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Animation

Scouts BSA · Merit Badge · Arts

Printable worksheet (PDF)

Animation brings drawings, clay, and objects to life one frame at a time. This badge teaches you the ideas animators use to make movement feel real and lets you make your own short animations. All you need is patience, imagination, and a phone, tablet, or flip book to start.

Why it's worth it

Every cartoon, video game character, and movie dragon starts with someone figuring out how to make a still image feel alive. Animation teaches you the tricks pros use, like squash and stretch and timing, and has you make your own short animations with whatever you have: paper, clay, LEGO bricks, or a free app. Animators work in films, games, ads, science, and medicine, and the patience you build doing it frame by frame helps with any big project.

Start this week

  1. Grab a sticky-note pad and draw a bouncing ball across 20 pages, then flip it and watch it move.
  2. Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Animation counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
  3. Watch a favorite animated scene at slow speed and notice how many drawings or poses it takes for one jump or step.
  4. With a parent, find a free stop-motion or drawing app for a phone, tablet, or computer you already have access to.

Requirements · 5

Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).

  1. Requirement 1

    General knowledge

    Tips for this section: Watch a few old and new cartoons back to back and notice how the style and smoothness have changed over time.

    Example for this section: Make a quick history strip of five moments: early flip books and the zoetrope, the first cartoons with sound, hand-drawn feature films, the first fully computer-animated feature film in 1995, and today's video games. Add one sentence on what each made possible.

    1. Requirement 1a

      Tell your counselor, in your own words, what animation is

    2. Requirement 1b

      Discuss a short history of animation with your counselor

  2. Requirement 2

    Pick five of the 12 animation principles and explain how each makes animation more convincing: anticipation; appeal; arcs; exaggeration; follow through and overlapping action; secondary action; slow in and slow out; solid drawing; squash and stretch; staging; straight ahead and pose to pose; timing

    Tip: Pick five principles and find an example of each in a favorite movie. Pause and replay scenes to really see them.

    For example: For each of five principles, find a clip: squash and stretch (a ball flattening when it lands), anticipation (a character crouching before a jump), follow-through (hair still moving after a stop), slow in and slow out, and exaggeration.

  3. Requirement 3

    Projects in two different techniques

    Tips for this section: Try a simple flip book and a stop-motion clip with toys or clay. Free stop-motion apps on a phone or tablet work well.

    Example for this section: Project one could be a 5-second flip book of a ball bouncing over a fence. Project two could be a stop-motion clip of a clay snail crossing a desk, shot at 12 frames per second, with the camera taped down so it doesn't wobble.

    1. Requirement 3a

      First technique

      1. Requirement 3a1

        With counselor approval of your first technique, plan the animation with thumbnail sketches and/or layout drawings, on paper or in animation software

      2. Requirement 3a2

        Make the animation

      3. Requirement 3a3

        Show it to your counselor, explain how you made it, and discuss how it could be improved

    2. Requirement 3b

      Second technique

      1. Requirement 3b1

        With counselor approval of a second, different technique, plan the animation with thumbnail sketches and/or layout drawings

      2. Requirement 3b2

        Make the animation

      3. Requirement 3b3

        Show it to your counselor, explain how you made it, and discuss how it could be improved

  4. Requirement 4

    Animation in our world

    Tips for this section: Ask your counselor about nearby studios, game companies, or ad agencies. Think about how animation is used in ads, games, medicine, and education.

    Example for this section: After a tour, talk about uses beyond entertainment: animated diagrams that show surgeons how a procedure works, weather maps on the news, safety videos at work, and lessons that show how a cell divides.

    1. Requirement 4a

      Tour an animation studio or a business that uses animation, in person, by video, or online, and share what you learned with your counselor

    2. Requirement 4b

      Discuss with your counselor how animation might make your life more fun and productive in the future

  5. Requirement 5

    Learn about three animation careers; pick one, find out its education, training, and experience needs, discuss it with your counselor, and explain why it might interest you

    Tip: Look into roles like storyboard artist, character animator, or visual effects artist, and what skills each needs.

Places to visit

Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.

  • An animation, game, or visual effects studio

    You can see storyboards, character models, and artists at work, and ask how a team turns an idea into a finished scene.

    How: Ask your counselor or a parent to contact the studio and request a short tour for a Scout and a buddy or parent. Smaller studios are often happy to help.

  • A college or high school digital media program

    Students and teachers can show you the software and equipment, and a student showcase lets you see work from people just a few years older.

    How: An adult contacts the program and asks about tours, open houses, or end-of-year showcases open to the public.

Where it can lead

  • Character animatorBrings characters to life in films, shows, and games by planning every movement.
  • Storyboard artistSketches each shot of a story before animation starts, like a comic strip for the film.
  • Game artistCreates characters, worlds, and effects for video games.
  • Motion graphics designerAnimates logos, titles, and explainer videos for ads, news, and websites.
  • Medical or science animatorTurns complex processes, like how a heart valve works, into clear animations.

Ask yourself

  • What animated film, show, or game made you want to try this, and what about it stuck with you?
  • Which principle of animation was hardest to get right in your own work?
  • How did it feel to spend an hour on just a few seconds of movement?
  • What would you change if you made your project again?
  • What kind of story would you want to tell with animation someday?

Good questions to ask an animator or game artist

  • How did you learn to animate, and what did your first projects look like?
  • What does a project go through from idea to finished scene?
  • Which principle of animation do beginners usually get wrong?
  • What tools do you use every day, and which could I try for free?
  • What should I put in a portfolio if I want to study animation?

Helpful reads

For leaders & parents

  • Host a stop-motion night where patrols each create a short scene and share them at the end.
  • Help scouts find a local animator, game developer, or school media teacher to talk with.

People & places that can help

Pairs well with

Into this? Explore more

Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.