Moviemakers! Walt Disney’s Birthday

Walt Disney, born on December 5th, 1901, is an influential figure in the history of entertainment and animation. His legacy includes the creation of beloved characters such as Mickey Mouse, the founding of Disney Studios, and the development of Disneyland and Disney World theme parks. Celebrating Walt Disney’s birthday in the classroom offers a fun way to explore creativity, storytelling, and the impact of animation on popular culture.

Lesson ideas could include a storytelling workshop, where students create their own cartoon characters and write short stories or comic strips.  Exploring Disney’s artistic achievements, teachers can introduce students to the basics of animation by using simple flipbooks or digital tools to create short animations.

For younger students, a fun activity might be a Disney character dress-up day or a screening of classic Disney films followed by a conversation about the moral lessons in these stories. Teachers could also dive into the history of animation, showing how Disney’s innovations changed the industry and paved the way for modern animation techniques.

Check out the Moviemakers activity ideas on Teachers’ Corner to explore the principles of moviemaking and animation.

Moviemakers: Make a Wonder Turner

Moviemakers: Using a stop motion app

Moviemakers: Papermation

Moviemakers: Create a movie set to scale using Canva