Powtoon
is an animation video making resource. It is free, up to a certain point of storage space. Certainly there is enough space, even with the free version, for teachers to try it out and see how useful it is to their class. The animations are created along the same lines as slides in well-known presentation software. The advantage is that it is easily available on mobile devices. The instructions are good but it is also pretty self-explanatory.
The animations are made in three sections. See the image to the right for explantation, 1, write the script, 2, add the voice over and finally 3, add the images. Teachers can upload their own images or choose some from a very limited free bank of resources. As the concentration is on story writing, it may be best not to mention images or voice overs at all! It works very well just making slides which then run as the animation:
The company is running a competition right now and the prize is free access for a year for your school:
“Powtoon is adopting a school or university for the ‘18-19 school year — giving away Classroom Elite for every teacher and administrator in their school.
**Tip: Tell us how Powtoon can make your school more awesome
If however you like it and decide to pay for a professional subscription, it is possible to build much more interesting animations see the following alphabet video which could be used in the Foundations Stage: