Action Shapes

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These poseable, personalized action figures are great for setting up easy puppet theatre-style plays or making a stop motion animation movie! Learn more below!

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Each Action Shape comes in separate parts laid onto sheets. Before popping out all the pieces, ask students to identify the different parts of the body and label them if possible. That way you can keep track of where each piece attaches. The Action Shapes are great for teaching students about proportions, poses or turning projects into All About Me activities!

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Help students orient their Action Shape person according to proper proportions.

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As they are putting their figures together, they can start coloring in details. Use markers, crayons or pencil crayons.

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Make sure to completely cover the Action Shapes body with color!

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The pieces attach together with small fins and slots to keep the fins in place.

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Simply pinch the fins together, and slide them through the slots.

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Fan out the fins to keep the attachments in place.

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This Action Shape was completely colored in before assembly, so the attachments appear seamless!

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Now strike a pose!

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We even had some of the campers pose in our makeshift puppet theatre!

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Everyone else got in on the fun too! To make a stop-motion animation, first think about the kind of action you want your character to perform. This is a great chance for you to discuss the different types of action words or verbs with your students. You can have your students pick one action verb to illustrate through their stop motion video.

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Stop motion animation is made up of multiple single frames or “shots.” These shots are strung together to make up a video. The best way to achieve this is to set up any standard camera you own to take a shot every time your students adjust the poses of their Action Shapes people. Once the action is complete, upload your pictures to your computer. Use software that can easily convert your pictures into a GIF animation or equivalent.

Here’s a look at what we made with stop-motion animation!

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She kicks, she scores!

Your students will have lots of fun preparing their own stop-motion animations. For the background, use a large sheet of Bristol board or have your students create their own backgrounds with sheets of paper and markers or crayons!

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