GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine app review: teach your child how to animate

Introduction

GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine is an iPad and iPhone app that allows you to create flipbook-like animated movies. There are several templates to try, lots of stencils to use, and many different drawing tools.

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Let Your Little Artist Shine

GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine is a fun way to get your kids interested in flipbook animation. Your child is provided a how-to with stencils of a bouncing ball to get started, and then they can go anywhere! There are videos that to view for inspiration so your child can get ideas, as well as stencils to get them started. If, for example, your child would like to draw a human, there is an outline of a human face. If the desire is to draw an animal, there are several animals to choose from. There are also several simple objects to get them thinking and going. A word of caution about the stamps though: once placed, you cannot delete or erase other than hitting undo. Make sure that the item is placed where you want it before continuing in your drawing!

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I have gotten my 6-year-old started in this app because she loves to draw. For Christmas, all she wanted was art supplies, and she got several sketch pads, boxes of pencil crayons, markers, and the lot. I love how she just sits and draws, but I also encourage her to use the iPad to sketch because it’s what her job will entail in the future should she decide to become an animator. We were talking just the other night about future careers, and one she spoke of was working for Disney drawing princesses. This app can help her to draw her princess and then begin to animate her.

Play and Pause

Once your child has created their work of art, GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine has the option to hit play. This is where the movie comes to life, and your child can see their ball bounce, their character spin, or whatever else they have chosen for he or she to do!

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My daughter immediately saw that she needed to make her movements smaller so that the piece would flow better. She also learned that 20 drawings only equals a second of work. I told her to imagine drawing movies like Snow White before there were computers!

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Free trial
• Lots of options to use in the free version
• Stamps to help you animate
• Copy from one page to the next to adjust one part rather than all
• Teaches kids about flipbook-like animation
• Teaches kids how much work goes into a hand-drawn movie
• Lots of videos to view of work others have completed and shared

Cons

• None found

Final Thoughts

GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine is a really great app to teach your child about flipbook-like animation. It is designed for both iPhone and iPad, but as it is a detail-oriented app, I would highly recommend that you use the iPad to get a better drawing experience. Overall, it's well-designed and works great on all iDevices.