For the past 12 years, the Animation and Graphic Design class at GlenOak High School has worked with elementary school kids in Plain Local to design and create plushie toys.
“I was working with kids in a summer program and they were free drawing characters and talking about the different characteristics and personalities. I thought… wouldn’t it be fun to bring these creations to life?” teachersaid.
When the class started the tradition, it was more simplistic and there were fewer methods that they used to create the plushies. Now they have multiple creative ways to bring the kids’ ideas to life. The process of creating the plushies takes a few steps. First, the junior class visits the students and helps them design what they want.
“Me and the two kids I was working with just helped sketch it out, thought of some ideas, and just put together a random character,” junior Animation and Graphic Design student Matt Young said.
The next step taken to make the plushies was to find the materials they needed to replicate the plushie design. Young used fabric, some 3D credit items, pipe cleaners and super glue.
After that, the next step was to make the character look as good as possible.
“The students have visited the classroom of Mrs. Shrock at Warstler Elementary. They lead a discussion about character design, character traits and personalities. The fourth-grade students are then encouraged to make up a character and give it a personality and different powers or abilities,” Patterson said. “Together with the high school students, they came up with a design for a character. When students returned to class, they talked about the designs, looked at the available materials and decided how to craft the character. They then created patterns, 3D models, accessories and packaging for the characters.”
This act of kindness for the kids takes a lot of time, but Animation and Graphic Design students feel very accomplished once it is all done. While it took a while to finish the designs of the plushies, it felt very rewarding to finally give them to the students.
“[It took] Two to four days, because we wanted to make the kids feel happy and give them their own unique toy plushie. I felt like it would make them feel special,” Young said. “Overall, it just felt really nice to do.”
The fourth graders have been very happy with the plushies they have received from the Animation and Graphic Design team. They have been excited to see them for a while.
“Students are usually very excited to see their drawings come to life. I have had a few students from the class come to visit me as a high school student and tell me how they remembered this lesson and still have the toy they were gifted with,” Patterson said.
Overall, the Animation and Graphic Design class has done a great job of helping the elementary school kids’ ideas come to life. By making them the plushies, not only have they been educating the children, but they’ve also been nurturing their creativity and allowing them to have it physically.
