If you’re like me, you’re always looking for ways to motivate your beginning writers. There’s this really fun {and free!} website I’ve been exploring called Animated Drawings. It turns kids’ drawings into little animated characters.
It’s so simple to use—and honestly, it’s one of those “instant engagement” activities that works well even with our most hesitant learners! Can you imagine how excited your students will be to see their drawings come to life?
What Is It?
Basically, students draw a character, person, or animal {on paper, nothing fancy}. You snap a photo {saved as a JPG} and upload it to the site. Then, you mark where the arms and legs are, and Boom! The drawing starts moving. It can walk, dance, jump, or do other fun animations.
I’ve played around with it with Luke at home and he LOVES seeing his art come to life! It’s such a fun way to mix art, writing, and even a bit of tech.
How You Can Use It in Class
Here’s how I’ve used it {and how you might try it too}:
Have Students Draw
Keep it simple! One simple character per page works best. Encourage your students to space out arms and legs so they’re easy to see and will move easily.
Upload the Drawings
You can take photos with your phone or scan them. The site is really user-friendly. How fun would it be to project so students can see the magic happen.
Mark the Joints
You’ll click to show where arms, legs, and other parts are. It doesn’t take long, and students think it’s so cool to watch.
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Pick an Animation
They can choose to make their drawing walk, dance, jump—lots of fun options.
Watch and Share
Play the animations for the class! Can you imagine how excited your students will be?
This is a great time to have your students describe what their character is doing and coming up with a little story from there.
Ways to Extend the Activity
There are a million ways you can incorporate this website into your classroom. Here are just a few ideas!
- Story writing: Have students write a short story about their animated character. This is a perfect writing prompt!
- Art lesson: Talk about character design, movement, or emotions in art.
- Class gallery: Collect everyone’s animations and share them in a slideshow or on your class site to showcase at Open House
- Cross-curricular: Connect to science {animal movement} or social studies {community helpers acting out their jobs}.
A few Teacher Tips
- Make sure drawings are clear with no overlapping arms/legs. It helps the tool work better.
- Do a quick test before class to see how it works on your device.
- Use it as a special reward, Fun Friday activity, or even part of centers.
Honestly, the biggest reason I love the site is the joy it can bring! Imagine how proud your students will be to see their own creations move. It sparks amazing conversations and gives them so much ownership.
Plus—it’s free and requires no prep. Win-win.
Give sketch.metademolab.com a try. I think you and your students will have so much fun with it! If you try it in your classroom, I’d love to hear how it goes. Or if you have any questions about setting it up, just drop them in the comments!
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