Make Your Own Claymation Video

What can we use if we don't have clay or a cardboard base?

If air-dry clay isn't available, substitute Play-Doh, rolled-up aluminum foil covered with masking tape, or small toy characters for the sculpted figures and use a stiff cereal box, foam board, or a hardcover book instead of the cardboard base.

My characters keep falling over or the photos are blurry—what should I check?

Make sure you follow the step to tape small props down and press characters gently into the cardboard (or substitute base), put the set on a steady table and steady your device with a stack of books or a stand, take the test photo to check focus, and use a timer or remote shutter so you don't move the camera while taking each frame.

How can we change the activity for different ages?

For younger children simplify the story to two boxes and use larger Play-Doh figures and bigger moves with fewer frames, while older kids can keep the three-box storyboard, sculpt finer details like eyes or hats, and make tinier movements for smoother animation.

What are some ways to make the claymation more polished or unique?

Enhance the project by adding a colored paper backdrop with LED or diffused lamp backlighting, inserting thin wire armatures into clay characters for better poses, importing the photos into the stop-motion app to layer recorded sound effects and dialogue, and export the finished video to share on DIY.org with a custom title card.