How teaching kids how to tell stories with media can inoculate them from passive viewing.
Book Excerpt 12: Bowling Ball Bully Breakdown
Note: These excerpts are following Joe through the process of teaching kids how to make an animated movie, or as the kids put it, "content". First draft. Today's excerpt is back in the classroom after a brief interlude in the teachers lounge.
Joe re-enters the classroom with a kind of cheerful urgency, like a coach calling the final play of a big game.
“Alright! Everyone except the Turtle Group—grab your bins and get ready to present the rest of those big, beautiful storyboards!”
He pauses, letting the rustle of plastic bins and shuffling chairs settle into a quiet hum.
“Bowling Ball Group—you’re up!”
As in every session, the young creators line up confidently at the front of the room. After a quick sound check they raise their illustrated scenes high above their heads. One by one, they step forward and explain the action, the emotions, and the choices behind each scene.
Joe listens closely, then steps in to sum up for the class, checking for clarity.
“Alright, just so we’re all on the same page: the hero of this story is a bowling ball. But it’s not a great day at the lanes. A beginner bowler—whose face we never see, just a big hand—chooses our hero from the rack and keeps rolling gutter balls. And every time our hero rolls past the pins, they mock him. Is that right?”
The group nods.
“We’re hoping to make up some funny stuff the pins might say,” one student explains. “Maybe even something the ball could say back to the bad bowler.”
Joe nods approvingly. “Our dialogue session is coming up soon, so you’ll have time to brainstorm those exchanges. That kind of back-and-forth is where a lot of comedy lives.”
He glances back at their final scenes.
“Now, let me check this bit: At the end, the big hand gives up on our hero and puts him back on the shelf. Then it picks a new ball. But that one also rolls straight into the gutter... and it gets mocked by the pins, too?”
“Yes,” they confirm in unison.
“Got it.” Joe flashes a thumbs up, then turns to the class. "So the movie ends with our hero being relieved it isn't its fault for missing the pins. It's that big huge uncoordinated hand!"
"Yes!" the presenting group says in unison.
“Any questions for the Bowling Ball Group? Remember—this isn’t the time for opinions about whether you like the story or not. These are early drafts. Our job is to ask about things that confuse us. That’s how we help each other make things better.”
Three hands rise. Joe points to one.
“Yes, Jasmin?”
Jasmin frowns slightly. “Does the ball ever actually hit the pins? Even once?”
Joe raises an eyebrow. “What part of that is confusing?”
“I just figured the ball would eventually knock the pins over—to shut them up. I mean, that’s the whole point of bowling, right? It feels weird that the ball never hits them.”
The other two hands go down. Clearly, she voiced what they were thinking too.
Joe tilts his head thoughtfully. “Anyone else feel that way?”
Most hands go up.
“Well, that’s interesting,” Joe says. “See, I loved the idea that no matter which ball the hand chooses, it’s destined to be a gutter ball. That spoke to me. It felt like a story about forces beyond our control. About not taking failure personally when you’re doing your best.”
He looks back at the presenters. "Maybe I have some unresolved issues from childhood." Joe offers with a smile. The teacher looks up from grading papers in the back with a wry smile.
“Somebody out there—what do you think should happen instead?”
One student blurts out, “The ball should roll a strike and take out all the pins while they’re teasing him!”
A chorus follows. “Yeah!” “That’d be awesome!”
Joe grins. “Ahh, revenge. That’s a very different ending.”
Suddenly, a voice from the back bursts into a musical chant: "Na na na na... ba bump ba bump... can’t touch this… na na na na… ba bum ba bum—CAN’T TOUCH THIS... BAM!"
A wave of laughter sweeps the room as the student adds sound effects of pins crashing and being whisked away by the pin-reset machine, screaming all the way.
Joe laughs with them. “That’s hilarious. I can totally picture the pins taunting the ball with ‘Can’t touch this.’ You’ve got to do the voiceover. You’ve nailed it.”
Laughter.
He glances back at the presenting group. “I love both endings. Honestly, I’d have a hard time choosing. One is subtle and one is blunt force trauma. But that’s the beauty of early drafts—you can experiment. You’ve got great feedback from your audience. Now it’s up to you. You can erase some of your stick figure storyboard scenes and go a different direction... or not. It’s your story.”
“Next group! Rocket Stealer!”
The next two groups present their full-color storyboards with strong, clear voices. Joe gives a few helpful nudges—pointing out a Long Shot where a Close-Up might land better, or asking for clarity on a scene transition—but for the most part, the stories are well-structured and engaging. By the end of the session, four movies are storyboarded and ready for production.
Joe claps his hands once, a little dramatically.
“Okay! The hard part is done.”
He lets that hang in the air.
“Story is difficult. Animation is easy.”
The kids look up, puzzled.
Joe leans on the whiteboard and explains.
“What I mean is, no amount of beautiful animation or special effects can rescue a bad story. Whole films—millions of dollars' worth—have been scrapped because the test audience didn’t care. Gorgeous visuals. Empty plot. Gone.”
A few students gasp.
“Some of these movies took as much money as it takes to build a sky-scraper. A fortune lost because even grown-ups don't test to see if their movie is working BEFORE they shoot it." Joe says with bugged out eyes.
He let's that hang in the air and waits for what seems like an eternity before continuing..
"Look up Willow, or the Batgirl movie with Halle Berry. You’ll see what I mean.”
He leans in.
“Now on the flip side, if you’ve got a good story and strong characters, you can put a sock on your hand and still entertain an audience. You could even do it with hand shadows. Humans have been doing it for thousands of years. It’s not the technology that matters—it’s the storytelling.”
He looks around the room, locking eyes with a few students who had been nervous earlier.
“I’m really proud of you. You stood up in front of your classmates—even the loud ones—and shared something original. You shared your art. Your drawings. That’s hard. That takes courage. You weren’t sure how people would react, but you did it anyway. You stepped into the unknown… and you found out we’re all here to help each other succeed.”
He smiles. The room is quiet for a beat.
“And now... animation. Next time we’ll learn how to think like an animator. The basics. You’ve already practiced some of them, you just didn’t realize it. Remember when we pushed the chairs back and animated each other with our bodies? Same rules, different fools!”
He claps once again.
“It’s time to bring your characters to life. No one in the history of the world has ever seen them move—until now.”
He pauses, then grins.
“Excited?”
A cheer erupts across the room—shouts, laughter, clapping.
They’re in. They’ve got skin in the game now.
And the real magic is just beginning.
Joe says, "Bon Animate!" as he puts his fingers to his lips and makes a popping sound like a chef tasting a masterpiece.
He waves good-bye and smiles as he looks forward to introducing the Animation Chef's secret animation formulas next session.
Why Every Kids Should Make A Stop Motion Movie By 5th Grade
I’ve met thousands of students over the years.
Curious, clever, astonishingly perceptive.
And increasingly, when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up,
you get one answer more than any other:
“A YouTuber.”
And I think that’s absolutely…
terrifying.
Laugher.
But not for the reason you might think.
It’s not because being a YouTuber is inherently bad.
In fact, it requires an extraordinary blend of skills—storytelling, performance, branding, editing, empathy, timing.
You know… all the things we don’t teach in elementary school.
What’s troubling is not the dream itself—
it’s that we’ve created a world where children are surrounded by media,
influenced by it from dawn to dusk...and yet, most of them have no idea how it works.
We wouldn’t dream of sending kids to school or a library without teaching them how to read.
But we let them watch glass libraries of infinite persuasion—screens, and hope they'll swipe responsibly.”
It’s not the dream of being a YouTuber that’s the problem.
It’s the illiteracy around how media is made.
The mystery of what’s behind the curtain.
The belief kids have that content simply appears, with no motive, no message, no manipulation.
And that’s where we’ve failed them.
Because not every child will become a YouTuber or a Tiktoker,
but every child will be influenced by one.
And every one of them will be shaped, targeted, and persuaded by what they see on a screen.
Every single day.
So the question isn’t, “Should we teach media skills?”
It’s “How on earth have we waited this long?"
We’re raising a generation of readers—
but not writers—
in the language of sound and motion.
At Animating Kids, we believe part of the answer isn’t just digital citizenship.
It’s digital authorship.
We don't just want kids to write in this new language.
We want them to be fluent—
to know the grammar of the edit.
The rhythm of a cut.
The subtle power of a close-up.
We want them to know that music changes meaning,
that angles shape emotion,
that silence is a narrative tool.
We want them to know how media messages are built—
so they can’t be so easily bought by them.
With Animating Kids they learn by doing.
They don’t just study media—they make it.
They plan a story. Frame it. Shoot it. Cut it. Narrate it.
And in doing so, they discover something profound:
That making media… changes how you see media.
It’s the difference between watching a magic trick…
and learning the sleight of hand.
It doesn’t ruin the trick.
It deepens the appreciation.
And it gives you the power to spot it when someone’s trying to deceive you.
Here’s what we’ve found:
When students make a stop motion movie—even a 1-minute long—they start to understand the architecture of influence.
I'll say that again, the architecture of influence!
They learn that a story has to be built.
That meaning is created—not just found.
That sound and motion are tools—just like punctuation.
It’s like the Wizard of Oz moment—
when you realize the booming voice, the great spectacle,
is just a person behind the curtain,
pulling levers.
Only in this case, the levers are thumbnails.
Headlines. Animation math, Jump cuts. Sound effects. Algorithms.
And once kids see that…
you can’t unsee it.
They become aware.
Alert.
Equipped to make media..
They don’t stop consuming media—
they start becoming wise to it..
So let me say it again:
Not every child will become a YouTuber.
But every child will live in a world built by them.
And in that world, we have a responsibility—
as educators, as parents, as communities—
to teach the language of media,
just as we’ve taught the language of books.
Because in this century,
this is literacy.
We haven’t just imagined what this kind of education might look like.
We’ve done it.
For over a decade, we’ve helped tens of thousands of kids—and their non-filmmaking teachers—learn the language of sound and motion in over 20 countries around the world.
We've seen it light up classrooms.
We've watched teachers—who thought they couldn’t teach media—thrive with it.
And we've seen schools come back, year after year, as they welcome new batches of kids…
and turn them into creators.
So that's the big vision. The mission. To create a generation of makers, not just takers—
one frame at a time - as it were.
