Animate people
Make an animated film of people using paper or clay figures, a smartphone or tablet, and simple step by step shots to tell a story.
Step-by-step guide to animate people
How to animate your drawings | Art projects for kids | #doitwithdiy
Step 1
Decide on a short story and write three one-sentence parts for the beginning middle and end.
Step 2
Make two to four characters from paper or clay.
Step 3
Decorate each character with colouring materials to add faces clothes or features.
Step 4
Create a simple background scene on the tray or box using paper or fabric.
Step 5
Place small props on the set that your story will use.
Step 6
Put the set on a stable flat surface and turn on the lamp for steady light.
Step 7
Place your smartphone or tablet on a stable surface or tripod aimed at the set.
Step 8
Open the camera or a stop-motion app and set it to take single photos.
Step 9
Take a test photo to check the framing and lighting.
Step 10
Move one character a tiny bit to the next position.
Step 11
Take a photo after you move the character.
Step 12
Repeat moving a character a small step and taking a photo until the scene is complete.
Step 13
Import all the photos into a stop-motion app on your device.
Step 14
Assemble the photos into a short movie in the app.
Step 15
Share your finished animated film of people on DIY.org.
Final steps
You're almost there! Complete all the steps, bring your creation to life, post it, and conquer the challenge!
Help!?
What can we use if we don't have clay to make the characters?
Swap clay for folded paper figures, socks stuffed with tissue, or small toy figures and then decorate them with colouring materials as described in step 3.
My photos are blurry or the lighting keeps changing—what should I check?
Make sure the set is on a stable flat surface, place your smartphone on a tripod or a stack of books as in step 7, keep the lamp turned on for steady light from step 6, and retake the test photo from step 9 to confirm framing and lighting.
How can we adapt this activity for a 4-year-old versus a 12-year-old?
For a 4-year-old simplify the story to two short sentences, make big, easy-to-move paper or sock characters and have an adult handle the camera, while a 12-year-old can write the three one-sentence parts, make detailed clay or paper characters, use tiny incremental moves for smoother motion, and assemble frames in the stop-motion app per steps 11–13.
How can we make the finished movie more polished or personal?
Add a recorded voiceover or sound effects from your device, include a hand-drawn title card in the tray background, use the app's onion-skinning or frame-rate controls for smoother animation, and add music and credits before sharing on DIY.org as the final outcome.
Watch videos on how to animate people
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Facts about stop-motion animation for kids
✂️ Cutout animation uses paper or fabric pieces to create characters — early episodes of South Park were made with hand-cut paper.
🧱 Clay animation (claymation) stars like Wallace and Gromit have won Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film.
📱 Making a smooth 10-second stop-motion scene at 12 frames per second takes about 120 photos — perfect for learning patience and planning!
👥 Pixilation turns real people into stop-motion characters; Norman McLaren's Oscar-winning short "Neighbours" used this trick.
🎬 Stop-motion animation goes all the way back to the late 1800s — early shorts like "The Humpty Dumpty Circus" (1898) helped invent the technique.
How do you make an animated film of people using paper or clay figures?
What materials do I need to make a stop-motion animation with a smartphone or tablet?
What ages is this stop-motion animation activity suitable for?
What are the benefits and safety tips for kids making animated films?
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