Make A Stop Motion Movie With Flying Characters
Create a short stop motion movie featuring flying characters using paper cutouts, clay, or toys; learn frame by frame animation and storyboarding techniques.
Step-by-step guide to make a stop motion movie with flying characters
This Pilot Teaches Children How to Fly
Step 1
Pick your flying characters and think of a 10 to 30 second story about where they fly and why.
Step 2
Draw a simple storyboard of 6 to 12 key frames showing how the characters move from start to finish.
Step 3
Create your characters by cutting paper shapes or modelling clay figures or choose small toys to play your roles.
Step 4
Decorate each character with colouring materials so they look fun and easy to spot.
Step 5
Attach a tiny loop of string or a clear thread to each character if you want them to hover or fly.
Step 6
Build a background by decorating the cardboard or shoebox with sky ground and any props you need.
Step 7
Place your background on a flat surface and arrange any scenery pieces where you want them to stay.
Step 8
Stabilize your camera by mounting it on a tripod or steadying it on a stack of books and frame the whole scene.
Step 9
Put your characters in the starting position on the set.
Step 10
Take a test photo and check that the characters and background are clearly visible.
Step 11
Move the characters a tiny bit along their flight path (about 1 cm or a small change in position).
Step 12
Take a photo after each little move.
Step 13
Repeat Step 11 and Step 12 until you have photographed every frame from your storyboard.
Step 14
Open a stop motion app and import your photos in order then set the playback speed to about 12 frames per second and export your movie.
Step 15
Share your finished stop motion movie 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 instead of clear thread or a tripod if those are hard to find?
Use fishing line or a loop of thin sewing thread instead of clear thread for Step 5, and steady your camera by balancing a phone on a stack of books or using a heavy mug as a makeshift tripod for Step 7.
My characters wobble or the photos are blurry—how can we fix common stop-motion problems?
Secure character bases with a small piece of sticky tack or tape after placing them in the set (Step 9), use a phone timer or remote to avoid camera shake when taking photos (Step 10), and keep lighting constant so frames don't flicker.
How can I adapt this activity for different ages?
For preschoolers, use large toy figures and a 6-frame storyboard and let an adult handle the camera (Steps 1–3 and 7–12), while older kids can sculpt clay characters, plan 12+ key frames, and experiment with 12–24 fps playback in the app (Steps 2, 3, and 14).
How can we make the movie more creative or personal?
Add painted backdrops and moving props to your cardboard set (Steps 6–7), record voiceovers or sound effects to layer in your stop motion app after importing photos (Step 14), and finish with custom credits before sharing on DIY.org (Step 15).
Watch videos on how to make a stop motion movie with flying characters
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Facts about stop motion animation for kids
✂️ Cutout animation goes back over a century — Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 film used paper silhouettes to tell a full-length story.
✈️ To make characters look like they’re flying, animators use tiny rigs, threads, or armatures so every frame stays perfectly balanced.
🎬 A one-minute stop-motion movie at 24 frames per second needs 1,440 photos — each tiny move is a full picture!
🐉 Ray Harryhausen built detailed creature models and animated them one frame at a time for epic flying-monster scenes.
🧩 Wallace & Gromit are famous claymation stars; Aardman Studios hand-sculpts and tweaks each pose frame by frame.
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