Please drop by anytime to see it in action. Or as one young wise-cracker shouted to me on the way to down here, "Tell them we're killing turtles."
You'll have to drop in to see what that means.
Thank you!
Bon Animate"
Joe
Book Excerpt 11: You + Animating Kids = Instant Rockstar Status
Joe:
Before we get into the Q&A, every educator’s real question is:
Will this save me time? Will it make me look like a genius? Yes. And absolutely yes. You'll be a rock star.
All right, everyone—let me have it. We’ve got time for a few questions.
• Isn’t animation too complicated for kids—especially younger grades?
Not at all. Kids are chomping at the bit. This is their infrastructure. They’re not intimidated one bit.
We’ve organized Animating Kids to be scaffolded like a Lego set. From bouncing balls in Kindergarten to satirical storytelling in middle school, the platform adapts. The Animation Chefs demonstrate every secret recipe, so anyone—yes, anyone—can follow along.
We’ve seen it used successfully from Kindergarten through college. Whether you're doing an original animation or animating fractions, physics, or Shakespeare, there’s a way to plug into whatever you’re doing. Think of our 150+ lessons as a painter’s palette. Pick what fits your students, your space, and your sanity.
• How do I fit this into my chaotic, ever-changing, on-fire schedule?
Ah, the time question. The fun part is that you can wedge this beautifully around testing, fire drills, holidays, and full moon energy.
Our default project is a one-minute animated story. That’s what our system is geared to do.
If we started right now, locked the doors to the teachers’ lounge, lived off vending machine snacks and stale coffee, and didn’t stop until the film was done?
2–3 hours: Storyboarding and audience-tested original plot
2–3 hours: Discovery lessons and learning to animate
2–3 hours: Building sets and characters
4–5 hours: Production and animating
1 hour: Voiceover
1–2 hours: Editing, polishing, and tweaking
That’s about 12–16 hours for a one-minute original animated feature. I'd add in 6 hours for student crowd control, setting up and taking down, and life-skills deficits, and you're looking at a 16–18 hour commitment.
The good news? We’ve seen this broken out in all kinds of flexible ways:
Run 1 hour per week across a semester
Host a single “Animation Festival Day” (3–6 hours of creative mayhem) and do a shorter film—30 seconds works
Sprinkle it in during calendar lulls
Stretch it across multiple semesters
We’ve also seen it used as a carrot—a reward on the other side of testing, homework, or dreaded tasks. It's a wonderful motivator.
• What about older students? Isn’t this just a little kids’ thing?
Not a chance. By 6th–8th grade, they’re ready for:
Satire and non-verbal storytelling
Complex editing and sound design
Full-on director debates (“Your idea or mine?”)
Middle schoolers crave control and self-expression. This gives them both—and channels the chaos into creativity.
• We’re trying to reduce screen time. Isn’t this just more screen time?
This is purposeful screen time. Active screen time.
They’re composing shots, editing emotion, framing ideas. They’re not scrolling—they’re architecting.
• Are there standards or benchmarking frameworks for this kind of thing?
Yes—but it’s early days. A few organizations are defining the space for media skills education. We align with:
ISTE – International Society for Technology in Education
AASL – American Association of School Librarians
P21 – Partnership for 21st Century Learning
I could go on about this for hours. Want a rant? I’ve got one.
• What does it cost?
Site licenses cover up to 500 students per building. Add more schools within a district and the price scales down—up to 50% off per site.
It breaks down to pennies per student. Cheaper than a snack pack.
• What kind of track record do you have?
Animating Kids has been around since 2016, but I've been doing this with organizations before apps were a thing, since 2003. We've worked in 20+ countries—from homeless shelters to embassies, after-school programs to Boys & Girls Clubs, and of course, good old-fashioned classrooms.
Adult facilitators with zero film experience are running hundreds of projects as we speak.
• Have your students ever won awards or been in festivals?
The Animation Chefs walked the red carpet at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008 to see their own animations. That kicked off a domino effect that led to Animating Kids.
Some student films made the finals at the Chicago Kids Film Festival. But honestly?
That’s not the point anymore.
Today, publishing a story on YouTube or TikTok is the award. These kids don’t care about official outlets. They want to make content for their friends. And they want it now.
• What’s the most exciting—or disturbing—part of teaching kids how to make movies?
Inoculation.
The first time a student draws a character, cuts it out, and animates it, their mind is blown.
"It’s alive!" they shout.
But it’s not alive. It’s an optical illusion—15 still pictures per second. A digital flip book.
At some point, I pull them aside and say:
“Your movie isn’t actually moving. It’s still pictures, flashing quickly. And every screen you’ve ever watched in your life—TV, YouTube, Instagram—it’s all still images. Manufactured motion. And someone built it. For you. To entertain, inform, or persuade you.”
Then I ask:
“Why should I trust your movie? I don’t know your motive. I don’t know what you want from me. If I watch, it will be manufactured by my brain into sound and motion that I might not like.”
And that’s when we get real.
We talk about media as architecture—built to influence. All media makers need is your attention. Once they get your attention, their message is reassembled in your brain. It competes with your thoughts. It can change how you feel. What you believe. Even what you buy.
When kids realize this, and then realize they can do it too, something profound happens.
They don’t just become media creators—they become critical consumers.
To demonstrate this viscerally, here’s a quick test I do with students:
“Finish this phrase: They’re magically ____!”
A few shout: “Delicious!”
That phrase lives in their heads forever because an animated leprechaun put it there. At 24 frames per second. To sell patented marshmallows for breakfast.
And it worked.
When you point this out, a light bulb goes on. It’s like a vaccine. A mental immune system kicks in.
They begin to realize the true power of storytelling—and how to wield it responsibly. We've had wonderful discussions about what media they begin to avoid.
Unfotunately, it takes making a movie to really grasp this. So..."
Be careful what you let in. Teach kids how to build it, so they don’t just fall for it.
When this click for the kids, you become a rockstar.
Gotta go. Thanks for your time.
Bon Animate!
Book Excerpt 10: Students Are Already Performing. Are You Directing?
Note: Some of you have been with us for 15+ years and it is fun to start to share what Animating Kids looks like on a day to day, street level.. We are overwhelmed by the response so far. Drop us a line if this material is resonating. Tell us why. info@animatingkids.com is the email.
Word gets out about what is going on in the class running Animating Kids. Joe is invited to the breakroom for an informal visit.
A teacher in the faculty lounge stands and addresses her peers. "I invited Joe in today—because of a buzz that won’t go away.
It started with a few parents. “My kid can’t stop talking about Joe's visits to class” or "Ask the teachers where the chalk is". Then the family who moved into the neighborhood—specifically because they saw content creation was being taught here, but not in the next school over.
When was the last time a curriculum made families relocate?
This isn’t just a novelty—it’s becoming a reason to choose one school over another. And today, I've asked Joe to explain why." she waves Joe up.
Joe thanks the host,
"I remember when those parents dipped into the classs on their tour of the building. Wow. Didn't know this had that kind of impact.
So, I'll just take 10 minutes and give you the big picture then any questions you have will take up whatever time you want to spend, it's your lunch after all.
I’ve met thousands of students over the years. Curious, clever, astonishingly perceptive. And increasingly, when you ask them what they want to be when they grow up, you get one answer more than any other:
“A YouTuber.”
And I think that’s absolutely… terrifying.
Laugher.
But not for the reason you might think.
It’s not because being a YouTuber is inherently bad. In fact, it requires an extraordinary blend of skills—storytelling, performance, branding, editing, empathy, timing. You know… all the things we don’t teach in elementary school.
What’s troubling is not the dream itself— it’s that we’ve created a world where children are surrounded by media, influenced by it from dawn to dusk...and yet, most of them have no idea how it works.
We wouldn’t dream of sending kids to school or a library without teaching them how to read. But we let them watch glass libraries of infinite persuasion—screens, and hope they'll swipe responsibly.”
It’s not the dream of being a YouTuber that’s the problem. It’s the illiteracy around how media is made. The mystery of what’s behind the curtain. The belief kids have that content simply appears, with no motive, no message, no manipulation.
And that’s where we’ve failed them.
Because not every child will become a YouTuber or a Tiktoker, but every child will be influenced by one. And every one of them will be shaped, targeted, and persuaded by what they see on a screen.
Every single day.
So the question isn’t, “Should we teach media skills?” It’s “How on earth have we waited this long?"
We’re raising a generation of readers— but not writers— in the language of sound and motion.
At Animating Kids, we believe part of the answer isn’t just digital citizenship. It’s digital authorship.
We don't just want kids to write in this new language. We want them to be fluent— to know the grammar of the edit. The rhythm of a cut. The subtle power of a close-up.
We want them to know that music changes meaning, that angles shape emotion, that silence is a narrative tool.
We want them to know how media messages are built— so they can’t be so easily bought by them.
With Animating Kids they learn by doing. They don’t just study media—they make it. They plan a story. Frame it. Shoot it. Cut it. Narrate it.
And in doing so, they discover something profound:
That making media… changes how you see media.
It’s the difference between watching a magic trick… and learning the sleight of hand.
It doesn’t ruin the trick. It deepens the appreciation.
And it gives you the power to spot it when someone’s trying to deceive you.
Here’s what we’ve found: When students make a stop motion movie—even a 1-minute long—they start to understand the architecture of influence.
I'll say that again, the architecture of influence!
They learn that a story has to be built. That meaning is created—not just found. That sound and motion are tools—just like punctuation.
It’s like the Wizard of Oz moment— when you realize the booming voice, the great spectacle, is just a person behind the curtain, pulling levers.
Only in this case, the levers are thumbnails. Headlines. Animation math, Jump cuts. Sound effects. Algorithms.
And once kids see that… you can’t unsee it.
They become aware. Alert. Equipped to make media..
They don’t stop consuming media— they start becoming wise to it..
So let me say it again:
Not every child will become a YouTuber. But every child will live in a world built by them.
And in that world, we have a responsibility— as educators, as parents, as communities— to teach the language of media, just as we’ve taught the language of books.
Because in this century, this is literacy.
We haven’t just imagined what this kind of education might look like. We’ve done it.
For over a decade, we’ve helped tens of thousands of kids—and their non-filmmaking teachers—learn the language of sound and motion in over 20 countries around the world.
