Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

Have Fun Making a Stop-Animation Movie with Your Kid!

Ever find yourself at a loss on how to fill up a few hours with a kid? If you’re a parent, the answer is “OF COURSE I DO.”

Some days, the clock laughs because it’s only 1:00pm and we’ve been to the playground, we’ve eaten lunch, we’ve played with Legos, and OMG now what?!

Over the past seven years, I’ve had a lot of those “now what?” moments.

Enter stop-animation videos. I’m far from expert at video editing, picture taking, or anything crafty, really, but this was fun. Tucker and I were contacted asking whether we’d like to participate in the Goldfish Smiles  challenge: Create a stop-animation film using Goldfish crackers (Pepperidge Farm).

(THIS BLOG POST IS SPONSORED BY GOLDFISH/PEPPERIDGE FARM but all words and the video we made are my own)

We didn’t hesitate to say yes, because we LOVE Goldfish. They’re tasty, they don’t have artificial flavors or preservatives, and hey – they smile at you. What food smiles at you? Goldfish!

Having Fun Making a Stop-Animation Movie

Making a stop-animation video was both easier and more difficult than I’d realized. The hardest part is probably finding a way to keep your phone or iPad in place while you move the objects around the scene.

We had a few stop-animation fails, where I realized that the angle of the photo was changing each time, but finally, I rigged up a business card holder to the table for the 3D scenes, and used a file holder for the final one looking down.

Also, we moved the dining room table to the wall to create our scenes, and then, um, wait, where to have dinner?

We figured it out but wow, did Tucker laugh when he saw me eating breakfast at his baby table the next day!

Tucker and I took about 600 photos, but cut them down and the final film has 254 frames. I edited it in iMovie, and added two “holds,” some music, voice-overs and fading between scenes.

We wanted to make a movie about inclusion and kindness, and trust me – the movie in my head was MUCH better than the one we ended up submitting, but, like I said, we had FUN, and bonded over moving (and eating) tiny crackers around for an entire Sunday afternoon.

I think we lost some of the details in the speed… things like that the greens and reds and oranges and yellows were playing separately:

Here’s our official description:

Using multi-colored Goldfish, we find peace in unity. The movie starts out where the orange, green, red, and yellow fish are all playing separately. The orange fish over by the rock kicks his ball near the red and green fish. All of the fish see them migrating toward the ball and take a look. A visitor from outer-space descends to remind them they’re all the same on the inside.

So they migrate to form PEACE, and then are eaten by a seven-year-old who declares that they all taste the same: delicious!

The theme was easier to figure out when the video was longer, but the contest mandates that entries are less than 60-seconds, so here’s what we ended up with. Tell us what you think?

I know we’ll make more stop-animation movies in the future because what a fun way to spend an afternoon, so tips, tricks, and feedback is welcome!


  • Emily - Fantastic! I’m very impressed…I don’t think I could figure out how to do this in one afternoon…probably would take me a month! Great job and love the theme!!February 28, 2017 – 9:56 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Thank you Emily! It was really fun. They had some tutorials on their site that helped and honestly, it’s pretty easy (the hardest part was finding a way to keep my phone in one spot so the angle stayed the same on the scene. We also bumped the swing set a bunch of times so had to re-position it. But pretty easy – just time consuming (Tucker got bored a few times).February 28, 2017 – 7:47 pmReplyCancel

  • Lisa @ The Meaning of Me - I love this! And you guys! What a cool thing to do. You know I am not very tech savvy or crafty or patient so I wouldn’t even know where to start. But I know Zilla would love this so I’m putting it in the “cool stuff we can do” list.February 28, 2017 – 10:39 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Lisa, it’s actually pretty easy, just super-time consuming. We went to Michael’s and then had to scour the basement for some other supplies. Also, like I wrote, we moved the table over to the wall to hang up the backdrop. Keep the phone in the same spot was the hardest but I rigged up a little holder for the table and then for the peace sign, I used a file folder thing (metal) and put the lens between the metal. We messed it up a few times but it was fun. 🙂February 28, 2017 – 8:25 pmReplyCancel

  • Echo - Cutest thing EVER! I love Tucker’s voice and I love the message the little video sends! Good job, you two!!!February 28, 2017 – 10:48 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Thanks, Echo!! Wish I had some whiskey in a jar to celebrate but I’ll go with Look to the Sky (and see a stickbot alien with a message LOL).February 28, 2017 – 8:31 pmReplyCancel

  • Linda Atwell - That was soooo cute! You did an incredible job!February 28, 2017 – 1:11 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Aw shucks, Linda! Thank you! We had fun. Made a mess. All good for a rainy weekend afternoon, I think!February 28, 2017 – 8:35 pmReplyCancel

  • Lydia - Awesome!!!!February 28, 2017 – 2:57 pmReplyCancel

  • Dana - Best short film I’ve ever seen! What a fun project to do with Tucker – a great message and a yummy snack. Well done, you two!February 28, 2017 – 5:03 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Thanks Dana! I’m sure when we do another one that we’ll realized all that we did wrong with this one – we had almost 600 photos and it’s less than 250 now but it was fun!!!February 28, 2017 – 8:40 pmReplyCancel

  • Jason Milller - I really like this a lot! I’m thinking I could use it in therapy for some of my older kids. Multi-steps, directions, so much! Great idea!March 1, 2017 – 8:22 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Oh the kids would love it! My son is 7-1/2 and admittedly got bored a few times but he loved helping me set the scenes, figure out the story, and making me laugh with his silly ideas. We really did have a blast. Let me know if you decide to try it!March 2, 2017 – 7:52 pmReplyCancel

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