“Lights, camera...action!!!”: Α creative animation film production workshop using recyclable waste from our classroom

As part of the Environmental Education learning scheme, it has been decided to raise the environmental awareness of students in regard to recycling. The activities carried out included becoming familiar with various types of recycling, searching for relevant information on the internet and in the classroom library, setting up a Recycling Corner, participating in a creative recycling workshop, and making crafts with recyclable materials, among other things. In search of different ways in which children can take action related to reusing materials, the idea of making a film (Stop Motion Animation) using recyclable materials from our classroom's waste came up. Stop Motion Animation is a technique designed to create a moving image effect through the consecutive photographic documentation of one or more objects, whose movement is minimal between each shot. By viewing a properly set sequence of these individually photographed frames, the viewer is given the illusion of a moving image.

Once the children became acquainted with this technique, they watched animation films online, played computer games related to the topic, experimented with the Stop Motion Animation technique, and were gradually introduced to making their own films. They used recyclable waste to create the film set and their main characters, composed the story and the script of the film, proceeded to photograph the scenes and record the narration, and they created a film entitled ‘Lina Bottlelina’s Dream’ using the Windows Movie Maker programme. Finally, they presented the film to the neighbouring primary school and at the kindergarten's summer party, and they also shared it on YouTube. The film will also be shown at a summer event of the Sinias Corfu Cultural Society and on Educational TV Greece.

• 14 children and 2 kindergarten teachers participated in this activity