Artistic Action and Stop Motion Animation for Preschool Children in the Particular Context of the Summer Camps Organized by the Athens Open Schools Institution: A Case Study

Abstract

In the last few decades, workshop animation has greatly contributed to the artistic expression of preschool children. The ways of development and the methods that are used each time in a workshop vary depending on the case. In this study, it is particularly interesting to note that at this specific workshop animation, 50 children of different ages and nationalities, from different regions of Athens participated during the summer. The reactions of 25 children aged 5 to 6 years and the way of working with older children were taken into consideration and examined. This action took place within the Open Schools programs, an institution that offers free creative participation to children who, due to financial problems because of the economic crisis, were unable to leave Athens in the summer and/or pay similar private institutions. Despite the exceptionally difficult circumstances preschool children were able to follow the stop motion animation process they played, had fun and created their own movie.