Animating the Seasons

When the curtain rose on Smithtown Elementary School’s Winter Art Show, the spotlight wasn’t just on paintings, drawings, and sculptures—it also illuminated the digital stage, where fourth and fifth-grade students created animated stories of their favorite and least favorite winter activities using Adobe Express’s AI-powered animation tool.

This project grew from a collaboration between me (a high-school media art teacher currently on assignment as the district’s K–12 technology integration specialist) and a great colleague, elementary art teacher Erica Lewis-Kerim. Together, we wanted to design an experience that merged creativity, technology, and inclusivity while giving students a platform to express their unique perspectives on winter.

From Brainstorm to Blueprint
We began with a simple question: How can we introduce animation in a way that feels approachable for nine- and ten-year-olds while also ensuring every student’s voice is represented?

Over several days of planning, we mapped out a process that balanced technical training with artistic exploration. We chose Adobe Express because itʼs a free tool that integrates AI and allows any student to create a terrific animation, regardless of skill level. While some educators are hesitant to use AI with students, my perspective as a high-school media teacher was that this project would get students excited about using the tools and make it more likely that theyʼd choose to pursue a media art class in middle or high school.

Introducing the Tools
We invited students to explore the idea of storytelling through animation, introducing the software step by step. Students learned how to generate AI-created backgrounds, select characters, and use their own voices to animate. The voice-driven animation feature was particularly engaging, as students quickly realized they could bring characters to life simply by speaking. Once they understood how the tools worked, they recorded an audio welcome to animate. Students found this especially exciting and wanted to experiment with the tools right away.

The Recording Process
Students began by brainstorming and sketching their favorite winter activities. We then set up a recording area in another classroom, where students recorded their narration in small groups while the rest of the class created van Gogh–inspired winter scenes. Students introduced themselves using their first name only and shared both their favorite and least favorite winter activities.

We worked closely with students who needed accessibility supports, ensuring every child could participate fully. For example, students with speech challenges were paired with peers or used text-to-speech tools to animate.

Sharing Our Stories
Students then added details to their backgrounds and occasionally refined their voice-overs. By the end of the week, every fourth- and fifth-grader had completed an animation that was showcased at the Winter Art Show.
We also edited all the individual animations together into longer class clips and posted the final films to YouTube (see Resource).

Erica Lewis-Kerim’s takeaway from the collaboration was that “students were allowed to express their understanding of how art and technology connect digital fluency and literacy by recording their voices sharing a favorite winter memory with a digital characterʼs animated movements.”

Technology as a Tool for Inclusion
One of our guiding principles was inclusivity—we wanted every student to see themselves reflected in the final exhibition. Adobe Express’s AI features helped make this possible. Students who might struggle with drawing could still design imaginative backgrounds using AI prompts. Those with limited mobility could animate characters through voice alone. By scaffolding the process and offering multiple entry points, we ensured that the project was creative as well as equitable.

The Art of Storytelling
While the technology was exciting, the heart of the project remained artistic expression. Students weren’t just learning how to use software, they were learning how to tell visual stories. Some chose humor, depicting moments like sledding with friends and getting snow in their boots, while others leaned into cozy family traditions, such as drinking hot chocolate and watching movies with their siblings. The juxtaposition of favorite and least favorite activities gave the animations a playful honesty that resonated with students, teachers, and parents alike at the art show.