes include Animated Authors (fables), Earth Day public service announcements and Moving History (re-enactments of historical and cultural events).

  Video Examples: Why Gnus Have Curved Horns, Save Salmon Streams, and The Stealing Aliens

• Flipbook Flicks: Students focus on individual self-expression by making flipbook animation videos. Starting and ending with matching images, each student draws a 100-page animation sequence, and the results are filmed to make one interconnected movie, approximately 10 seconds long per student. In this way, an average-sized school can make a feature-length animated film in just two weeks! This project is most effective for grades four and up, with connection to the fractions portion of your school's mathematics curriculum.

  Video Examples: Kindergarten, 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, 3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 5th Grade, and 6th Grade

• Animation Assembly: This half-hour show features an artist demonstrating animation techniques using live video production equipment and projection for all students to see. The audience actually makes an animated film together by moving their bodies in place, a technique called "pixilation." An assembly is included at the start of every residency two weeks or longer, and is also available as a stand-alone event (one-day residency) or in combination with a class project or after-school program at the school.

Classroom Projects: These mini-residencies are designed for groups of 30 or fewer students. Ideally, the project is repeated across a grade level to connect with your school's curriculum. We will develop lessons in conjunction with teachers' goals to provide a rich learning experience for students as they make an animated film. Material options for this type of project include clay, cut-out and flipbook animation. Classroom Projects are a flexible experience that can be adapted to almost any subject, from science to social studies to self-portraits.

Video Example: Landimation

After-School Animation: In one 2-3 hour period after shool or on weekends, up to 20 students get a hands-on experience with creating animation using claymation, flip-o-rama drawings and pixilation. Each student also designs an original case for the keepsake VHS or DVD copy of the animated film made that day. A theme concept for the workshop is chosen by the school in advance. Past themes include: Superheroes, School Mascot, Outer Space, Under the Sea, Cars, Magic and more. This type of workshop is especially well-suited to early-dismissal/conference days when parents need an opt-in day care solution. This option is ideal for library programs and PTA/PTO-sponsored enrichment programs for early-dismissal days.

Video Examples: Clay Superheroes and Anime Sampler

Animation Workshops: Designed for groups of 15 or fewer students, these intensive, week-long workshops can focus on a filmmaking theme such as documentary, or a technique, such as computer animation. Students have time to develop and create individual films. Animated Adventures "on-the-road" Workshops are available for out-of-state and international booking, pending availability.

Video Examples: The Kung-Fu Kid, Welcome Aboard, and Scuba Surprise

Training & Consulting: Animated Adventures also offers equipment re-selling, teacher training and consulting for schools planning to implement their own animation program.

Please contact us for pricing details. Project fees are derived from hourly rates and vary according to the number of days and the number of students.

It can be a challenge finding the funds to supplement the arts in schools. Get creative! Here are some suggestions:

• For schools in Washington State, the Washington State Arts Commission's Arts in Education program offers grants such as the "First Step" grant to bring in artists-in-residence.
• Many communities have developed "Arts Education Consortium" programs to supplement arts education in schools. Funding of these programs can often be used to bring in local artists. To see an example, check out the Bainbridge Island Arts Education Community Consortium.
• After a residency project is completed, extra copies of the DVD can be ordered in bulk and sold to parents as a fundraiser for the school.
• For the smaller budget or tighter schedule, the after-school workshop is a great start and a sampler of what is possible. Usually booked by the school PTA or Enrichment program, the events pay for themselves when offered as a paid after-school event, often generating funds for the school when the workshop fills. Early-dismissal days are ideal for this kind of offering because parents are often willing to sign-up for extended care opportunities.