We've seen it light up classrooms. We've watched teachers—who thought they couldn’t teach media—thrive with it. And we've seen schools come back, year after year, as they welcome new batches of kids… and turn them into creators.
So that's the big vision. The mission. To create a generation of makers, not just takers— one frame at a time - as it were.
Please drop by anytime to see it in action. Or as one young wise-cracker shouted to me on the way to down here, "Tell them we're killing turtles."
You'll have to drop in to see what that means.
Thank you!
Bon Animate"
Book Excerpt 9: That wasn’t about a turtle, was it?
Book Excerpt 9 - continued from Excerpt 8, same session: (excerpt 8 here)
“Oh wow. I was not prepared for this.” stammers the counselor wiping a tear under her glasses.
“You all—excuse me while I try not to completely unravel—but that was… stunning. Just stunning.”
She stands, facing the group of students who are looking both nervous and surprised at her reaction.
“I know I wasn’t your target audience—Mr. Joe here caught me in the hallway on my way to lunch—but I’m so, so glad I got pulled in.”
She glances at the illustrations in the students hands, and she points to the kids who presented Scene Ten. She takes a breath.
“You didn’t just tell a story about a turtle. You told a story about grief. And you did it with such a light, careful hand. You gave us just enough room, but not so much that we missed the ache underneath. That’s hard to do. Even for adults.”
She turns slightly to the class, her voice steadying.
“And I know… someone here went through something like this. Maybe more than one. A real version of it. Maybe that turtle’s shell was covering something closer to home.”
She pauses, her voice sobers up.
“I lost my mom recently. And I swear, that little turtle snuck into a part of my heart I thought I had locked up tight. You got in.”
She lets the moment hang, the class still and listening.
“And yes, I’m now going to cry into my lunch. Thank you for completely ruining my sandwich… for all the right reasons.”
(She smiles, cleaning up her eyes with a tissue.)
“Seriously. That was beautiful.”
The janitor and the counselor depart.
Joe waits for a few moments to let it all sink in.
"Now you know how a "cartoon" can effect an audience. We are all turtles it turns out." Joe smiles.
The kids are letting out a collective exhale as Joe notices the clock.
"Let's stop here. I'm not sure we can follow this experience with the time we have left. Just a quick question, do we all want this ending or the happy one with the hug.
Every.
Hand.
Goes.
Up.
For.
Turtle Heaven.
"Now all we have left to do is make it. " Joe smiles. "Let's hammer out the other three stories next time. Until then, let's continue to have a meaningful day."
Joe steps out glowing with pride. What he won't find out until next time is the note that arrives two days later from the guidance counselor to the class:
Dear Ms. Rose,
"Just wanted to send a quick note to follow up on the storyboard presentation I was lucky enough to witness the other day—the one with the turtle and the ice. I’m so grateful I got pulled in. For the record, our illustrious janitor passes along that his turtle's name was Clamps -please share!
Stories—especially the ones told by kids—can be just as healing as they are heartbreaking. I hope they keep telling them."
Warmly,
[Counselor’s Name]
(P.S. I owe them a box of tissues and a turtle sticker or two.)
End of excerpt 9
Book Excerpt 8: Nobody Laughed After Scene Seven
This is a true story.
When Joe walks in, the energy is off the charts. Groups of potential filmmakers buzz with excitement, freshly gathered into their creative teams.
Joe steps to the front of the classroom.
"Okay, before we take time to finish up full-color illustrations of your storyboard scenes…" He turns and writes on the board.
"Four things are happening simultaneously in this stage of the process:"
Pre-Production – Character design, color design, set design, prop design, costume design, etc.
Cinematography – Long Shots, Medium Shots, and Close-Ups mapped out using the guides from last time.
Oral Presentation – Sharing your story as a team. Each student will describe at least two scenes verbally, holding up the picture as they explain.
Test Audience – There will be a Q&A. If our audience is confused about how the story works, we need to know now, not after we’ve spent time animating it.
"Got it?" Joe asks.
The eager students nod as they pull out their folders of semi-completed scenes.
"Oh—and let me clarify one very important thing," Joe continues.
"When we get to the Q&A, we are only looking for things that are confusing about the story. This is not a time to critique artwork, presentation styles, or dialogue.” Joe pauses to let this sink in.
“We’re only asking: does this story make basic sense? Does it have a beginning, middle, and end? Are there opportunities to make it more fun, or scary or whatever.”
Joe continues, “Our story might make sense to our group, after all we were there when we thought of it. But does it work for strangers seeing it for the first time? That’s what we’re going to find out as we go through our oral presentations with these very cool drawings you are producing."
He claps his hands.
"Okay, finish those drawings and assign scenes to each group member. No one person presents everything for the group. This is a team sport. Everyone owns at least a scene or two!"
Joe wanders and pitches in as the young media moguls finish up the full color scenes. Then Joe positions himself at the back of the classroom when everybody is finished.
"I'm back here to make sure I can hear you loud and clear—even sitting way back here behind the class clowns!" he teases.
“Lost Turtle/Mommy group, let’s have you go first.”
The first group nervously steps to the front of their peers.
"Let’s warm up those voices. Ever seen a tech crew do a mic test? They say ‘1, 2, 3, testing, testing…’ We don’t have a mic, but I’ll say ‘1, 2, 3…’ and you’ll say ‘TESTING!’ in your loudest presentation voice. Ready?"
Joe calls out, “1, 2, 3—”
The gruop up front screams, “TESTING!”—a little too loud and a lot screechy. They burst into laughter.
"If there were Oscars for screaming stories, you'd win!" Joe says, fingers in ears.
"Let’s try that again, same energy, just tone it way down. One more time. 1, 2, 3—"
“Testing!” the group bellows—this time loud, clear, and controlled.
"Perfect! Now hold up your beautiful drawings way over your head so all of us in the back can see. No hiding your face behind your drawings! Deliver your story with confidence, volume and enthusiasm on your face!. "Drumroll, please."
The class drums their desks with lightly tapping fingers.
"Lights… camera… action!"
(Each group gets the same routine: A volume check, Joe’s mock-director call, a fun warm-up, and a playful tone that keeps things creative and informal.)
The presentation takes about 5 minutes. The group looks relieved, but still have concern on their visages as they await questions about their story from the test audience.
"Thank you, Turtle/Mommy Group! Remember their original idea? A turtle lost in a snowstorm calling for its mommy. Now that we’ve seen their storyboard in living color—I think I speak for the whole class—it was amazing."
Joe stands and walks up to the front and asks the presenters to hold up their drawings.
"I’ll give you my summary as I understand your story first and then we’ll open it up to questions.
We open the movie with Scene One — Long Shot of a turtle, our hero, slogging through a snowstorm.
Then, Scene Two — Medium Shot . The turtle fills the frame, leaning into the wind. It calls out, ‘Mommy, Mommy!’ as it trudges on."
"In Scene Three , a Close-Up of the turtle’s face—worried brows, pouty mouth, eyes squinting in the snow. We feel every bit of that anxiety."
Joe pauses.
"This is a grabber. Everyone has called for mommy at some point in their life. It’s a primal, human instinct. You’ve got the audience’s attention on a deep level by Scene Three."
He continues:
"Then, Scene Four—Long Shot—danger! Our hero is about to walk off a cliff. It can’t see—snow’s in its eyes.
"But wait—there’s hope! In Scene Five— Long Shot, we see the mommy turtle down below, a little ways from the foot of the cliff.. She hears the call!
Then, Scene Six — Long Shot , the mom runs to the cliff, calling back, ‘I’m here! I’m down here!’ Just as… our hero walks off the edge."
"Now," Scene Seven—Medium Shot - the camera follows the small turtle through the air until it hits the ground, and good news! Instead of hitting hard ground, the turtle crashes through ice! The ground below the cliff is ice. Turns out mom was walking on a freezing sheet of on top of a lake."
"Then, Scene Eight—Medium Shot, mom sees her child fall through the ice, runs and dives into the hole."
"In" Scene Nine--Medium Shot ", we see the hole in the ice for a moment, and then , splash, she pushes her child up onto the ice - to safety. Then her child runs back over to the hole where mom is.
"And finally," Scene Ten — Close-Up - they hug. The turtle kisses mom as she treads water in the hole, smiling in relief."
"How’d I do?" Joe asks.
The group gives him a big thumbs up.
"Makes sense to me. Any questions for our fearless storytellers? Anyone?"
A student raises a hand.
"How did the mom and turtle get separated?"
Joe lets the question linger.
Silence.
"Anyone up front in the group want to answer?"
"We tried to put that in with the stick-figure storyboard, but we ran out of scenes. We had to cut the backstory."
"A ten-scene limit forces hard choices," Joe nods. "I kind of like the mystery of how they got separated—it kept me paying attention. Still… maybe you could swap in a scene and include the backstory? Maybe not? Make a note of that."
"Alright, another question?"
A quiet voice from the front row:
"How does the mom get out of the ice?"
Joe leans in. "So she is concerned about mom, she seems stuck in the ice!"
"Well… the mom’ is huge. The kid is tiny. The kid can’t pull her out. Is he just going to leave her to drown?” she observes. She hesitates and continues with a softer voice, “Our dog fell through ice on a lake last year. It was a poodle, but if it were a Great Dane, we would have not even tried cause we might have fallen in as well."
"Didn't think of that," Joe empathizes. "Anyone else have a comment on something confusing?"
"It's just a cartoon, regular physics don't apply," offers one problem solver.
"Did you save your dog?" asks a voice from the back.
"No. We had to crawl out with branches to try to save it, but It drowned before before we could pull it out."
The hard truth emerges.
"It is no joke to get a dog out of holes in the ice." she adds.
The class sits stunned. Nobody wants to follow up with anything that would hurt her feelings.
"That's so sad." says the teacher looking up from her monitor. She’d been half listening as she was grading essays.
"We’re so sorry for your loss," Joe says. "That’s tragic.Heartbreaking! Does anyone have ideas for how we might get mom out of the ice?"
Kids throw out wild solutions—cranes, ropes, superheroes.
Then someone offers, "What if… the mom doesdie and her spirit goes to Turtle Heaven? She can become her kid’s spirit guide for life."
