Creative Classrooms
Museum-School Partnership Program Application
Creative Classrooms is The Walt Disney Family Museum’s local school partnership program, giving San Francisco Bay Area students an opportunity for educational initiatives at their school during the 2023–24 school year. This program is designed to inspire learning, creativity, and innovation across the curricula through inquiry-based, hands-on activities related to the life of Walt Disney and the art of animation taught by our museum’s Education team.
Creative Classrooms is comprised of a maximum of eight visits to the school and one field trip to the museum. The museum provides all transportation, curriculum, and art supplies.
If you would like to apply to be a part of our Creative Classrooms program, please fill out an application by August 25, 2023. Applications should be returned by email to education@wdfmuseum.org.
Virtual and On-site School Experiences
Our Virtual and On-site Workshop offerings are activity-based and available in either a one- or two-hour class. The two-hour session is more comprehensive and allows students more time to work on their projects.
Virtual Workshops will occur online through Zoom. Students are required to have an internet connection, camera, and microphone in order to communicate with the class.
Cost: $10 per student, $12 per teacher
Descriptions of these classes are as follows:
Grades 6‑12
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Students will learn and reflect on the tasks of Imagineers, who worked under Walt at WED Enterprises during the 1950s and 60s to imagine, research, design, and build some of Disney’s most iconic and revolutionary projects and park attractions. In this hands-on workshop, students will apply these concepts to collaboratively build a prototype ride, and creatively problem-solve challenges that may arise.
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 1‑3
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Before flips books, stop-motion films, and computer animated movies, zoetropes were created as a form of animation technology from the early 1800s. A zoetrope is a device that produces the illusion of motion through a sequence of drawings. In this workshop, students will learn about the early forms of animation, illustrate their own drawings, and watch them come to life when seen through the zoetrope!
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 5–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
When creating theme parks, designers and architects apply their creative minds and technical ingenuity to design ambitious projects. Students will plan their own innovative theme parks using creative thinking, problem solving, and teamwork. They will create their theme park’s rides, shows, food options, and more all within their provided budget, and see if they can run a successful park!
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 3–12
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Before the use of cels, paper cut-out figures were a common form of animation. Join us as we create paper creations with simple shapes and designs using construction paper and glue, then animate our creations to make our own silent stop-motion short films.
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 3–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Walt Disney was a storyteller whose characters captivated audiences through their unique personalities and distinct designs. Students will learn the fundamentals of character design through the use of shape language, silhouette, and personality traits, and uncover the creative process towards developing unique and memorable characters.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades K–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
The Ink and Paint Department was an invaluable part of the animation process, especially with the addition of color to animated films. In this School Experience, students will learn about the relationship between colors, and how color theory utilizes both art and science in color mixing to achieve a particular visual effect.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 5–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Walt Disney knew that at the heart of every animated film is a well-told story. Join us on this School Experience as we investigate the basics of narrative structure, establishing interesting and dynamic plots, and creating internal and external challenges that can impact a character’s journey. Students will then develop their own short story.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades K–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
Benefitting from embedded digital media content, this walk-through the museum brings Walt’s inspirational message to life. Classes learn about his early failures, the art of animation, storytelling principles, and the technological innovations that made classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) possible.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
Grades 3–12
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Discover how Walt Disney encouraged his staff to experiment with special effects technology to make animation more compelling and realistic, and how the resulting advancements inspired the industry as a whole. Students will experiment with a miniature multiplane set up—focusing on design elements that will explore how depth is created in animation—then animate their own characters and props to create a silent stop-motion short film.
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 3–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Background design is an important part of the storytelling process as it helps give context to the narrative by showing the world in which the characters live. Although not the main focus, backgrounds can amplify and fully immerse an audience. We will discuss industry-standard practices as students delve into perspective fundamentals. Students gain an understanding of overlap, depth, and atmospheric perspective, then apply these concepts to design a layered background.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades K–2
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
How we travel around the world—in trains, cars, planes, and rockets—has evolved exponentially over the past century as new innovations have been developed. Join us as we explore various modes of transportation, and use colors and shapes to create and design our own scenes with two-dimensional trains and railcars.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades K–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Create fun and unique art pieces with a painting technique involving small dots, patterns, and colored paints. Students will learn about impressionism and gain a basic understanding of color filling, shading, and tints to create a cohesive art piece.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 5–12
Available by reservation
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
The Walt Disney Studios pioneered storyboarding—an innovative way to convey an artist’s vision and the film’s story for those around them. Join us in this School Experience as we delve into timing, camera angles, camera shots, and how to plan out a visual project in a sequential and visual form. Students will then take on the role of a storyboard artist as they envision their own version of a scene from a script.
Virtual: Mon–Fri, 10am–2pm PST
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 5–12
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Animators often start their journey with a piece of paper, a pencil, and their own imagination. We will explore the traditional practices and principles of hand-drawn animation. With a few simple techniques, students will bring their drawings to life in the same way that animators in the 1930s did.
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Grades 6‑12
Available by reservation
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
In this workshop, students will learn the history of Audio-Animatronics® technology during the early 1960s. This hands-on activity will challenge students to collaboratively work in teams to navigate a Sphero SPRK robot through trial and error, using math-based calculations and computer block programming.
On-site: Wed–Fri, 10am–2pm
Additional Resources
Scholarship Programs
We are committed to quality education and providing every student with the opportunity to benefit from our curriculum-based school experiences. To ensure that under-resourced schools can take part in our school experiences, we offer two scholarship programs.
Admission Waivers
Scholarships are available for museum admission for all Title I schools. Please indicate your Title I status on your registration form or contact education@wdfmuseum.org for more information.
Bus Scholarships
Bus scholarships are available for field trips scheduled during the academic year for Title I schools in the San Francisco Unified School District. Teachers are responsible for booking their own buses.