Kids create cartoons at MCPL 'Maker Days'

The loud, slightly eerie sound of a wind-up toy in motion filled the room.

Before the plastic gears of a small horse slowed down and the animal stopped moving, nine-year-old Naomi Charlesworth snapped several pictures of it with a camera on the computer in front of her.

“Smart thinking,” her father said. “That makes shooting a little easier.”

Her dad, Steve Charlesworth, is co-founder of an experimental project space called Bloominglabs.

Charlesworth and two colleagues from the laboratory assisted kids in making their own stop-motion films Tuesday night at the Monroe County Public Library in “Let’s Animate,” one of 10 parts of a summer workshop campaign called “Maker Days.”

Fourteen desktop computers, two to a table, lined the room.

They were all occupied as first-time filmmakers tiptoed dinosaurs, dolls and animals in front of the on-screen cameras, recording them shot by shot.

The dozens of frames taken would be spliced together to make a short stop-motion film that the kids could download and take home.

“Getting to know how a film is made will help my daughter with her projects at home,” Kelly Shelburn, a mother who brought her nine-year-old, said. “We found a camera at home and she wants to make movies.”

The kids invited to participate were in the fourth through eighth grades.

Shelburn, whose daughter will be entering fifth grade at University Elementary in the fall, said kids this young have no problem understanding basic technology.

Her daughter has an Android phone.

She knows how to utilize apps and navigate online, where she visits sites like PBSKids and American Girl.

“We’re a techy family,” Shelburn said while waving an iPad.

She said programs like Study Island, an educational software that’s used in Indiana as an ISTEP prepping tool, have helped her children get acquainted with technology.

“It seems unlikely, but they really are capable,” she said. “This is a chance for kids with an interest for technology to exercise it creatively.”

Jenette Tillotson, one of the presenters from Bloominglabs, said she agreed.
“I have to explain more to adults,” Tillotson said. “Kids just go with the flow and try things out. Adults are more hesitant.”

MonkeyJam, the program used during the workshop, was something Tillotson found online.

While it’s an uncomplicated, kid-user-friendly program, Tillotson said she chose MonkeyJam to be a chance for exploration rather than one for learning specific skills.

“The program is just good roaming ground for kids to see how interactive software works,” she said. “They learn by playing around with it, not by us giving them step by step instruction and expecting them to memorize it.”

MCPL is planning renovations in which a new “Digital Creativity Center” will be made.
Children’s Service Manager Josh Wolf said kids who enjoyed Tuesday’s workshop would find a haven in the new center.

He said to think of it as turning a grocery store into a kitchen.

“Instead of coming to the library and picking things up to take home, we want kids to be able to make things here,” Wolf said.

Until then, workshops will be where kids can continue to get their fix.

But even the workshops come at an expense.

Wolf said there’s only enough in the budget to cover staff time during a workshop.

Beyond that, they’re covered only by a book sale that Friends of the Library holds three days a week.

Presenters don’t get paid much, but Wolf said passionate groups are willing to help for free.

Bloominglabs’ team was one of these generous groups.

“When it’s done just for the love of it, it’s so much better,” Wolf said. “They’re usually the best at what they do, and they have more fun.”