Gasps ripple through the room.
Silence.
"Oh, wow, that would be so..." another voice whispers.
The student who lost her dog lets out a half sigh under her breath. Later we find she has had a sense that her dog was near many time since the accident.
A brave student breaks the silence. "So let mom pass. We can make this movie as a way of honoring her dog, only it's about a turtle, so nobody knows but us."
The class warms to this idea through many non-verbal gestures.
Joe steps in.
“Wow. Are you guys up for that?” he asks. Then an idea strikes him, "Give me a minute. I’m going to find someone who hasn’t seen this story or been part of this discussion. When I get back in a minute or two, re-present the whole story only with this new Heaven ending - just using your voices—since we haven't done the drawings yet."
Joe steps out of the room, while the presenting group thinks of how they are going to present the new ending.
Joe returns with the janitor and a guidance counselor.
"Okay, class: fresh eyes. These fine victims- er-a-volunteers were on their way to the faculty lounge for lunch, but they agreed to free up three minutes." Joe turns to the two visitors. "Just need gut reactions to a story we might turn into a film. Your attention on the group in the front of the room please! Lights… camera… action!"
The group rehearses Scenes 1-7, then improvising, share Scenes 8-10, “Scene Eight - Medium Shot - As she pushes her kid out of the water, the little turtle is gasping and coughing and trying not to flip over on it's back. It doesn't see mom sinking back down into the ice hole and not coming back up. The kid recovers and stands by the edge of the hole calling for it's mom. Scene Nine - Medium Shot maybe, the mom's spirit slowly floats out of the hole in the ice, looks at her child and says, 'I’ll always be with you.' Scene Ten - Long Shot - Mom arrives in turtle heaven with all her ancient turtle family there to greet her. The End.”
Applause from the class. Then everyone turns to the visitors.
After what seems like an eternity, the janitor offers, "That’s brutal! Oh man… I had a pet turtle once. Buried him in a shoebox in the backyard. It’s still there. I haven’t thought about that little guy in years."
All eyes turn to the counselor. She's just snagged a tissue out of the box on the teachers desk. She starts to speak, but emotion chokes her voice. Her eyes fill with tears...
Joe interjects, "Before you share your thoughts, these kids think of this as "just a cartoon". The counselor and janitor smile at such naïveté. Focusing on the counselor, Joe continues, "Can you tell us why this simple “cartoon” has moved you?"
To be continued…
Note to Reader:
This post is finally getting at the beating heart of the Animating Kids process: empowering students to work as groups tp develop deep buy-in as they create stories. This isn’t just about content with sound and motion. The adult in the room is constantly directing the discussion about the meaning of each movie idea and the inherent logic of the plot, tactfully steering kids away from criticism. When story is firmly lodged in their DNA, they develop esprit-de-corps as a group and as a class. They can't await to make something special. In fact, as they begin to learn how to bring their ideas to life via stop motion animation, this story unfolds in ways that are light years beyond their expectations.
Bon Animate!
Joe
Book Excerpt 7
Note to Educators: One of the biggest bottlenecks in filmmaking is editing. Even though films are made by large teams, editing is usually handled by just one or two people working alone in post-production. Our approach flips that. To keep kids collaborating from start to finish, we front-load the planning. That’s why storyboarding is essential — it helps the group make creative decisions early and avoids hours of solo editing later. So when Joe asks the class to pull out their storyboards, that’s the reason: we’re pre-editing on purpose — to stay a dynamic, creative team all the way through.
Young cinematographers stand and deliver their stories.
Where Art Meets Cinematography
Joe begins, “Okay. Now that you've timed out your movie and sequenced your scenes, it's time to tighten things up a bit. Get out your storyboards.”
The room fills with the sounds of shuffling papers, rustling supplies, and students grouping together.
“I’m going to describe the steps for today,” Joe continues. “This is mostly a pre-production day. It’s also the moment where the artists finally get to make things pretty and artistic,” he adds with a grin.
“This scribbly mess we call a stick-figure storyboard? That’s our blueprint. Don’t lose it. It’s going to be part of every session from here on out. Today, we’re going to create big, beautiful, color illustrations of each storyboard scene.”
Each group has a box of crayons, colored pencils, markers, and blank 8x11 sheets of white paper at the ready.
“Before you get started,” Joe says with a spark in his eye, “I’m going to change the way you look at movies forever.”
He walks around the room, passing out three printed worksheets.
“These worksheets will help you become the cinematographers we need you to be.”
Joe pauses for effect.
“As a filmmaker, you need to understand that where you place the camera matters. The camera is actually a character in your film.”
“For the audience, the camera is their point of view — their POV — and the movie streams straight into their brainstem from this perspective, right next to where their dreams live,” Joe explains. “We don’t think much about camera position when we watch a movie...”
“But!” Joe continues, now pacing a little, “when we make a movie, camera position takes very careful planning. These basic ideas on your worksheets? Hollywood’s been perfecting them for over 100 years.”
“If we do it right, where we place the camera will have as much impact on how our audience feels as anything our characters say or do.”
Joe turns to the board.
“We break our planning into three basic options,” he says as he writes:
Long Shot
Medium Shot
Close-Up
“Let’s review each one.”
“Long shots are used when you want to give your audience a clear sense of the setting — or show differences in size,” Joe explains, pointing to the worksheet labeled Long Shots.
“For example, in our turtle movie, we might start with a long shot of the baby turtle alone on a frozen lake. That helps the audience feel how small, lost, and lonely it is in such a big, empty space.”
He pauses, then adds, “If you were using a real camera, you'd have to back up a long way to fit the entire lake in the frame.”
“Medium shots are best for showing your character on screen, doing something,” Joe explains.
“If you have a scene with two characters talking, or a moment where someone’s striking a cool pose or showing off a costume, this is your go-to shot. You want the camera close enough that the character fills the frame — not too far away, not too close.”
He adds, “In our rocket movie, for example, if a boy is sneaking into a spaceship, give us a great medium shot that shows his whole body in that sneak-walking pose. Let the audience feel what he’s doing.”
“Close-ups,” Joe continues, “are probably the shot you’re most familiar with — but what matters is how we use them.”
“If your characters are showing big emotions — laughing, crying, or anything in between — get in close. Let those emotions fill the screen. The closer we are, the more your audience will feel it.”
He pauses, then adds, “Close-ups are also great for small but important details. In our diaper movie, we start with a close-up of a phone screen. Why? Because the audience needs to read the text message to understand the whole story. A close-up makes sure nothing important gets missed.”
“Using your storyboard as a blueprint,” Joe says, “let’s apply these shot choices to each scene as we recreate them in living color.”
He continues, “By the time every scene is illustrated, you’ll have decided on camera positions and started designing your characters and costumes.”
Then he grins, “Once that’s done, each group will present your story to the class — a full-color show and tell.”
For the rest of the session, Joe floats between groups, offering feedback on shot selection, character design, and color choices. Not every team finishes their drawings, so presentations will kick off next time.
Before the bell rings, Joe pauses at the door.
“Oh — you have homework.”
Groans ripple through the class.
“I told you this would change the way you see media,” Joe says. “I want you to notice how scenes shift between Close-Ups, Medium Shots, and Long Shots in anything you watch. Pay attention to how often the camera moves, and why it’s placed where it is.”
“These brilliant people called cinematographers work closely with directors to make those choices. But in your movies — you’re playing every role. So start noticing. It matters.”
He gives a final wave. “Goodbye!”
Who is this Joe fellow?
Meet Joe Summerhays: The Storyteller Who Makes Classrooms Cinematic
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns traditional learning environs into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production into a media making skill set for the next generation.
An award-winning creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to education. Through his signature colored Animation Chef Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Media skills literacy is the new reading and writing for the Tiktok/Youtube generation.
Book Excerpt 6
Continuing our book excerpts - today is part 2 of storyboarding, including a P.D. training from Joe via video.
Joe enters and requests the storyboards from last time to review.
"Your storyboard scribbles are brilliantly messy." Joe pauses dramatically. "But first, let's make something very clear. These little beasts are tricky. Short movies are sneaky hard to do. They're slippery. We always want to cram more and more into them. But trust me, less is more. Keeping your stories clear, sharp, simple, and direct will be our main challenge."
The class leans in, intrigued.
"To illustrate, let's try something. Anyone got a stopwatch?"
A student volunteers, eyeing the classroom clock.
"Time me, Joe assumes an alert and tense stance. "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down, broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after. How long did that take?” Joe asks.
"Six maybe seven seconds!" the timer announces.
"Exactly! But here is the thing. That six or seven seconds of storyTELLING, may take about a minute of storySHOWING. Yes, about a full minute to animate."
The class looks confused. One voice speaks up, "But it only take six seconds to tell, why does it take a minute to show?"
"I'm glad you asked. It is really hard to explain. So to help speed things up and have you get a sense of what we are up to here, I've brought in a training video from our lessons for teachers. I'm giving you a peek behind the curtains of professional development."
The kids feel like they're being let behind the curtains of the Wizard of OZ.
'Here is the video. It is eight minutes. We'll watch the whole thing and then I'll give you next steps so we can get these storyboard ideas of yours prepped and ready to be the instruction book for your movie." Joe says. "And remember, you are not supposed to be watching this, it is for your teachers eyes only, so don't tell anyone I showed you!" Joe says with an impish grin.
Watch!"
"So this is what we are up against." Joe continues. "Let's see how the Animation Chefs do this same process to their movie idea."
Joe shows the Blue Hat lesson video of the Animation Chefs mapping out their storyboard with a stop watch and acting, posing and timing of dialogue.
Animation Chefs model storyboarding.
"Okay, now you've seen this process modeled twice!" Joe emphasizes. "Now it is your turn. Get out a timer or use the clock on the wall. Time out each scene by acting out each scene. Nobody has ever made your movie before and we need to make sure it is around one minute long so we can actually produce it with the time we have left this semester." Joe finalizes. "Total up all the seconds each scene takes to act out and see if you are anywhere near a one minute movie. Once you've figured this out, that is all we have for today. Good Luck."
Joe spends the rest of the time facilitating the chaos of acting and timing that explodes into being as the class whirls up into a buzz of activity. The young content creators start physically acting and timing out each scene from their storyboards with eager anticipation as to whether this movie will be doable with the time left.
