Art and Technology

Be an Animator

Design a prank, learn about storytelling, make a Morph and remix Tate's collection

Be inspired

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Watch kids become stop-motion animators in this workshop at Tate Britain in the Taylor Digital Studio.

  • Terracotta, white and black modelling clay
  • A tablet
  • The Animate It! app. (You can use either the free Lite version or the full one)
  • Cocktail sticks
  • A1 piece of white paper
  • A4 paper
  • Pens
  • Pencils
  • Grab a few friends

© Morph, Aardman

Make your Morph. Watch this video to see how.

Unknown artist, Britain, ‘Portrait of William Style of Langley’ 1636
Unknown artist, Britain
Portrait of William Style of Langley 1636
Tate
David Hockney, ‘A Bigger Splash’ 1967
David Hockney
A Bigger Splash 1967
Tate
© David Hockney
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps’ exhibited 1812
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps exhibited 1812
Tate
L.S. Lowry, ‘The Old House, Grove Street, Salford’ 1948
L.S. Lowry
The Old House, Grove Street, Salford 1948
Tate
© The estate of L.S. Lowry

Be inspired by Tate's Collection. Come to the gallery, explore artists in Tate Kids, or choose an artwork from the selection above. Choose artworks that Morph can have fun with. We think that portraits and landscapes work really well!

Print your chosen artworks. Try to fit your 3 favourite artworks on 1 page of A4.

Tate Kids animator storyboard template sheet

You now need to storyboard your animation.

Imagine and plan the story for the animation. What do you think Morph would get up to in the gallery? Would he remix two artworks? Maybe putting a cat's face on a portrait? Would he pretend to be the art? What would happen if he dived into one?

Once you’ve decided on your story, draw it out on the storyboard.

Download and print this handy storyboard sheet.

Download storyboard sheet

If you need to, collect and make the props you need. Set up the A1 piece of paper as your background and cut out the paintings to make your own Tate Britain set.

Download the Animate it! app

Play on the app. Get comfortable with moving your Morph a little bit, taking a picture and then moving him again. The smaller the movements the smoother the animation will be. You’ll get quicker at this as you go!

Start recording your animation. We would recommend making your own production team to make the animation. Grab your friends. One can be the model mover, the other director and the other pressing the record button.

Keep going until you have completed your animation. Go back to delete any images with your hands in. Remember to title and save your animation.

Your films could be featured right here! Email your films to Tate Kids, we’d love to see them.

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