With school kids off for the summer, the annual question of what to do to keep them occupied springs to fore once again. MIC's CRAFT Maker Space are holding five summer camps with students from across the Mid-West where science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) are blended in a fun and educational way.
The first of its kind in the mid-west region of Ireland, the CRAFT Maker Space aims to inspire the public to connect with their inner designer, engineer, scientist, mathematician, inventor and artist through a wide range of energetic and thrilling STEAM activities and workshops. The CRAFT Maker Space is housed in the newly renovated Newman Hall on the John Henry Newman campus at MIC and was launched by Minister for Education, Norma Foley in March.
After each camp, the CRAFT Maker Space team will upload a blog to their website outlining how you can conduct the camp at home.
The first camp was on stop motion animation and was back this year by popular demand. The details of the camp, which was aimed at 10 - 13 year olds, and how you can do it yourself are outlined below.
DIY Summer Camp - Stop Motion Animation
With school kids off for the summer, the annual question of what to do to keep them occupied springs to fore once again. MIC's CRAFT Maker Space are holding five summer camps with students from across the Mid-West where science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) are blended in a fun and educational way.
After each camp, the CRAFT Maker Space team will upload a blog to their website outlining how you can conduct the camp at home.
The first camp was on stop motion animation and was back this year by popular demand. The details of the camp, which was aimed at 10 - 13 year olds, and how you can do it yourself are outlined below.
While lots of children enjoyed the first of our summer camps in the CRAFT Maker Space this week, we thought you might like to hear about how you can always encourage your child and do this STEAM camp in your own home.
Stop Motion Animation is an easy and accessible art form to help your child express their creativity in many different media as well as developing digital, logical and mathematical skills. As Stop Motion is more accessible than traditional animation styles, it can be easily done at home with little resources.
To replicate what we did in this camp, you’ll need a few basic supplies – an app or platform designed for stop motion (we used Stop Motion Studio), a video editor (we used InShot), sheets of coloured paper (blue fo sky, green for grass, etc. - paint sheets if you just have white!) and materials to make your animation with. This can be anything your child wishes – clay, plasticine (we used Jovi), paper, Lego, even your child’s favourite stuffed animal. Optionally, you can add a reading light to control the light and build your setting.
Ideally, Stop Motion should be made in a space with a blank surface and wall. This can also be a way for your child to express creativity as they build a background for their animation, or perhaps utilize the setting around them to fit their story. The device should be propped up rather than hand held to avoid inconsistencies in the frame. While setting up your device and filming, there are a few common traps to avoid – the corners of the background being visible and showing the room behind it or a hand being caught in the picture as they move the characters around.
Children have great ideas on what story their animation would like to tell, so getting them to draw out the story or write it, will really help the logical flow of the animation. Then it's time to take lots and lots of pictures using the Stop Motion app. Once enough pictures are taken to create a story, you can begin editing – for example, reducing or increasing the frames per second. Having many frames per second usually results in a smoother animation, but if you’re not careful, it may look rushed. We suggest to avoid going any lower than five frames per second, as it may begin to look less like an animation and more like a slideshow. Of course, adding sounds, music and voice overs, as well a title and end screen, are a great way to further bring the animation to life.
Especially if your child has never tried Stop Motion before, we recommend to start with an easy project, such as a rolling wheel. Stop Motion is a rewarding process and every project you do becomes better than the last.
On day 1 we did one scene and day 2 we developed other scenes to extend out the story.
If your child has tried the Stop Motion camp and enjoyed it, we thoroughly encourage you to continue at home as well. It's an activity for all the family to get involved in!
There are four more camps taking place throughout July. After each camp, the below title will become a link to learn how to do each of them from home!
To learn more about the CRAFT Maker Space click here.
Summer Lights
Click here to read more about the activites from the Summer Lights programme where participants learned about light, electricity and circuits.
Engineer with Strawbees
July 20 & 21 for 9 to 10 year olds
A design challenge workshop using straws and connectors.
STEM Fun
July 24 & 25 for 7 to 8 year olds
Containing lots of STEM favourties like marble runs, Bee Bots, rockets.
Technology Times
July 27 & 28 for 11 to 12 year olds
Programming Micro:Bits and using TinkerCad for 3D printing.
