Flip Books in the Art Room

Second grade students will be introduced to animation through flip books this week, a month long unit involving not only flip books, but iPad animation apps and stop motion animation as well. I think animation is engaging for all students, even the early elementary, and requires a lot of critical thinking and creativity. By allowing students to solve art problems using any form of animation, it enables students to find success on new and challenging levels instead of recalling information in traditional ways. Animation is also a great tool to encourage 21st century skills ranging from creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, and responsibility.

To introduce the concept of animation, 2nd graders are using pads of paper to create a flip book and animate the illusion of a ball moving and growing across the paper. "How to make a flip book animation" YouTube video by Mr. Otter Art Studio was a great resource to demonstrate how to develop a flip book.

 We also looked at examples of flip books that I purchased from an art museum many years ago, published by Fliptomania Inc.

After creating a moving growing ball in their flip book, the next task is to morph the ball into another object through slow small changes in their drawings per sheet of paper, just as a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly. Student video examples to come next week!

Another great resource for flip book animation is the New York Film Academy student resources website, including a brief overview on the different kinds of flip books still in use today.