SKU: G4 SCRN 001

Screen Machines

Plan and bring illustrated stories to life by building a cardboard scrolling machine.
Grades
K-5th Grade
Activity Time
45-90 min
Prep Time
5-10 min
Concepts
Storytelling

Select the pack size that matches your use case

Learners build

A cardboard scrolling machine that turns a hand-drawn strip into a moving illustrated story.

Learners start by building a screen and scroll mechanism, then draw a story strip that moves through the frame.

From there, they can revise scenes, add longer scrolls, collaborate on shared stories, or retell science, history, and imagination-driven narratives.

Learner-made machines showing different motion experiments

Build

Learners assemble the core design and see how the parts work together.

Test

They try it, notice what happens, and compare the result with their goal.

Redesign

They make changes, add their own ideas, and improve the build through iteration.

Learners explore

Storytelling

Create characters, settings, and moving scenes that tell a story.

Ready to run with learners

Student-facing slides introduce the concepts, guide the activity, and help learners reflect on what changed. Educator materials support setup, pacing, discussion, and extensions so this can work in classrooms, libraries, homeschool groups, clubs, or makerspaces.

View Screen Machines teaching materials
1

Student Slides

Introduce concepts, guide build moments, and give learners reflection prompts.

2

Educator Guide

Setup notes, pacing help, facilitation prompts, and extension ideas.

3

Flexible Facilitation

Works for classrooms, homeschool groups, libraries, clubs, and makerspaces.

What's included

Choose a pack size to see how the component quantities change for one learner, a small group, or a full class.