“Okay! Time is up!” Joe shouts over the pandimonium.
“Note each scene duration, or how much time each scene took to act out, on your storyboards. Add up the times. Let’s see if you have about a one-minute movie.”
The kids work out the math.
“Group 1?” Joe queries. “How long is your movie?”
Group 1 spokesmodel, “One minute thirteen seconds”
“Group 2?” Joe continutes.
“Fifty nine seconds”.
“Group 3?”
“One minute six seconds”.
“Group 4"?
“One minute twenty seconds.”
“Wow, group 4 might have to trim a scene or two. We are aiming for one minute,” Joe reminds.
“Here’s the thing, you’ve got some knowledge about your movie now. You know pretty much how long it takes to perform. This is a very important step. This will make you better animators later. Physically going through the motions and rehearsing your story seems to get down into your DNA. It is my experience that once you’ve actually acted it all out, it improves everything we do in production and post-production.”
Joe pauses.
“You may even start to see it show up in your dreams! Next time we are going to learn about cineamtography and character design.” Joe offers. “Cinematography is about where you put the camera in each scene, how you frame it for maximum effect.”
“Until then, great job and I’ll see you later.”
About Joe:
Joe working in classrooms and media labs around the world.
Meet Joe Summerhays: The Storyteller Who Makes Classrooms Cinematic
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns traditional learning environs into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production into a media making skill set for the next generation.
An award-winning creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to education. Through his signature colored Animation Chef Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Media skills literacy is the new reading and writing for the Tiktok/Youtube generation.
Book Excerpt 5
Taking an idea through the storyboard process
Joe walks into the classroom. The kids are restless.
A voice from the back pipes up, "Where's the chalk?"
Laughter.
"Maybe someday I'll tell you," Joe retorts, grinning. "Last time, remember, we melted your brains and sent you hyperventilating into the story vortex, trying to come up with tons of story ideas in just fifteen minutes. You voted on your favorites, correct?"
The class replies with a collective, "Yes!"
"You've created a monster!" Joe exclaims with a Frankenstein-like voice. "A monster we are going to wrestle and tame today with a storyboard, until it's finished and ready to be a movie."
"Okay, let's review your favorite story ideas. Good? Good!" Joe claps his hands.
"Group number one, what did you settle on?"
A spokesperson from the first group stands nervously. "Our story is about a turtle lost on an icy lake, looking for its mother."
"Excellent! You've got your character, your setting, and a juicy problem!" Joe praises enthusiastically.
"Group two, spill it. What's yours?"
Another student jumps up. "A boy steals a rocket, flies into space, then realizes he doesn't know how to land it!"
"Spectacular! Love the drama," Joe exclaims. "Group three, what’s yours?"
"Our story is about a diaper that's texting while walking down the street, then gets hit by a car."
"Brilliantly bizarre," Joe laughs. "You really can animate anything—no matter how bonkers. A texting diaper, that’s a first. Let's hope it's unused!"
The class giggles.
"Group four, lay it on me."
"Our story is set in a bowling alley. A ball is getting bullied by bowling pins because he can't knock them down."
"Absolutely love it," Joe shouts. "Stories about being lost away from mommy, flying up without knowing how to fly back down, the dangers of distracting devices, and a story from the gutter, about bullying."
Kids look on quizzically with grins.
"Everybody has had - or will have - some form of these problems in life: we get lost, we have hard landings, we get distracted, and we get bullied and laughed at." Joe suggests.
"If your audience has had similar problems, and we all have, they'll be more interested in your movie. They'll want to see how your characters solve their version of the problem."
"So great rough start! But we haven't solved the problems yet. Enter the storyboard!," Joe holds a blank storyboard high above his head and waves it around dramatically. "This is the problem solver!"
Joe sets the storyboard down, and turns to write on the board. "Look, let's back out to talk about the process of making any movie. Filmmakers divide making mocies into three phases," Joe writes on the board.
Pre-production (planning)
Production (filming, animating)
Post-production (editing, sound design).
"We are in the planning phase and your storyboard will become the instruction book. this will be your film’s blueprint."
Joe pauses.
"Here is the tricky part. We have enough time together to make a one minute animation. My experience teaches me that you'll need to plan your movie to play out in about ten scenes." Joe offers. "If you can do that, I'm confident we can finish your movie with the time we have left together."
"We need to get working on this with a sense of urgency." Joe pauses. "Who doesn't like drawing?"
Several hands shoot up.
"Perfect! You non-artists get a pencil. We just need stick figure drawings today. The worse your storyboard sketches, the better. Keep your drawings as simple as Pre-K non-artists."
The class laughs and eagerly accepts pencils from Joe. "We'll do good art later, but getting our ideas in the right order with simple sketches comes first."
"The Animation Chefs demonstrate this in this short clip. We’ll see how they take their idea and map it out. Remember, they chose a story about a remote control falling into a sofa, and old remotes in the sofa are coming at it like zombies - groaning and limping. Let's see how they plan it all out."
Joe plays the 4-minute video.
The lights come up.
"Right," Joe asks. "It's pretty simple. How do we start based on what you've seen?"
"Decide what the audience need to see first?" students respond.
"Exactly!" Joe applauds. "What is going to be the best way to get your audience interested? There is no right answer! Nobody has made this movie before."
The kids' faces grow more serious as they realize the work they are about to do.
"Let's do this," Joe continues. "Discuss amongst yourselves what kind of scene your movie should start with. Will you show the setting? The characters' face? Your call. Take a few minutes, then we’ll discuss."
The kids huddle and figure it out.
Five minutes go by and all the groups are ready with their first scene, sketched out with simple stick figures.
"Let’s see your ideas for the first scene. Group 1: Turtle in the snow missing mom."
"We want the first scene to be way back in the distance during a snowstorm, with a tiny baby turtle crawling along in the snow," the spokesperson for the group offers.
"Group 2: Rocket pilot out of control?" Joe asks.
"We want to show the whole launch pad and the rocket with a tiny animation of boy sneaking up to the rocket."
"Group 3: Diaper crosswalk text-tastrophe?" Joe asks.
"We want to see a text thread on a text screen with a message saying ‘hurry up, you’re late’ on the screen, and then, ‘I’m coming, I’m coming…’ and you can't tell who is texting because it is just a hand holding the phone."
"Group 4: Bowling bullies?" Joe urges.
"We want to show a bowling ball sitting on a rack with other bowling balls, and a big hand comes in to grab it."
"I love those messy drawings! Non-artists rule!" Joe continues. "You’ve all got me interested in what comes next."
"You’ve got 9 more scenes to invent. Ask yourself this question: What happens next?"
A messy stick-figure storyboard
Joe suggests, "Simple as that. And after you've sketched your idea, ask 'then what happens?' and sketch that. Keep asking what happens next until you get about 6–8 scenes in. This is when the storyboard starts to grind your idea into an ending," Joe frets in a worried voice.
"Remember, there is no right answer. All you have to do is decide as a group on how it ends. Your story’s ending is going to gradually reveal itself to you."
The groups seem puzzled.
Joe continutes, “This is going to take brainstorming, negotiation, and talking things over. You’ll have a bunch of ideas for an ending, but you’ve got to pick one for today. We may change it later, which is why we are using pencil. But pick a good clear ending for that tenth scene.”
Joe pauses, then continues with a corrective tone. "BTW. A big BTW! Two rules about the 'ending' in our stories." Joe turns to write on the board.
1 - No 'to be continued' endings. "This movie is not the MCU or any other franchise. It is a one-time thing. In our case, 'to be continued' means you gave up thinking about how your story ends. Not allowed."
Joe comically scrunches his eyebrows into a mean look and writes the next rule.
2 - No 'waking up from a dream.' "One of the oldest endings in the book. Nope, not going to let you do that. It’s another cheat. Unless you are Bob Newhart," Joe looks at the teacher in the back with a smile.
With the kids wondering who Bob Newhart is, Joe continues on the board.
"To review:
What comes first?
What comes next? (asked many times)
How does it end?
"These are the basic questions we are answering."
Joe puts the marker down.
"Simple—and challenging!"
"Remember in kindergarten, when you sorted a pile of mixed-up pictures into the right order? That is kind of what we are doing here. We are experimenting with the sequence. Take your messy mixed up imaginations and let's make some order, a plot, a story, You can erase when you change your mind. Don't press too hard with those pencils." Joe encourages.
"If your character has to speak, just make a speech bubble in your storyboard. We will polish up the dialogue later, so just jot down the words in the speech bubble as a placeholder today.
"You’ve got twenty minutes for your first draft," Joe declares. "Drawings in all ten squares! Ready? Set… Go!"
The groups panic. Twenty minutes seems to short, but they huddle as Joe holds the stopwatch high.
Twenty minutes later, Joe calls time.
"Wow! As I’ve walked around, I've loved the messy sketches, erase marks, your bulging eyeballs, and dialogue ideas scribbled all over the place."
"Put away your storyboards. Let them incubate for next time. Then we’ll plan some more."
"What does ‘incubate’ mean?" one student calls out.
"Has anyone raised chickens in here?"
One hand goes up in the back.
"Is that when you put the eggs under the heater lights to help them hatch faster?" the young voice ventures.
Joe smiles. "Exactly! Instead of a heater, though, we’re just going to put these storyboards into your group folder. Then we’ll let them sit. And like little chicken eggs, they will hatch into better storyboards next time. You'll have new eyes to raise them into a fully grown story."
"Awwwoohhh," the class groans. "Let’s do it now!"
Joe nods toward the teacher. "No, I think that’s enough for one day. We’ve mapped out your blueprint. And I think you’ve got math to do. See ya next time!"
Joe tiptoes out of the classroom.
Who is this Joe fellow?
Meet Joe Summerhays: The Storyteller Who Makes Classrooms Cinematic
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns traditional learning environs into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production into a media making skill set for the next generation.
An award-winning creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to education. Through his signature colored Animation Chef Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Media skills literacy is the new reading and writing for the Tiktok/Youtube generation.
Book Excerpt 4
(Last session, chaos reigned as kids created animations of themselves sliding across the floor and flapping imaginary wings as they saw themselves fly—using basic classic animation concepts. They weren’t just learning animation; they became animation. In this entry, Joe bursts into the classroom, grinning.)
