At Box of Light Studios, creative thinking is king. Providing children ages 6-14 with an environment for creative learning, Box of Light features classes designed to teach students animation, film, comics and more, fostering necessary skills such as collaboration, problem-solving and communication. In public studio classes, students are able to explore animation techniques and complete their own movies with sound effects and titles. Keeping the emphasis on creative planning and development, innovative software iStopMotion is used in these animation classes because of its user-friendly interface.

“iStopMotion is an intuitive software that lets our students get going quickly,” says Jude Shingle, educator at Box of Light. “The software also scales nicely as the student's competencies grow. At Box of Light we focus on empowering kids as creators of content, so they are not just consumers of animated movies or shows; they create them, too.”

In addition to public studio classes, Box of Light also utilizes iStopMotion in their Artist Residency programs. Residencies are 20-60 day partnerships with schools where an artist partners with classroom teachers to integrate art into existing core curriculums. Check out the example above from a fifth grade class in Turbotville Elementary, which combines stop motion fun with polygon education!

But that’s not all Box of Light offers for students who are excited about learning the ins and outs of animation! For the most serious animation students, Box of Light offers an animation club where students collaborate on a long-term project with the goal of submitting the final product to festivals and competitions. Although it is the newest program offered, it has already yielded impressive and imaginative work. See for yourself here!

Through this simple to use and creatively freeing software, students are able to think critically about creative problem solving, something that makes teaching especially rewarding for educators at Box of Light.

“At Box of Light, we focus on empowering kids as creators of content, so they are not just consumers of animated movies or shows; they create them, too,” says Jude. “There is also a strong social component to our classes where kids work in groups of 2-3 and build sets, animate and add sound effects. It is incredibly rewarding to see students engaged and critically thinking about their creative process.”

We can’t wait to see how Box of Light Studios continues to implement iStopMotion into their ever-expanding and evolving programs!