The Teachers' Animation Toolkit

Materials:
Paper, pencil, scissors, strings and white cardboard
Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaumatrope

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22
The Teachers’ Animation Toolkit
HANDOUT: HOW TO MAKE A SPINNING CARD 
(THAUMATROPE)
Making a ‘fi sh tank’ spinning card
Cut out a circle out of a 
white card
Draw a picture of a fi sh on 
one side
Flip the circle over and 
draw the fi sh tank on 
the other side.
This drawing should be 
upside down
Pierce one hole in each 
side of the circle
Push a short length of 
string through each hole 
and double it up.
Twist the strings, then 
spin the image.
Drawings of a fi sh and a bowl
A spinning card spinning

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Getting Started
23
WORKSHEET: MAKE A SPINDLE VIEWER 
(PHENAKISTOSCOPE)
Teachers’ note:
In 1832, Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau and his sons introduced 
the phenakistoscope (‘spindle viewer’). Plateau’s invention was a fl at 
disk perforated with evenly spaced slots. Figures were drawn around 
the edges, depicting successive movements. A stick attached to the 
back allowed the disk to be held at eye level in front of a mirror. The 
viewer then spun the disk and watched the refl ection of the fi gures 
pass through the slits, once again giving the illusion of movement.
Circulate the following handout and/or explain the process to the class.
Download and print one of the two templates in the resources 
section for each student to work with.
The resources section includes links to pages of image sequences and 
a book to help students with their drawing and analysis of movement.
Materials:
Card, scissors, ruler, mirror, black paint, glue, pencil, template (see 
below)
Resources:
Spindle Viewer template:
Phenakistoscope:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenakistoscope
http://courses.ncssm.edu/gallery/collections/toys/html/exhibit07.htm
Eadweard Muybridge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eadweard_Muybridge
Thomas Edison, Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wnOpDWSbyw
Picturing Time: Work of Etienne-Jules Marey (1830–1904),
 
Paperback
Available on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Picturing-Time-
Etienne-Jules-Marey-1830–1904/dp/0226071758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=U
TF8&qid=1289473328&sr=8–1

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