This dataset supports the research reported in the associated manuscript on children’s learning from digital storytelling and the pathways linking knowledge acquisition and value-oriented intentions. The study investigates how primary school students learn conceptually complex content from short digital storytelling animations and whether cognitive learning outcomes and value-oriented intentions follow different explanatory pathways. The dataset includes materials used for the empirical analysis conducted with 452 primary school students (Years 1–6) in a Chinese primary school. Data were collected through classroom-based assessments and questionnaires following a short animation-based digital storytelling intervention. The archive contains the following materials: Questionnaire.docx – the questionnaire instrument used to collect students’ responses on interest, engagement, emotional response, perceived comprehension, audiovisual experience, educational value, reflective feedback, and willingness to support industrial heritage. Regression and structural equation modeling.zip – statistical outputs and modelling results used in the analysis, including multiple regression and structural equation modelling examining relationships among experiential variables, grade level, knowledge acquisition, and value-oriented intentions. Cognitive load test.zip – supplementary cognitive load measurement materials used in a follow-up session two weeks after the intervention to interpret uneven knowledge performance under time constraints. The materials are provided to support transparency, reproducibility, and peer review of the research findings. All data have been anonymised and contain no personally identifiable information.