Make a Thanksgiving flipbook by drawing one autumn leaf in slightly different positions on a stack of small pages, clipping one edge, and releasing the opposite edges in sequence. The leaf appears to fall as the drawings pass. A short, handmade animation makes a lovely little Thanksgiving keepsake, especially with a personal note on its removable cover.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s flipbook activity demonstrates how small changes between still drawings create apparent movement. For this original project, keep the action simple: one leaf drifts downward, then settles.
Gather your materials
You’ll need:
- 16 identical paper rectangles, approximately 10 cm wide by 5 cm high
- A pencil, eraser, and ruler
- Orange or brown colored pencils
- A small binder clip
- Scrap paper for planning
Use ready-sized paper or flexible index cards if you prefer. Avoid very stiff card, which can be difficult to flick. A binder clip holds the pages without puncturing them and lets you rearrange drawings. Keep fingers clear of its jaws and ask for help if squeezing it is difficult.
Set up the pages before drawing
Place every rectangle horizontally, with the same side facing up. The left edge will be clipped; the right edge will stay free. Reserve the leftmost 2 cm for binding. Put a tiny frame number there, from 1 through 16.
Keep the leaf in the right-hand part of the page, near the free edge but away from the last few millimeters where your thumb will grip. All measurements below start from the paper’s top-left corner.
Lightly mark a ground line 4 cm below the top on every page. Keep its position unchanged. The National Museum of Australia’s instructions recommend maintaining a fixed background line and checking the image order before clipping the booklet together.
Alignment matters: when comparing two drawings, match their top and left edges, rather than centering one by eye.
Plan a 16-frame falling leaf
Practice an original leaf shape on scrap paper: a pointed oval with a central vein is enough. Make it about 8 mm tall and 5 mm wide, and keep that size throughout. You don’t need a complicated maple-leaf outline.
For this first version, keep the leaf upright. Its changing position will provide the movement. Draw its center at these locations, measured in millimeters:
- Frames 1–4: horizontal positions 75, 77, 79, 81; vertical positions 10, 12, 14, 16.
- Frames 5–8: horizontal positions 79, 77, 75, 73; vertical positions 18, 20, 22, 24.
- Frames 9–12: horizontal positions 75, 77, 79, 81; vertical positions 26, 28, 30, 32.
- Frames 13–16: horizontal positions 79, 77, 77, 77; vertical positions 34, 36, 36, 36.
Pair the numbers in order: frame 1 is at 75 mm across and 10 mm down; frame 2 is at 77 mm across and 12 mm down. The leaf descends in small steps while swaying sideways. Its lower tip reaches the ground in frame 14. Repeating that position in frames 15 and 16 gives the landing a brief pause.
Test four pages first
Draw only frames 1–4 in pencil initially. Stack them face up with frame 1 on the bottom and frame 4 on top, then align the edges and clip the left side.
Hold the clipped end with your left hand. With your right hand, bend the free ends upward and release the lowest sheet first, followed by the next. Watch the upward-facing drawings as each released page settles: the visible sequence should be 1, 2, 3, 4. Practice slowly before trying a quick flick.
If the numbers run backward, reverse your release direction. If the drawings disappear beneath your thumb, move your grip closer to the outer corner. Correct the handling now, before finishing the remaining pages.
Finish, flip, and personalize
Complete all 16 drawings, then assemble the full stack with frame 1 at the bottom and frame 16 at the top. Test it before coloring. Recheck the numbers if the leaf unexpectedly jumps upward.
Use the same light orange or brown on every leaf. ACMI’s flipbook guidance emphasizes consistent colors and picture order. Heavy decoration can make a tiny moving subject harder to follow.
Write “A Little Thanksgiving Thanks” on a separate cover, with a sentence about someone you appreciate. Remove that cover before flipping. The finished gift is small, but its falling leaf carries a moment of patient, handmade delight.
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