The NARS Foundation puts teaching artist Maya Perry in a Sunset Park Library room and walks kids six to fourteen through how still images turn into motion, from thaumatropes and flipbooks to clay stop-motion. It's a real skills series rather than a craft table: storyboarding, persistence of vision, animating with everyday objects. Materials are supplied and it's free, which makes it one of the best-value kids' programs in Brooklyn.
What to expect
Sessions run in the library's multipurpose room with materials laid out and Maya Perry leading from the front. Kids work through an animation technique per session, from building a flipbook to storyboarding an idea to animating with clay or fabric, and leave with something that moves. It's hands-on the whole ninety minutes rather than lecture-first.
Good to know
- Open to children ages six and up; the series is pitched at six to fourteen.
- All materials are provided free by the NARS Foundation, so bring nothing.
- It runs in the Sunset Park Library multipurpose room on Fourth Avenue.
- The R train to 53rd Street and the D to Ninth Avenue are both a short walk.
- It's a series, so each session builds on the last, but drop-ins still get a full project.
- Registration through the library listing is worth doing, since room space is finite.
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Common questions
Who runs the workshop?
Teaching artist Maya Perry leads it for the NARS Foundation, in partnership with Sunset Park Library and supported by Con Edison and City Council District 38.
What ages can attend?
Children should be at least six years old; the series is designed for ages six to fourteen.
Does it cost anything?
No. The workshop is free and the NARS Foundation supplies all materials.
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