Fun Avatar Creation Tools - Who Will You Be?

Creativity - Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students will:

• Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.
• Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.
• Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues.
• Identify trends and forecast possibilities.

Source: Student Skills Connected to Creativity

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”― Maya Angelou

I started exploring different avatar creators about a year ago after I realized that my twin boys were using and modifying images of me they found online as their Chromebook backgrounds. This led to a conversation with my own children about being aware of what they post on the internet. Once you share something online, it will most likely be there forever. We decided that using avatars on some sites could be a fun way to creatively share who we are with the world. (Bonus: I also hope it reduces the number of awkward photos of me on the web.)

I decided to bring this to my classroom and I had my students create their own avatars at the start of the school year and in one of our Reboot the Noggin Activities to Start 2018. 

Here are a few avatar creators we explored. Remember that a good avatar is connected to you and who you want to be. It can be an actual picture taken with your phone or webcam or it can be created using an online avatar maker.

• Wonderous Portrait Creator - Create a Be Kind Avatar based on the Wonder author Raquel Jaramillo
• Google Drawings - Turn a selfie into a Google Drawing. Jeffery Heil has a great tutorial here or you can click here to watch a video. 
• Scratch - Explore avatar projects on the Scratch coding site or code your own avatar creator.
• Peanuts - Create a Peanuts Character Avatar. You can also become Snoopy!
• Androidify - Creator your own Android avatar based on the famous green Android Mascot
• BitMoji - Create an expressive cartoon avatar, choose from a growing library of moods and stickers.
• South Park - Create your own South Park alter-ego or make one of your family and friends!
• Avatar Maker - Create and customize a digital avatar.
• picassohead - Create a Picasso work of art.
• doppleme - Create your own mini-me.
• Build Your Wild Self - Create a nature-themed avatar. 
• Mii Avatar Maker - Create your Wii style avatar.

(A few of the avatar creators above may not be the best for all ages, so please explore any that you are considering using with students before sharing them.)

Can you guess my current favorite? If you have a favorite avatar I would love for you to share it with me? @WickedEdTech

Did I miss something? Please share your favorite avatar creation resources in the comments below. 

What will your digital alter ego look like?

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