Flip Books 101

Everyone loves animation! While stop-motion animation is always a popular project, the simple flip book is the perfect introduction to the art of moving pictures. A flip book is a book containing a stack of pictures that change ever so slightly from page to page. When the pages are “flipped”, or turned quickly, the pictures look like they’re moving.

And, as with stop-motion animation, the flip book puts the onus on the artist to tell a comprehensive story. With no written words or audio soundtracks to support the visuals, it’s up to the artist to clearly communicate a sequence of events, making flip books the perfect art project.

Whether you use stacks of paper cut in quarters or a Post-It pad, pencil, pen, or hole punch, flip book projects are also a fun diversion from traditional art lessons. Flip books range from the very simple:

To the very complex:

But the steps are the same, no matter the content. First, have your students start by verbally narrating their ideas, from start to finish. Next, they’ll roughly sketch thumbnails on scratch paper for each frame. Finally, they’ll translate their sketches onto their flip book pages, and flip to test.

Once your students have mastered simple stories, they can start getting creative with more complex and detailed flip books. They can also play with their tools, moving from pencil to markers, paints, or even a hole punch:

Have you tried flip books with your kids? We’d love to see footage of their final results.