Volunteering with animation workshop

After a two-year break, we finally had a new animation workshop with children. We are more focused on animation production nowadays, but we were happy about this invite. We love the Yuppi Camp and we were happy to get back to the ring for this special occasion.

The Yuppi Camp started in 2011 with an amazing group of young volunteers. They created a therapy camp for children with chronic and serious illnesses. Filled with fun, therapeutic, challenging activities and also games. 

We were planning a week ahead to work out the details of the workshop. What technique we will use, and which themes will we build around the activity. How many members will be in a group to work efficiently, and to have a great experience. We wanted to give them room to explore and let their creativity take over. And at the same time offering a structure that guides them.

We arrived at the camp earlier to have time for the setup and prepared all the tools. Although it was a slow, rainy day the children were active and enthusiastic. We had two sets of four groups and used magnets and legos to create animation with stop motion technique. The younger created more story-based animation and the older incorporated stop tricks too.

First, they had a short introduction to stop motion animation from our founder Réka. Followed by a Q&A about their previous experience. They were eager to jump to the animation tables, so they divided into groups, guided by our team members.

The group activities started with brainstorming, based on the chosen techniques and tools. They came to a common idea relatively quickly and we helped them how they can realize that. Appointing the roles went smoothly and they worked well in groups. During the activity we made sure that everyone got their turn to try move the objects, take photos, or direct.

This workshop was a great experience for us too. We were delighted to hear the kids’ creative ideas and witness their freedom of expression, as well as their capability to work together. The cherry on top was the final screening in front of the whole camp. It was amazing to see how proud they were of the results and to hear their happy giggles and the pleased storm of applause.

Text: Vicsi Judith

Photos: Yuppi Camp