Stop motion is a kind of animation that is done by moving physical objects in very small increments between individual photographs so that they show motion when the frames are played back as a movie.

Stop motion can be done by taking many individual photos, each with a slight movement, and then stringing them together in a movie using movie making software like Windows Movie Maker or iMovie. Or you can use a mobile phone app like Stop Motion Studio or PicPac Stop Motion & Time Lapse. (Just go to your app store and search for stop motion.)

Claymation is one type of stop motion. Another kind of stop motion to consider is one using toys such as Legos or action figures.

A tripod will be important so that the camera is in the same position for each shot.

Here are a few examples.

Here are some additional resources:

• “Make a Stop Motion Animation – for Beginners” from Instructables
• “How to Create Stop Motion Movies on iPhone or iPad” from PC Magazine
• “The Handiest Apps for Stop Motion” from My Kids Time