Film and literacy: Recounts

Budding animators: let children have a go at their own claymations

Filmmaking enables children to develop a range of creative skills, such as teamwork, concentration, communication, ICT skills and technical skills. It has been discovered that children who struggle with traditional literacy learning often have a strong aesthetic sense, which enables them to communicate effectively through film.

Animation is the easiest form of filmmaking to use in the classroom, as it requires only a small amount of equipment and you can create your subjects using paper, pens, scissors and Plasticine! The stop-frame animation process involves taking a shot of your scene and then moving your subject a little before shooting your next frame. When the frames are played at speed, and because of the way our eyes work, we see the still images as movement.