Create with ACMI

Flipbooks are one of the most basic and popular early forms of moving image animation. By drawing an image that gradually changes on each page and then rapidly flipping through them, the images animate!

Download our flipbook templates and start creating.

Flipbook instructions

STEP 1: Colour in the pictures in the frames. Remember to repeat the same colours in each frame to get the desired animation effect.

STEP 2: Cut out the frames.

STEP 3: Put the pictures together. They need to stay in the same order as they are on the sheet.

STEP 3: Staple the pictures together to make a little book.

STEP 4: Hold between thumb and forefinger and flick the pages.

Duck flipbook template

Dragon flipbook template

Design your own flipbook

Visit ACMI to make your very own digital flipbook!

Thaumatrope means ‘turning wonder’ in Ancient Greek. It is an optical toy that uses a spinning disc to merge two separate pictures to create the illusion of one complete still picture. Watch an example here.

The example using a string only works with cardboard, but we've worked out a way to animate a thaumatrope printed on paper!

Thaumatrope instructions

The thaumatrope can be made using a paper template and a chopstick or similar cylindrical item such as a pencil.

STEP 1: Colour in the picture.

STEP 2: Cut out the circles.

STEP 3: Use masking tape or sticky tape to stick the chopstick to the back of one of the circles.

STEP 4: Stick the 2 circles together.

STEP 5: Spin the thaumatrope by placing the chopstick between the palms of your hands and rub hands together.

You can also try out the more traditional method of making a thaumatrope with string or rubber bands. Use this video as a guide.

Shaun the Sheep thaumatrope template

Redback spider thaumatrope template

Clown thaumatrope template

Design your own thaumatrope

Brainstorm ideas for pictures that can be separated into two key parts, for example, a bird and a nest, or a person and their bicycle, or a fish and a fishbowl.

Materials

• a blank piece of A4 cardboard or thick paper – preferably white
• a ring ruler or something circular to trace two circles on your cardboard/ paper
• a small stick, blunt skewer, wooden chopstick or firm drinking straw
• pencils or felt-tip pens
• glue
• adhesive tape

Create

1. Trace the outline of your two circles on your piece of cardboard or paper. Try to use a fair amount of your A4 piece so your thaumatrope isn’t too small.
2. In circle one, draw your first image, and in circle two, draw the other image. Practise first on a scrap piece of paper and trace your second image over the first one, so they are aligned.
3. Cut out your circles.
4. Place the stick or straw onto one card and tape it firmly, then stick the two cards together (with the stick in between) using glue, making sure that your two pictures are aligned.
5. After it’s all dried, hold the stick between the palms of your hands and quickly rotate it back and forth.

Make-your-own thaumatrope template

Spin thaumatropes and discover many other animation toys at the ACMI museum.

A zoetrope is an optical illusion toy and a way of making a short-looped animation. Zoetropes have been around for a long time, and pre-date film animation.

They use a series of sequenced images that form an animation loop, when they spin. The loop is created by matching the first and last image in the series.

To make a zoetrope, a sequence of images is pasted onto the inside of a cardboard cylinder. The cylinder has thin slits along the side. Once the cylinder starts to spin, you look through the slits to see your animation come to life,

Check out this video to see what one looks like.

Zoetrope instructions

Print the Shaun the Sheep zoetrope template (below). Remember to print A3, and print on cardboard if possible. If you can’t use cardboard, print it on paper and paste it onto cardboard.

1. Cut out the zoetrope frame (bottom of the page) as instructed.
2. Form a cylinder out of the zoetrope frame and stick it together where it says ‘glue here’.
3. Cut out the base, and punch a hole through the middle circle. This is where your stem will go; it could be a thick strong straw or something similar.
4. Use the flaps on the base and fold them into three spaces left at the bottom of the zoetrope frame; then fix the base to the zoetrope.
5. Take your stem and work it through the hole in the base; then fix it to the base. Try and have the stem as straight as possible in relation to the base, which should be as even as possible.
6. Cut out the animation strip, and place it inside your zoetrope with the images facing inwards.
7. Look through the slits and start spinning the stem of your zoetrope.
8. Experiment with different speeds until you see your animation come to life.

Have you seen ACMI's Cuphead zoetrope? It is great fun and very surprising.

We have so many wonderful resources designed to inspire a new generation of creative artists and story tellers.

Here's a selection to inspire you to create together.

Make a stop motion animation

Making an animation is hard work but also a lot of fun. Anything can happen in an animation -- your imagination is the only limit! It's a great idea to animate with friends as your animation will progress much more quickly.

Check out our Make a stop-motion animation resource for step-by-step instructions.

Thinking about creating a claymation like Shaun the Sheep? You can find instructions included in our Animating with Wallace and Gromit resource. (We've already shared some of the other great activities in this resource with you.)

Make your own Foley sounds

Discover the maker secrets behind the sound effects used in some well-know films and learn about ACMI's Foley sound studio here.
Try making your own Foley sounds. Experiment with lots of different sound effects and record them on a phone or iPad. See if others can guess what they are. Use a simple movie editing app to add these sounds to videos created at school, home or out and about. How do the sounds change what you see?

Blinky Bill activity pack

We created this activity pack to make watching this beloved Australian animation extra fun and entertaining.