Stopmotion Explosion Stop Motion Animation Kit Review

I have a fun product to share with you, the Stop Motion Animation Kit from Stopmotion Explosion.  A has always been interested in movies and movie making.  She had an awesome science fair project on making a Zoetrope several years ago (2016). I love that the Stopmotion Explosion book included a brief history of film including the Zoetrope.

 A's Science Fair Project - she made a Zoetrope

All about the Zoetrope

Our Stop Motion Explosion Kit

Inside the Kit

When I told A and B that I wanted them to create their own LEGO animation they were excited!  This kit contains everything needed to make high-definition animated films using LEGO action figures, clay, toys, and numerous other materials.  The Stopmotion Explosion book has 290+ pages of example projects, lots of illustrations and step-by-step instructions for animating, screenwriting, video editing, audio recording and video processing software.  Or you can watch video tutorials in the Stopmotion Explosion Content Hub.

The book has lots of content

Again, this comprehensive kits comes with everything you need.  It includes a 1080p HD video camera.  This model is suitable for novice to intermediate level animations and perfect for my kids who are just starting to learn animation.  The camera has manual focus, a 360° rotating head, clip, Full HD 1920 x 1080 image resolution and many other features.  The Stopmotion Explosion book has lots of information.  Some of the topics include building sets, lighting, composition, animating, sound, editing.

I really like that stop motion is a creative hands-on medium that can be used to complement a plethora of topics and subjects.  Your kids can make a movie to showcase something that they have learned or recreate a historical event.  A and B chose to make a few general life videos and I love that.

 A and B creating their set - they used the software on a laptop

A working on a scene

  One of the images

My kids have really enjoyed making a few animated films with some of our LEGOs.  First, A and B made a short film about a baker baking a cake.  Then, they made a longer film about a gymnast at a gymnastics meet who scores a 10 on every event (notice the baker makes an appearance at the end of the film).  I love that D gave input into the gymnastics film including making the springboard for the vault.  She also noticed that the event order is not completely correct but that's okay.  It should be Bars, Beam, Floor, and Vault.  After creating their films, they went and added music and sound effects.  They used iMovie for this.  The girls have a lot to learn.  You can see in their gymnastics videos that they used string/floss to help them create flips and upside down maneuvers.  The book addresses this and give lots of tips and tricks for creating.  I hope you enjoy their creations as much as I have!  I'm looking forward to seeing them implement more techniques as they continue to learn from this book and learn more about animation.

LEGO Baking

And here it is with sound!

LEGO Gymnastics


With sound as well!

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Stopmotion Explosion.


We are really enjoying our Stop Motion Animation Kit and I look forward to seeing what the kids create in the future!

 

Tied 2 Teaching STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading Review

Tied 2 Teaching provides a great break from routine with their STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading!  And sometimes I really need a break.

This is a bundle of amazing pdf downloads and there are so many activities to choose from.  Included for each month there are also several seasonal activities to choose from and there are enough activities to do one challenge every week for an entire year plus some!  These challenges are geared toward 3rd-6th graders.

The kids and I have had a lot of fun so far with the STEM activities we have completed at home.  Grant (age 2) had a lot of help but everyone else was able to participate on some level (age 5-15).   Every week I teach a Science class at our CoOp and I have been able to use a few of these activities with my CoOp students as well (average age 9/10).  Obviously, I cannot show you all the challenges so I will show you some of our favorites so far.

Design A Carrot Carriage - I did this one with the kids at home and with the kids in my CoOp class.

Miscellaneous Supplies

The kids designs

A's Carrot Carriage

 B building her carriage.

C's design

D's Carrot Carriage - she named her bunny peep King.

E's design

I was impressed with F, he went for a stretcher design.

G had help from A.

 And I made the Carriagenator 2000, notice the spoiler on the back.

 I added a rubber band seat belt for safety.

These were some of the designs created by my CoOp class!

Pencil Tower Challenge

Each challenge comes with numerous pages and handouts as well as examples of designs created by other students.  I personally didn't show my kids or my CoOp students these designs because I wanted to see what they would create but they were helpful for me to have if the kids needed guidance.

These were some of the designs created by my CoOp class.

I want to note here that the challenges can be adapted as needed.  I didn't have an unlimited supply of pencils so I asked my students to design a tower using pencils and masking tape that would support an apple (I changed it from tallest tower you can make).  Then, they wanted to see if they could create a tower that supported several apples.  You can see their creations in the collage above.

Love Bug Challenge

The reading for each design can be found on wonderopolis.  You can follow the link given or scan the QR code on the question and answer page.

Some of the reading for designing a love bug.

D and C's answer sheets for the love bug challenge text dependent questions.  You can see the QR code at the top right corner of their paper to get to the appropriate reading text.

Spaghetti Tower

These were some of the designs created by my CoOp class.

I love that these activities are an exciting way to learn and they are great for a wide age range.  They incorporate reading, writing, thinking and creating all in one.  They can be used to foster teamwork if kids work together and help boost confidence as students try new things.  You probably have a lot of the materials on hand around your home but I did have to purchase some depending on the specific challenge (especially for seasonal ones).

Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read more reviews of Tied 2 Teaching.


The kids and I look forward to continuing on with our STEM activities throughout the year.  No more, "I'm bored" from my kiddos.