Investigation of educational animation films for preschool children: 2D animation application on solar system

Preschool education aims to contribute to the cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of the child, and to positively affect his/her self improvement and future life. Children display a curious and interested attitude towards science. Animation technique is used to explain scientific subjects. It is thought that the history of animation started with the pictures of animals in motion that the first people drew on the cave walls. Later, animation has taken its present form with help of technological progress and new materials. In the first chapter of the thesis, since preschool education is especially important for children aged 3-6, the historical development of preschool education, educational programs, educational activities and the importance of technology in preschool education are mentioned. In the second chapter, the history of animation, the basic principles of animation, the components of animation, animation techniques and the benefits of using animation in the preschool period are examined. In the third chapter, examples of educational animation films made in Turkey and in the world are examined. It is focused on providing various positive gains such as the assessment of educational animation films, the age of children, whether the film is suitable for children, whether it does not contain violence, scientific issues and telling children the importance of helping children, being sensitive to environmental issues, the concept of peace, being aware of that hope always exists, and helping each other. In the fourth chapter, children, science and the Solar System, the importance of teaching science to children and of environmental education are mentioned. It is aimed to increase children's interest in the Solar System and science with help of this study. In the fifth chapter, the two-dimensional animation application named "Learning the Solar System" is explained. Children between the ages of 4-6 (+) were determined as the target audience of the application. It is concluded that children may learn by having fun, gather positive gains in their education life, do science by questioning which improves their self-confidence and encourages them to explore the Solar System and do research on other scientific subjects with this application.