Activity

Filmmaking

Filmmaking is the idea that the pictures children watch are made by someone: a person points a camera, decides what happens, and puts the parts in order. For young children this is a first look behind the curtain, and it turns watching into something they can do too. A calm, well made story about it gives them a camera in their own hands, at least in their imagination.

For 4-year-olds

At four, a child is mostly discovering that a camera is a thing you hold and point, and that what it catches can be watched again later. Pretend play is already full of this: dressing up, giving each other parts, saying what happens next. Look for a story that keeps the making visible and simple, one camera, one clear plan, one small film that gets finished. Repeated steps help, because the fun is in recognising the process, not in following a complicated production.

S01 E01

Simon

Merry Christmas

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 3

Rabbit brothers Simon and Gaspard help their parents decorate the Christmas tree and then go to bed waiting for Father Christmas. Worried that the heavy snow will stop the reindeer from finding their house, Simon comes up with a plan and the two brothers slip outside to turn Daddy's Christmas lights into a 'landing strip' in the garden. Father Christmas arrives, lands neatly on their improvised runway and delivers presents. The episode ends with Daddy discovering that all his outdoor lights have vanished and being sent to look outside.

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For 5-year-olds

By five, a child can hold a plan in mind: first this scene, then that one, and an ending that follows from the beginning. Filmmaking becomes a way to practise sequence and to see that other people can be given a job, a role, a line to say. Look for a story where things go wrong and get solved on the spot, since that is where the real thinking happens. Some room to talk about what is real and what is acted is a bonus at this age.

S02 E03

Rosie's Rules

Lights, Camera, Rosie

Balanced

recommended age co-watching from 2

Rosie Fuentes decides to make her own movie at home and takes on the role of director. She casts her younger brother as the camera operator and the family cat in a costumed part, then acts out a pretend detective story with hats, glasses and a treasure prop. When takes do not go to plan, Rosie keeps adjusting her ideas until the film is finished. The episode ends with the family watching the completed movie together on their TV.

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