The idea felt pretty simple. Take a small story, split roles between the kids and record it. That should not be really complicated. At least that what i thought.

We had red this story at the bed time several times and also had tried out split the roles for the story. But when we started to actually record the story, things did not go so smoothly.
Anyway, we managed to record, with several takes, singing in between, making farting sounds into mic, because its more fun that way….

We highly recommend to try this out for yourselves. Split the roles between kids and even if you don’t record, its a good way how to involve your kids into story telling.
When kids are involved in story the follow the story, and remembers more details. This trains kids in listening and retelling the stories, trains the memory. And its fun.
Record it, film it or use dolls or teddy bears for the recreation of the story.

Our result

This is result of our hard work

• We recorded sound into computer with use of Audacity and external USB microphone
• We did edition of the sound with the use of Audacity
• Used illustrations for animation of the video, and we did manipulation of images with use of Gimp
• To animate the illustrations we did use Blender
• Some sound effects, background sounds are coming from Freesound.org
• Published on our Youtube channel to share with our friends

Recommendations

We have such recommendations based from our experience:

• Patience – for sure you will need that
• Short story – longer story, will take more time to get it done
• Simple sentences for kids – if some of the sentences, texts are too complicated for your kid, make them simplier, make structure of sentence simpler, so its easier to remember and to retell
• Remember why you do it! – For fun, you don’t need professional studio to do it. The sound can be crappy, there can be background sounds or several takes, or you need to whisper some sentences to help kids to remember the texts.
  If the end result can be sent to relatives, you managed. It will be something to remember when kids will grow up.

Necessary hardware and software

What software, hardware should you use:

• Nowadays, almost everybody has portable, computer in their pockets that can do everything what is needed for recording the story. You can record, film, edit everything on one device. So you have already everything you need to record story time with kids. Don’t worry about background noises, double takes or prompting. If its necessary at all some things you will be able to cut out of audio file.
• If you want to step up the sound quality then good investment would be external microphone that could be connected to your phone or pc. But as a starting point phones microphone should be good enough.
• Sound and video can be edited on phone, but it will be much more easier to do that on computer. There are several applications that can be used to do the editing. We were using Audacity, that is free, open source software for sound recording and editing.
  There are tons of helpful videos on Youtube that can help you understand the basic work with Audacity and the basics of audio editing.
  Don’t lock yourself to particular editing software, use the tools that are accessible, handy to you.
• In our case we were using illustrations of the book for animation. So to manipulate the images we where using another opensource, free tool called Gimp.
  Gimp is Photoshop alternative, maybe its not so powerful as Photoshop, but for our needs it was perfect.
• Animation itself was made with help of Blender. Its a professional grade 3d modeling and animation software, that primary target is to do just that (3d modeling, animation).
  But you can also do 2d animation and video editing in the Blender.
  The learning curve is quite steep, but there are wast amount of learning tutorials online.
• Background noises and sound effects would be nice to record by yourself, and maybe in next project we will do so. But in this project, we were using freesound.org library to add atmosphere to the story.
• If it’s possible, delegate some of the parts of the projects to other members of the family, kids, so they would learn how to do the editing, animation. Or for example, instead of illustration from book, you could ask kids to draw illustrations for the story, and use them instead of book illustration.

Summary

At the start, you don’t need nothing more than your phone to record your stories. With phone you can record the sound, or even video. Kids love to record and playback them selves.

Next level would be to get the recording into computer, and edit it. Add background noises or music, to get the mood of the story. Chirping birds or sounds of the forest animals.

If you are willing to invest in new hobby, then we would suggest to get some external USB microphone for better sound quality. Or external microphone for your phone.

For animations you can make just some slideshow or do whole show with the puppets, dolls or teddy bears.

Next level would be to animate the illustrations, but that’s kind of separate story on it own. Don’t be afraid of failure, just try it out. Maybe there will be something that you can look back and have recorded memmories.

If you have questions, contact us, we will try to help you out with some advice. Remember you don’t need expensive gear to start doing something. If you have smartphone its all you need for start. Good luck, and send us your results.

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In this article, we will be focusing on analog animation using overhead projectors. These old-school devices allow you to put transparent sheets on them and project the images onto a screen. Not really great investment right? While they may not be the latest technology, you can find a used one at a low price or for free.

The idea behind this type of animation is pretty simple. You can draw characters from your favorite stories onto transparent sheets and then use the overhead projector to animate them. This can be a fun and entertaining activity to do with family and friends, especially children.

You can even use the projector to play guessing games with your guests. Simply project transparent or non-transparent objects onto the screen and have your guests guess what the object is. Children are sure to love this activity, and it can be a great way to spend a few evenings with friends and family. While computer animation may be the norm today, there is still something special about analog animation that should not be overlooked.

What’s needed

• Used overhead projector – You can check online marketplaces such as eBay or Facebook Marketplace to find a used overhead projector.
• Transparent sheets – For your canvas, you can use document pockets or any transparent plastic. You can even use cut plastic bottles.
• Permanent markers – It is recommended that you first draw on white paper to test your drawings before redrawing them on a transparent sheet.
• Choose a fairy tale or story to “animate” – When choosing a fairy tale or story to “animate,” it is advisable to start with simpler stories with fewer characters and decorations. These are easier to remember and retell, especially for children.
• If you have a printer and do not want to draw everything by hand, there are sheets of transparent “paper” that can be used in printers. However, not all plastic sheets are suitable for use in printers. Some may only work with inkjet printers. If the paper is thin enough, it may be possible to project the light through it using an overhead projector.
• To draw your characters and scenery, use permanent markers to create your illustrations on transparent sheets.
• Wait for dark or close the curtains and the show can start.
  

Why is it an awesome idea?

• It’s interesting for both young and old, kids and parents.
• It’s a great way to get kids off their gadgets.
• Kids can learn how to illustrate and transfer their imagination onto paper.
• Children can learn how to retell stories.
• Additionally, they can learn how to present their stories in front of others.

While we have not done this for some time, we believe it can be a fun and engaging activity for everyone involved. And also dark period of the year is here so we will restart to do this more often, and we recommend you do the same thing too.

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