Have you ever wondered how animation works? Or wanted to learn more about the art of visual storytelling? Watch our Animation Basics video series and follow your curiosity. For a great introduction to the series — plus some creative animation projects to try with kids — start with these 5 TED-Ed Lessons:

1. Animation Basics: The optical illusion of motion

How do animators make still images come to life? Are the images really moving, or are they merely an optical illusion? TED-Ed takes you behind the scenes to reveal the secret of motion in movies. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson below.

2. Animation Basics: The art of timing and spacing

Expert timing and spacing is what separates a slide show from a truly amazing animation. TED-Ed demonstrates, by manipulating various bouncing balls, how the smallest adjustments from frame to frame can make all the difference. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson below.

3. Animation Basics: Visual storytelling in action

How can animation convey complex, intangible concepts? A visual metaphor, or an idea represented through imagery, can take an idea as massive as Big Data and tie it to the familiar depiction of a growing tree. TED-Ed animators explain how to make an abstract idea come alive visually. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson below.

4. Create a pop-up book…and then bring it to life

In ‘The Pangaea Pop-up’ Lesson, animator Biljana Labovic decided the best way to illustrate moving, shifting tectonic plates was to use a physical object that could also move and shift. Here, Labovic explains how she and her team of animators created a pop-up book to visualize Pangaea — and how you can make your own. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson below.

5. Make homemade special effects

Animation is used everywhere to communicate big ideas — in movies, television, and media. Here, TED-Ed animators show just how easy (and fun) homemade special effects can be. Watch this TED-Ed Lesson below.

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