OBJECTIVES: Antibiotic misuse has been recognized as important factor in the development and spread of antibiotic resistance. It is necessary to develop effective strategies to foster appropriate antibiotic consumption to prevent the further dissemination of antibiotic resistance. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of using the animated movie and storytelling in improving children's knowledge in spread of infection, inappropriate use, and unnecessary antibiotic use. METHODS: Iran National Committee on Rational Use of Drugs developed two different educational program (storytelling & animated movies) targeted teaching children hand washing, respiratory hygiene and antibiotic resistance. The educational programs were designed for junior school children (9-12 year olds) as target audiences in storytelling & animated movies packs. All student of fourth grade were divided into either animated movies or storytelling groups to evaluate the effectiveness of these two methods. Students were required to complete identical knowledge questionnaires at three time points (before, immediately after intervention and 4 weeks after intervention), to assess knowledge level and retention. Both animated movies and storytelling pack were presented by a trained pharmacist. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that both "Animated movies" and "Storytelling group" caused a significant improvement in students' knowledge in all sections. However, the students' knowledge was decreased after a 4 weeks period (P<0.05) in "Animated movies" while in "Storytelling group" their knowledge increased significantly comparing to the immediate assessment of both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although, the results showed that animated movies are more effective than storytelling immediately after intervention, due to the content availability in storytelling group, the students' knowledge increased after 4 weeks whereas the effectiveness of animated movies decreased during the same period. We conclude that storytelling and animation as intervention which have good impact on the level of students' knowledge about hand washing, respiratory hygiene and antibiotic resistance.