Best Animation Apps & Courses for Kids in 2026

🎬

Animation is where art meets storytelling meets patience — and kids adore it. The good news: your child can make their first animated short today with a free app. The better news: if they get serious, there are structured courses that teach real animation craft. Here’s our guide.

⭐ OUR TOP PICK

🎞️Bloop Animation — Teaching Animation

Best for ages 6–14 (with a parent/teacher) • One-time purchase

Bloop Animation’s Teaching Animation course is built specifically for parents and teachers introducing kids to animation. 70+ lessons split into two tracks (ages 6–10 and 11+), covering stop-motion, hand-drawn and 2D digital animation — with complete lesson plans, activities and downloadable materials. It’s the closest thing to having an animation teacher at home.

✅ Pros: real curriculum by professional animators, two age tracks, one-time price with lifetime access, 30-day guarantee.

⚠️ Cons: designed for an adult to guide the sessions.

✏️Best Free Drawing App: FlipaClip

Best for ages 9+ • Free (premium optional)

FlipaClip is a digital flipbook: kids draw frame by frame with onion-skinning, just like real 2D animators. It’s the app behind millions of teen animations on YouTube and TikTok — simple to start, deep enough to grow into.

✅ Pros: free, authentic frame-by-frame animation, works on any tablet/phone.

⚠️ Cons: no lessons — kids learn by doing (or from YouTube tutorials).

🧸Best for Stop-Motion: Stop Motion Studio

Best for ages 7+ • Free (Pro one-time)

Turn LEGO bricks, clay figures or toys into movie stars. Stop Motion Studio makes claymation-style filming genuinely easy: point the tablet, tap to capture, move the figure, repeat. Wonderfully screen-light — most of the creativity happens with physical toys.

✅ Pros: uses toys kids already own, very intuitive, cheap Pro upgrade.

⚠️ Cons: needs a stand/tripod for best results.

🎭Best for Younger Kids: Toontastic 3D

Best for ages 5–9 • 100% free

Google’s free storytelling app lets kids move 3D characters around like digital puppets while recording their voice. It’s really about story structure (setup, conflict, resolution) more than animation technique — perfect as a first taste.

✅ Pros: free, no ads or purchases, great for storytelling.

⚠️ Cons: limited technique; kids outgrow it.

🎨Best for Serious Young Artists: Procreate Dreams

Best for ages 11+ • One-time purchase (iPad only)

For a tween who’s outgrown FlipaClip, Procreate Dreams brings professional-grade 2D animation to the iPad at a one-time price — a real creative tool they won’t outgrow in high school.

✅ Pros: professional capability, no subscription.

⚠️ Cons: iPad only; steeper learning curve.

Quick Comparison

Tool	Ages	Price	Type	Best for
Bloop Teaching Animation ⭐	6–14	One-time	Full course	Structured learning at home/school
FlipaClip	9+	Free	2D drawing app	Self-taught doodlers
Stop Motion Studio	7+	Free / cheap Pro	Stop-motion app	Hands-on kids, LEGO fans
Toontastic 3D	5–9	Free	Storytelling app	First-timers
Procreate Dreams	11+	One-time	Pro 2D app	Serious young artists

🎯 The Bottom Line

Let your child play free first: Toontastic (under 9) or FlipaClip / Stop Motion Studio (9+). When they’re hooked and want to get good, the Bloop Teaching Animation course is the best structured path we’ve found.

Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — it never affects our rankings.

More guides: all our recommendations • coding websites • robotics kits • YouTube courses

Share the site with friends

Yonit Riss

The content on this site was created by Yonit Riss, who holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and mathematics, a master's degree in mathematics, and a master's degree in linguistic editing — all from Ben Gurion University, Israel. She has 6 years of experience as an outstanding practitioner teaching undergraduate Calculus courses at the university. As a mother of two, Yonit is passionate about making multiplication tables fun and accessible for every child.