Kids Animating Nature at iPad Camp

Procreate on the screen with a student's work the elements brush.

 This week I am teaching an iPad Camp at the Academy Center of the Arts here in Lynchburg, VA. I have been doing week-long iPad camps for a number of years and love spending this time with kids 8 - 14 helping them learn to become content creators. They learn to make animations, digital art, interactive books and videos. I wanted to test my theory that animation, art and science can play a role in how kids interact with their environment.

Generally I help the students learn the tools and let them create whatever they want. However, this year, in the midst of production on Anim8Nature, I was especially interested in getting the kids animating life cycles and other natural phenomenon.  I was pleased with the results.

We are using Animatic by Inkboard, a great tool for introducing animation to kids as young as 6. The students are also working with Procreate, Animation and Drawing by DoInk, Composer Pro and iMovie.

Another project I suggested was to identify of an interesting plant or animal they had found outside and animate how it moves. We had a discussion about how plants move and here is an example of how one students answered this question, a solution I had not anticipated.

I am developing a media project to help kids connect to natural world with animation and art and writing activities. This was great confirmation that visualizing science can engage kids with their world in new ways.

Learn more about my work and Anim8Nature on my website.
@Anim8Nature