The Teachers' Animation Toolkit

24
The Teachers’ Animation Toolkit
HANDOUT: HOW TO MAKE A SPINDLE VIEWER 
(PHENAKISTOSCOPE)
Cut out the template and stick it to a piece of card. Think about 
drawing one shape that moves around, turns, stretches or grows. 
Working with colour can be very effective. You can also work with 
three different shapes. One at the outside of the wheel, one in the 
middle section and one on the inside. How about a bird fl ying, a 
walk cycle, a horse, cat or other animal walk?
When you have drawn your sequence of images, cut out the slits 
with scissors or a sharp knife. Paint the opposite side black. Make 
a spindle with a sharp pencil, pushed into the axis, black side facing 
you. Spin the phenakistoscope in front of a mirror, looking through 
the slits.
If you prefer not to draw, try a photo-based face animation. Use 
a digital camera, tripod and the photo printing wizard. (Most 
economical is to choose contact sheet prints or wallet prints.) Set up 
a camera on a tripod. Once set up it should stay still.
You can use your own face, and make a sequence from sad to 
happy to sad. Keep in mind it must take 10 or 12 pictures to cycle
back to where you started.

---

Getting Started
25
WORKSHEET: MAKING AN ANIMATION 
WHEEL (ZOETROPE)
Teachers’ note:
Originally called the ‘Wheel of the Devil’, the zoetrope or animation 
wheel is a moving image machine that was invented in the 1830s. 
In the 1860s, it was manufactured and marketed to the public. It 
was then that it was given the name zoetrope, from the Greek zoa 
(living things) and trope (turning). Zoetropes were extremely popular 
forms of entertainment for both children and adults in the Victorian 
era. Long slits of paper with sequential drawings are placed inside 
the cylinder and spun while looking through the slit. These started 
selling in 1867 in the USA as toys. The cylinder is cut with a vertical 
slit at equal intervals. Beneath the slits, inside the cylinder, is a strip 
with frames of slightly differently positioned images–for example 
a person waling. Spin the cylinder, look through the slits and see 
the illusion of movement. The earliest zoetrope was made in China 
around 180 AD by Ting Huan and was driven by convection and 
hung over a lamp. The rising air turned vanes at the top of the 
device and see-through paper was hung with pictures on them. The 
images appeared to move.
The class can make a zoetrope wheel from scratch using one of 
the worksheets listed in the links below. Alternatively, you can buy 
classroom-friendly zoetrope kits from the listed supplier.
When the class is drawing their strips to place inside the wheel, 
help them choose simple transformations or moving fi gures that are 
within their abilities. You can offer the same advice contained in the 
handout for the spindle viewer.