The Media Kitchen
4th graders become real filmmakers — writing stories, building scenes, and creating their very own 60-second stop-motion movie that premieres at a real local theater with a red carpet event!
From Idea to Opening Night
Powered by the AnimatingKids.com curriculum — 140+ step-by-step "secret recipe" lessons used by 30,000+ kids worldwide.
Story Creation
Kids learn the secrets of great storytelling — characters, conflict, and plot. They brainstorm and write the script for their team's original stop-motion film.
Storyboarding
Like real Hollywood directors, students sketch out each scene using the Animation Chefs' secret storyboard recipes before a single photo is taken.
Production
Lights. Camera. Action! Teams build sets, craft characters, and shoot hundreds of photos frame-by-frame to bring their stories to life as stop-motion magic.
Post-Production
Students edit their footage, add sound effects, music, and titles — turning raw frames into a polished 60-second cinematic masterpiece.
Final Polish
Final refinements, team presentations, and screening prep. Kids practice talking about their creative choices like the filmmakers they've become.
Red Carpet Premiere
The moment everyone's been waiting for — a real theater screening with parents, family, and teachers in attendance. Our young filmmakers walk the red carpet!
The Grand Premiere
At the end of the semester, every team's film gets screened at a real local theater. Parents, family members, and teachers fill the seats. Students walk the red carpet. It's not just a school project — it's a real Hollywood-style premiere for your young filmmakers.
Roll the Film!
Every team's stop-motion film screened on the big theater screen for a live audience.
Red Carpet Walk
Students dress up, strike a pose, and get their star moment before the show begins.
Standing Ovation
Proud families cheer as their young directors and animators take their bow.
"It's like sending our kids to film school. We started from scratch and ended up as independent filmmakers. It changed our kids' DNA!
More Than an Art Project
Real Teamwork
Kids work in small teams — directors, animators, sound designers — learning collaboration the creative way.
21st Century Skills
Storytelling, media literacy, technology, and critical thinking — wrapped inside the fun of animation.
Pure Creativity
Students build sets by hand, craft original characters, and make something that has never existed before.
Works on Any Device
Whether it's iPads, Chromebooks, or Android tablets — the program works on what your school already has.
Teacher-Friendly
Step-by-step 'secret recipe' lessons do the heavy lifting. No film experience needed!
A Moment They'll Never Forget
The theater premiere turns the whole semester into a memory kids (and parents) will talk about for years.
When I found Animating Kids it changed everything. Small and not-so-small humans became masters of sound and motion on any subject.
The kids love the demonstrations and it is P.D. for me as I tee it all up. Animating Kids makes me the coolest educator in their lives!
Ready for the Big Screen?
Sign up below and we'll reach out to get your class into the next semester of The Media Kitchen.