Slaying The Storytelling Beast As A Team!
Joe reviews stick-figure storyboards with young animators
“Good morning, animated animators!”
Joe leans in. “Good news or bad news first?”
“GOOD NEWS!” the class shouts.
“Good news: animating—posing, timing, spacing—what we did last time? That’s the easy part.”
Silence. Squints. Suspicion.
“Bad news? Story! Story is hard. It’s where movies live or die. You’ve seen it streaming into your homes: movies with mind-blowing animation, epic music, and… then a total snooze-fest of a plot. Great special effects, but terrible story. That’s the bad news. No amount of spectacular production can save a bad story. And the opposite is true. We've seen stick-figure movies and flip-book animations that are wildly entertaining--with almost no money spent on them. Yet with a story and a character that is interesting you are safe.”
Heads nod. They know.
“Think about it. The smartest minds at Pixar, Disney, Netflix, Universal, YouTube—they all try, fail, and try again to crack the perfect memorable story. Most of the time they miss and nobody stays watching. So that is the bad news. Nobody can guarantee which story the audience will love. There are no guarantees.”
“There are some steps we can take to understand how stories work so we can give ourselves the best shot,”
Joe pauses.
“Knock, knock.”
“Who’s there?” several voices respond as minds shift gears.
“Anita.”
“Anita who?”
“Anita use the bathroom!”
Class groans with laughter.
“You may not realize it, but a knock knock joke is a mini story! It has three parts:
1. The Setup – ‘Knock, knock.’ The stage is set. We know what’s coming.
2. The Mystery – ‘Who’s there?’ Anita! Suspense! Who is this Anita person?Curiosity unanswered! How is this going to be twisted into a pun?
3. The Punchline or the Payoff – The unexpected twist answer. The worse the pun, the better.
This formula is everywhere: movies, YouTube, bedtime stories, advertisements, plays, etc.” Joe suggests with urgency.
“It’s called the Three-Act Story Structure:
- Act 1: The Setup: Meet the characters and set the scene.
- Act 2: Conflict: Chaos, mystery, unexpected issues—some big problem happens.
- Act 3: The big finish: Who wins, who loses, how did the problem get solved?
90% of stories follow this. The ancient Greeks knew this. The Bible writers use it. So do broadway musicals, stand-up comedians, advertising, thumbnails - they all use it."
“This is very helpful to understand. It helps us organize our thoughts.”
For instance, did you know that Pixar spent a year working on the original Toy Story "story" before they animated a single frame? A year! Dozens of people wrote, rewrote, tested, refined, threw things out, and rewrote again."
The young storytellers listen as this sinks in.
"This is good news! If we follow their lead and use this format, we have a better chance of making something worth animating.”
"What about Humpty Dumpty?" challenges a student in back.
"Perfect! We can find the 3 acts." Joe eagerly asserts.
"Act 1: Humpty, an egg, on a wall. That's the set up. Our character and setting.
Act 2: Humpty as a great fall. That's the problem. That's the drama. It wouldn't be a problem if Humpty was a basketball. But Humpty is an EGG! So BIG problem with fragility.
Act 3: The solution. All the King's Men coming to fix Humpty. Yet they can't put Humpty together again. Bummer! The answer to the problem is: Humpty is out of luck. Humpty can’t be fixed and lives out life as a clump of gooey eggshells, or worse."
Kids giggle.
"We could go through all the classic nursery rhymes and find some form of this three part idea." Joe continues.
But we have our own story to craft. The point is, many storytellers have come before us and we can learn from them." Joe twists his face into a serious gaze. "If we rush this step, this whole project might not work!”
Joe claps his hands. “Now, we need story ideas. Lots of ‘em.”
“Time for Blue Hat Lesson #1: a 15-minute story brainstorming system the Animation Chefs have worked out. Lights, camera, action!."
Teacher shows the video on the smartboard in front of the class, then Joe jumps up.
"We need you to get in the groups your teacher has assigned. Once you are in teams, pick a scribe— pick the fastest writer, not the neatest. You'll need speed."
Cue chaos. Kids scramble into groups. The scribes hold the pencils over a blank sheet of paper.
Joe smirks. “It is time for your brains to melt. We are going to come up with as many story ideas as possible in 15 minutes. The most I've ever seen was in Mrs. Garcia’s class in Yonkers New York - 54 ideas in 15 minutes. You'll understand how remarkable this is in a moment. You probably won’t get 54, but..." Joe pauses with an evil grin. '...I did bring popcorn...” Joe holds up a tote bag filled with small bags of popcorn.
Eyes widen.
“At least 20 ideas gets you 1 small bag of popcorn. Over 30 ideas = two bags.”
The energy surges. Anticipation oozes from every animator.
Joe holds up a stopwatch timer on his smartphone, "One last thing. In animation, anything is possible. So let's come up with wacky ideas! A shoe can be a main character. Mars can be the setting. So can a taxi cab. So can a dish of soap. There is no limit. We want your most bizarre combination of ideas. The more random the better. We'll tame them later. Today I want you to scare me with the originality inside those zany brains!
"Ready! Set! GO!", Joe shouts as he clicks the 15 minute timer before they've even processed what he just said.
Pencils fly. Brainstorming hits warp speed. Hyperventilating! Noise! Focused pandemonium! Writing exercises never generate this kind of atomic fission.
With popcorn on the line, and a record number of story ideas to hit, they give it their best, full speed ahead. The scribes barely recognize their own handwriting as they scratch out each story concept at light speed.
Fifteen minutes later every group, exhausted, has dozens of story possibilities splayed all over the their brainstorming pages in barely legible chicken scratch.
Joe grins. “This? This thing we just did? This is how movies start. If we can get a seed of an idea that looks like it might grow up into a movie, we may have a chance to entertain our audience, even if our animation is not that great.
Joe walks around handing out bags of popcorn.
"Next step? Picking out which of these dozens of story seedlings to water and fertilize. As you chomp down on popcorn, take 10 minutes and pick your 3 favorite story ideas." Joe challenges. "When you've agreed on your three best ideas, chose a spokesmodel for your group and we'll share your three favorites with the room.”
Joe holds still until the class is settled a bit.
“Then we do our first test screening. We are going to ask the other groups to vote on which of your ideas might make the best movie. Raw responses to your story concept can teach us a lot."
For the next 15 minutes, each group's spokesmodel stands, and offers their 3 best story ideas.
"Now you know which ideas created giggles amongst your classmates. Some of you know which idea is already generating interest. Some, it was hard to tell which ones the class liked most. So do this. Choose YOUR favorite. Select the ONE idea your group agrees might make the best movie. This takes compromise, negotiation, and cooperation. Just like any other team based project, in school or in life.”
“It's time to decide.” Joe says dramatically.
Each group huddles for a few minutes and selects their best idea. Then, one by one, each group announces which story idea they are going to produce.
"This is fantastic. When I came into today, we had no idea what we were going to make our movies about. And now, not only have we decided, but we did so with great peer feedback. Amazing!” Joe exclaims.
“When we meet next time, we'll create the instruction book for this movie. A blueprint you can follow to engineer it, build it, animate it, bring it to life. It is called a storyboard. We will create a 10 scene plan that will force your character to solve it’s problem"
Joe sobers up.
"I have total confidence you can do this as a team. As we move forward to make this movie, you'll be using everything you've ever learned in school. plus about 43 other skills. I've seen this happen thousands of times with classes just like yours. This is going to be hard work, but it is going to be a BLAST!"
“So DONE. We’ve made the executive decision as to what story idea we are going with. That was the big thing today.” Joe salutes the young film makers.
Joe exits while the class processes the possibilities and excitement, and dread that lay ahead.
Who is this Joe fellow?
The Storyteller Who Makes Classrooms Cinematic
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns schools into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production with sound and motion into a foundational skill set for the next generation.
A creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to the consolidation of powerful media principles used in the real world down into primary education. Through his signature Animation Chefs colored Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from storytelling and animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Visual media literacy is the new reading and writing.
More Testimonials:
"I am impressed by...these programs, providing young people with the skills to become creative and critical thinkers...this shares my dedication to nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and visual storytellers." — Steven Spielberg - Referencing the work of Joe Summerhays“
"Joe (Animating Kids Founder) has turned the art of movie making for kids into a science.” — Jonathan Demme - Academy Award-Winning Director
“I absolutely love Animating Kids...you have no idea how amazing it is for a span of K-9. I’ve got the whole building covered and my planning was done for me. The kids LOVE the Animation Chefs. Win, win!!” — J. Tuttle - Media Specialist
"When I found Animating Kids it changed everything. Small and not so small humans became masters of sound and motion on any subject via small group PBL dynamics." — Rachel - Tech Coach - Quebec
“Animating Kids has changed everything! Fun, relevant media-making lessons for kids, and total P.D. for my non-film making teachers. A complete solution!!” — Principal - Bronx NY
"Animating Kids really helps focus our students during remote sessions…it keeps them so engaged. Your secret recipes are a life saver." — Marisol - Sacramento Ca
"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!" — Charlotte - London UK
"This is the most important skills-based content for today’s kids. I don't think primary educators get how impactful this approach can be. It respects media content creation as the basic literacy it is for today’s kids. — Monique - White Plains NY
“We went through the entire process (PD workshop) of learning animated filmmaking with our tablets and smartphones. We could barely keep up. In the end we came away exhilarated rather than exhausted.” — Cathy S. - Librarian“
"My head was spinning. It involved: math, writing, science, team building, art, language arts, engineering, improvisation, innovation, acting, etc. Along with another dozen areas I can’t recall. Sneaky comprehensive. Mind blown. Can’t wait to use it in class.” — Marcia - 4th Grade Teacher
“Animation Chefs have created a really inspired program! My test group of (hardened gang members) like to laugh at the videos, and they love the simple clear explanations. They just have a blast...”
— G. Zucker Austin TX
"Thank you SO much for sharing your wealth of information and opening this world to every kid! I first learned about you when my husband introduced our daughter to you. Now I am bringing it into my after school program. I’m so psyched!" — Joy H. Retail After School Specialist
"Kids sign-up for robotics, coding, and stop motion sessions. After taking all three, they rate stop motion as their favorite track BY FAR. Animating Kids is key to our success." — Shane V. After School District Lead
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Book excerpt 3
Animating Kids In Time and Space
Literally Animating Kids
Fastest Way To Understand Animation Is To Be Animated!
Scene: A Media Lab in Elementary or Middle School
When: 2003-Present
Where: In hundreds of classrooms all over the world
Joe strolls into the classroom for his third visit.
"Alright, animators. Any questions from last time?"
A hand shoots up. "Where’s the chalk?"
Laughter erupts.
Joe smirks. "Unbelievable. It is still about the chalk? I’m literally handing you the keys to the media-making kingdom, and all you want to talk about is the chalk!"
The kids giggle as he paces the room.
"Now, let’s talk about something much bigger. Bigger than stop motion. Bigger than Hollywood. Bigger than the universe itself."
He pauses dramatically.
"Time."
A hush falls over the room.
"And Space," he adds. "Because you, my friends, are about to become masters of both."
A kid in front blurts out, "Like Doctor Who?"
"Exactly. But instead of a TARDIS, you have a camera. And instead of traveling through time, you’re building it. One frame at a time."
Joe spins on his heel. "How do we measure time in a day?"
"Hours!"
"Minutes!"
"Seconds!"
Joe nods. "Right. 24 hours in a day. 60 minutes in an hour. 60 seconds in a minute. We live inside a giant invented time signature—just like music too. You know how music has 4/4 time, or 3/4, or 5/4 if you’re feeling adventurous? It is just another time signature, for a different media.”
A few kids nod.
"Well, animation has a time signature too. And ours is going to be 15 frames per second. That means, for every single second of animation, we have to take 15 pictures. That’s our rhythm. Our beat. Our law of time."
A kid tilts their head. "So if we don’t take enough pictures…?"
Joe points at them. "Then time breaks. Your movie gets choppy, jumps ahead, or goes by so fast it makes no sense at all. And if you don’t take pictures at all? Time ceases to exist. No movie!"
The kids exchange wide-eyed glances.
Joe continues, "And then, there’s space."
From the back, "Like, outer space?"
Joe whips around. "EXACTLY. But also no. We’re talking about the space between movements from frame to frame within the 15fps time signature. Space controls speed."
Puzzled looks.
"Alright, let’s test this. Imagine you’re animating yourself sliding across the floor. 15 pictures per second. So, Move—Click—picture. Move—Click—picture. Move—Click—picture. If you take one picture for every step for 15 separate pictures, and space each step by only a few inches, what happens when we play it back at 15fps?"
"You move across the floor without walking?”
Joe quizzes, “How long is your animation”
“One second?”
“Why?”
“Cause we are working at 15 pictures per second, so we’ve only taken 15 total pictures. So one second of animation.”
“Exactly!” Joe thrills.
"Second question. Will you be moving fast or slow when we play back this one second animation?” Joe quips.
Blank stares.
"You go fast?" guesses a young media mogul.
“Hmmm. Let’s do this as a thought experiment, and then we’ll literally animate you guys doing it.” says Joe hopefully.
Joe points out, “Here’s the deal. If the time stays the same—15 frames per second—the space you put between movements changes how fast it looks when we play it back."
A kid raises a hand. "So if I want to be a super-speed ninja, I just take big steps?"
Joe grins. "Exactly. And how would you space an animation to make it look like slow motion?"
Thinking kids rustle up a raised hand.
“You would make tiny spaces of movement between each picture?"
“Bingo!” Joe hops a little for emphasis. “Alright. You are getting how space and time signatures relate. Now a new question. Here’s where most new young animators fail spectacularly."
Dramatic pause.
"Let’s say you done a one second animation, you’re sliding across the floor, looking all cool and animated. Then, you get to end of the animated slide and pause and smile at the camera for a couple of seconds."
Silence. Then—
An intrepid student offers, "You do the animation across the room, then you look at the camera and take a picture with a smile?"
Joe gasps in mock horror. "WRONG!"
Laughter.
"If you just stop taking pictures, what happens in the animation?"
A kid snaps their fingers. "You stop being animated?"
"Yes captain Obvious! YES! Here’s the thing. If you take one picture of you smiling at the end of the animation, it is on the screen for 1/15th of a second! Remember, we need 15 pictures for every second of this movie, whether something is moving or not."
Blank stares.
"In our 15fps world, if your character needs to pause for two seconds at the end of sliding across the floor, how many pictures do you need?"
Quick mental math.
"Thirty?"
Joe points at the responder. "Yes! If you don’t take those 30 pictures, 15 pictures per second, your character's smile won’t be detectable at all at the end of this animation.
A kid groans. "That sounds tedious."
Joe shrugs. "Welcome to animation! Math, patience, and a little bit of planning and persistence goes a long way. But get it right, and your movie goes from a choppy mess to Hollywood-level magic. And one of the trickiest parts of working in 15fps is to remember to take 15 pictures per second for each pause where nothing is moving on the screen."
The kids start to realize why the chairs and desks are pushed to the outside of the classroom—they are about to be animated.
"Animated filmmaking isn’t just about movement. It’s about controlling time and space. Every great story has a rhythm, a speed, a pulse. It’s all math and spacing. It is figure-out-able."
“You mean we have to not only work out all the movements in an animation, but we also have to work out all the math for the pauses?” queries a voice from the back.
“Yes! And here is the great news. Walt Disney and the Warner Brothers worked out all the timing almost 100 years ago. We still use their formulas for timing and spacing.”
Joe looks around. "And here’s why this matters. You are growing up in a world built on media. Everything you watch, click, scroll, and hear was designed by someone who understands time and space—someone who is working within a time signature—someone who is doing the math—someone who wants you to feel something, think something, maybe even believe something."
Joe points out, "We are going to assemble our animations one frame at a time with purpose and intentionality. And just like everybody else in media persuasion, once you understand how media is made, you won’t just be someone who watches—you’ll be someone who creates, produces, and controls it. That’s a superpower. And it starts with this—learning how to make and manipulate time itself."
He claps his hands. "Alright, time travelers. Who’s ready to bend time and space?"
Every hand shoots up.
Joe cracks his knuckles. "Let’s animate."
Who is this Joe fellow?
Joe’s work featured in cover story of Weekly Reader
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns schools into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production with sound and motion into a foundational skill set for the next generation.
A creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to the consolidation of powerful media principles used in the real world down into primary education. Through his signature Animation Chefs colored Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from storytelling and animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Visual media literacy is the new reading and writing.
More Testimonials:
"I am impressed by...these programs, providing young people with the skills to become creative and critical thinkers...this shares my dedication to nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and visual storytellers." — Steven Spielberg - Referencing the work of Joe Summerhays“
"Joe (Animating Kids Founder) has turned the art of movie making for kids into a science.” — Jonathan Demme - Academy Award-Winning Director
“I absolutely love Animating Kids...you have no idea how amazing it is for a span of K-9. I’ve got the whole building covered and my planning was done for me. The kids LOVE the Animation Chefs. Win, win!!” — J. Tuttle - Media Specialist
"When I found Animating Kids it changed everything. Small and not so small humans became masters of sound and motion on any subject via small group PBL dynamics." — Rachel - Tech Coach - Quebec
“Animating Kids has changed everything! Fun, relevant media-making lessons for kids, and total P.D. for my non-film making teachers. A complete solution!!” — Principal - Bronx NY
"Animating Kids really helps focus our students during remote sessions…it keeps them so engaged. Your secret recipes are a life saver." — Marisol - Sacramento Ca
"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!" — Charlotte - London UK
"This is the most important skills-based content for today’s kids. I don't think primary educators get how impactful this approach can be. It respects media content creation as the basic literacy it is for today’s kids. — Monique - White Plains NY
“We went through the entire process (PD workshop) of learning animated filmmaking with our tablets and smartphones. We could barely keep up. In the end we came away exhilarated rather than exhausted.” — Cathy S. - Librarian“
"My head was spinning. It involved: math, writing, science, team building, art, language arts, engineering, improvisation, innovation, acting, etc. Along with another dozen areas I can’t recall. Sneaky comprehensive. Mind blown. Can’t wait to use it in class.” — Marcia - 4th Grade Teacher
“Animation Chefs have created a really inspired program! My test group of (hardened gang members) like to laugh at the videos, and they love the simple clear explanations. They just have a blast...”
— G. Zucker Austin TX
"Thank you SO much for sharing your wealth of information and opening this world to every kid! I first learned about you when my husband introduced our daughter to you. Now I am bringing it into my after school program. I’m so psyched!" — Joy H. Retail After School Specialist
"Kids sign-up for robotics, coding, and stop motion sessions. After taking all three, they rate stop motion as their favorite track BY FAR. Animating Kids is key to our success." — Shane V. After School District Lead
Book Excerpt 2
Book Excerpt 1:
The Magic Of Media
Introducing The Power Of Directing Attention
Seeing Vs Looking
Media Lab Session In An Elementary or Middle School
When: 2003-Present
Where: In hundreds of classrooms all over the world
The teacher stands at the front of the room.
"Class, we’d like to welcome Joe this morning. He’s here to show us how to make content, stories really, we’ll be learning to make movies."
The class emits eager postures and excited whisperings.
Joe smiles at the students. "Good morning! Learning to read and write in school? You’ve been at it for about five years, right?"
The class groaned collectively, nodding in agreement.
"And I’m guessing there’s a pop quiz, or a test, or some kind of measurement of how you’re doing, right?"
The groans deepened.
Joe turned to the teacher. "How are they doing?"
The teacher either rolls their eyes, chuckles, or gives a thumbs-up.
"Here’s my question. Reading and writing are basic skills for survival as you leave school and go out in the “real world”. Please take it very seriously. Even though we are talking about how to make content with sound and motion, every storytelling movie starts with a written script.”
Student’s eyes start to glaze over.
“Let’s talk about how to read and write with sound and motion. For your generation, this is as basic as reading and writing with text. Here’s my question - Where did you go to learn how to see and hear?"
The students laugh, snicker, and murmur, suggesting they didn’t need to learn how to see and hear.
"I’m serious. Where did you learn how to see and hear?"
Silence.
"It is my contention that you need to be taught how we see/hear as a basic skill of survival in the media saturated age in which we live. Let’s test this. I need a volunteer."
The teacher gestures to a bold student and he rushes to the front of the room.
"What’s your name?"
"Dayquon," the student replys.
"Alright, Dayquon. Could you hand me that piece of chalk over there?"
Dayquon retrieves chalk from a little used chalkboard next to the smartboard and hands it to Joe.
"Thank you. Now, hold your hand up, palm to the ceiling. I’m going to put this piece of chalk in your hand."
Joe carefully and slowly places the chalk in Dayquon’s hand and closed his fingers around it.
"Now, make a tight fist, hold your hand high and keep squeezing. Don’t let us look at it."
Dayquon complies, holding his fist aloft.
"Here’s the test: What did you see in Dayquon’s hand?"
"Chalk!" the class shouts.
"What color is it?"
"White!"
"How big is it? A long piece or a little nub?"
"Long!"
"What shape is it?"
"A circle! No, a cylinder!"
"Was it shiny or dull?"
"Dull!"
Joe grinned. "Amazing. With just a glance, your eyes picked up its color, size, shape, and texture. Isn’t it incredible how quickly we gather information just by looking? But here’s the thing—I’m not testing your looking. I’m here to test your seeing."
The class murmured in confusion.
Joe turned back to Dayquon. "Alright, open your hand."
Dayquon opens his hand—empty. No chalk!
The room erupts in astonishment. Students leap from their seats, some drop to the floor, and others scream.
Joe let the chaos play out before continuing.
"Dayquon, what’s the name of the student in the third row with the pink hoodie?"
"That’s Mica."
"Mica, could you do me a favor? Check the hood of your hoodie on the back of your chair."
Mica turned, reached into her hoodie. Gasping with eyes bugging out of her head, she pulls out the chalk, holding it high.
Pandemonium erupts again.
Joe lets the noise settle. "I thought you said you knew how to see?"
"That was magic!" students shout.
“Do it again!”
“That’s impossible!”
Joe offers, “Do you want to know how I did that?"
"YES!" the class shouts.
Joe smirks. "I did it very well, thank you."
Groans.
“It’s not magic. I just was having a little fun with the rules we all use to pay attention, to see. I guided your eyes, your ears, your minds, and your expectations using the rules of seeing and hearing. I was three or four steps ahead of you at all times, using story, motion, sleight-of-hand, emotion, and anticipation.”
Joe continued, "Today my visit was just to test you, just to get your attention. I’m about to open up a world you have not been exposed to, a world of media production, a world of getting and keeping attention with sound and motion.
Joe pauses, to make sure everyone is listening. “I have been employed by some of the biggest media companies in the world. I’ve been paid to get and keep peoples attention. I feed my family based on the success I’ve had in this business. I am excited to share all these rules, skills, and abilities with you. Today, this is a superpower, and your future depends on understanding how to actually see the magic behind the scenes, by doing media. We’ll explore the rules of attention, of illusion, and how look and SEE.
“Until then, have a great day."
The students scream, “How did you make the chalk dissapear and reappear in Mica’s hood?”
Joe walks out the door, knowing he has the class’s full attention for next time.
Who is this Joe fellow?
Joe Summerhays is the creative force behind Animating Kids, the globally adopted media literacy platform that turns schools into movie studios and students into visual storytellers. With over 25,000 kids and educators trained across 20+ countries, Joe has redefined what it means to be literate in the 21st century — reimagining stop motion animation, storytelling, and digital production with sound and motion into a foundational skill set for the next generation.
A creative executive in software, TV, publishing, and advertising, Joe brings a seasoned eye and playful spirit to the consolidation of powerful media principles used in the real world down into primary education. Through his signature Animation Chefs colored Hat Levels (inspired by karate belts), students and teachers alike progress from storytelling and animation basics to full-on film production — all while hitting ISTE, AASL, and P21 standards for digital fluency and creative communication.
Animating Kids isn’t just a curriculum — it’s a movement. A toolkit for schools. A legacy for media coaches and tech specialists. And it all flows from Joe’s belief:
Visual media literacy is the new reading and writing.
More Testimonials:
"I am impressed by...these programs, providing young people with the skills to become creative and critical thinkers...this shares my dedication to nurturing the next generation of filmmakers and visual storytellers." — Steven Spielberg - Referencing the work of Joe Summerhays“
"Joe (Animating Kids Founder) has turned the art of movie making for kids into a science.” — Jonathan Demme - Academy Award-Winning Director
“I absolutely love Animating Kids...you have no idea how amazing it is for a span of K-9. I’ve got the whole building covered and my planning was done for me. The kids LOVE the Animation Chefs. Win, win!!” — J. Tuttle - Media Specialist
"When I found Animating Kids it changed everything. Small and not so small humans became masters of sound and motion on any subject via small group PBL dynamics." — Rachel - Tech Coach - Quebec
“Animating Kids has changed everything! Fun, relevant media-making lessons for kids, and total P.D. for my non-film making teachers. A complete solution!!” — Principal - Bronx NY
"Animating Kids really helps focus our students during remote sessions…it keeps them so engaged. Your secret recipes are a life saver." — Marisol - Sacramento Ca
"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!" — Charlotte - London UK
"This is the most important skills-based content for today’s kids. I don't think primary educators get how impactful this approach can be. It respects media content creation as the basic literacy it is for today’s kids. — Monique - White Plains NY
“We went through the entire process (PD workshop) of learning animated filmmaking with our tablets and smartphones. We could barely keep up. In the end we came away exhilarated rather than exhausted.” — Cathy S. - Librarian“
"My head was spinning. It involved: math, writing, science, team building, art, language arts, engineering, improvisation, innovation, acting, etc. Along with another dozen areas I can’t recall. Sneaky comprehensive. Mind blown. Can’t wait to use it in class.” — Marcia - 4th Grade Teacher
“Animation Chefs have created a really inspired program! My test group of (hardened gang members) like to laugh at the videos, and they love the simple clear explanations. They just have a blast...”
— G. Zucker Austin TX
"Thank you SO much for sharing your wealth of information and opening this world to every kid! I first learned about you when my husband introduced our daughter to you. Now I am bringing it into my after school program. I’m so psyched!" — Joy H. Retail After School Specialist
"Kids sign-up for robotics, coding, and stop motion sessions. After taking all three, they rate stop motion as their favorite track BY FAR. Animating Kids is key to our success." — Shane V. After School District Lead
Every Kid Should Go To Film School.
"Imagine if we sent every child to film school. I know, it sounds bold—and maybe a bit idealistic. Especially when there’s no standardized test to assess ‘persuasion through sound and motion.’ No fill-in-the-bubble answers for creative storytelling. And that’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? You can measure math, reading, even STEM outcomes with a ruler. But how do you quantify something like ‘emotional impact’ or ‘engagement’? How do you justify spending precious classroom time on media production when, let’s be honest, your paycheck doesn’t depend on it?
Here’s the thing though—kids today live in a world dominated by video. They ‘read’ video every day, but they don’t know how to write for it. And whether we like it or not, video is fast becoming the most important communication tool in every profession, not just Hollywood. But before you worry that we’re pushing stop motion for the sake of it, let me make something clear: Animating Kids is not a stop motion program. We’re not here to romanticize clay figures moving across a screen. No, we’ve tested this for years in real classrooms with limited resources, and stop motion just happens to be the most effective way to teach the principles of filmmaking. Why? Because it slows everything down—frame by frame—so kids can grasp the building blocks of visual storytelling. It’s like teaching literacy: you start with letters, then words, then sentences. Stop motion allows students to fully experience the creative process, from brainstorming to acting, editing, and finally seeing their work on screen.
What will your students develop during an Animating Kids project?
Creative and Writing Skills: Brainstorming, sequencing, playing with language, and drafting—skills they can apply to writing and communication.
STEM and Analytical Skills: Ratios, spatial reasoning, real-time hypothesis testing, and tinkering—core math and problem-solving skills.
Cinematography and Visual Storytelling: Framing, lighting, continuity, and character design—teaching kids to tell stories visually.
Performance and Communication: Voice acting, pacing, timing, and choreography—skills that enhance verbal and non-verbal communication.
Media Production and Technology: Video editing, sound design, music application—learning to work with media production tools.
Collaboration and Organizational Skills: Teamwork, leadership, compromise, and deadline management—skills vital in any profession.
Learning and Problem-Solving: Creative problem-solving, trial and error, and real-time adjustments—fostering resilience and critical thinking.
Every child growing up in today’s media-saturated world is owed at least a hands-on, head’s up about creating content—or being a content creator.
At the end of an Animating Kids project, students will have created a one-minute animated story, soup to nuts, using all the skills above. Imagine if this were baked into every school curriculum from the start.At the very least they’d have a clue about how the media they consume is manufactured to entertain and persuade in powerful relevant medium.
Bon Animate!
Give Your Child a Competitive Edge in the Media-Driven World
Animating Kids grew out of turning public school classrooms into media education powerhouses. We have lept many hurdles and found rebel teachers who took a chance on our framework. See a few of their testimonials here.
These teachers and media specialists are not the norm. Schools do not teach media literacy as a core literacy alongside reading and writing. With standardized test pressures teachers are not equipped, have no time, or admin support for media skills education, especially in the early grades.
The consequences of this lack of attention to media literacy will be far-reaching.
We invite you to check out some of the latest research below. Even though is years-old, the trends are flagged and we are early days.
We’ve linked some papers which make our point for us. We are making headway in schools, so if you are a teacher these links might be ammo to convince your admin. It is imperative too that parents take their children's media literacy education seriously. Join us at Animating Kids.
Children who do not develop strong media literacy skills early may struggle to communicate their own ideas and thoughts effectively in a world dominated by visual media. It is up to all of us to take an active role in media literacy education.
Bon Animate!
The Team at Animating Kids
*" The Development of Visual Literacy in Early Childhood: A Review of the Literature" by Diane L. Gromala, Sarah M. Coyne, and Catherine L. Bright, published in Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 2016.
" Enhancing Visual Literacy in the Early Years: The Role of Teacher Professional Development" by Karen Wohlwend , published in the Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, 2016.
" Media Literacy in the Early Years: A Longitudinal Study of Children's Media Use and Development " by Kiran Gauntlett, published in Children and Society, 2017.
