Toontastic Jr. Shrek Movie Maker app review: letting kids be creative

Introduction

The Toontastic Jr. Shrek Movie Maker allows kids to not only direct their very own movie but also pick the scenes, voice the characters, and choose the music. It's a complete movie-making experience for kids to enjoy.

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Addictive and Creative

This is one of those apps that I just can't seem to put down; in fact, me and my toddler are having to take turns because we both want to play with it. This is a movie making experience that has been made fun, simple, and quick for kids to use so they can step into the shoes of the director and stars.

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In the free version of the app you will be able to choose a beginning, middle, and end of your movie. If you choose to unlock the full app you'll be able to create 12 scenes instead of three. The free version is a great way to sample the app and decide if you want the extra scenes.

Launch the app and you will begin by picking your three scenes by random selection. It’s actually set up like a slot machine and you tap the pictures in each of the three windows as all the scenes are cycling by. This means you’re never quite sure what scene you’ll be given and you will always have something fresh and new.

From here you’ll move into the creative portion of the movie making experience.

 

Director, Narrator, and Sound Operator

Kids will be able to test out all the various roles in movie-making in this app. After your scenes are selected you will now need to voice the characters and move them around the screen. The app will play a short snippet of what happened directly before your part so then you can continue on from there. After you voice the scene and move around the characters you will need to pick music based on the mood of the scene. This is done for all three scenes.

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Kids can create the movie on their own or with friends/family so everyone can voice a character. It's all about imaginative play and creativity with this app. The app also enables StoryShare over iPhone or iPad that lets you connect, talk, play, and make movies with friends and family no matter where they are located. It should be noted that this feature is not available on iPad 1, iPod 4th generation, and iPhone 4.

 

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Kid-friendly design
• Easy to use
• Encourages creative play
• Voice your characters, move them around the screen, and add music
• Helpful and easy to follow instructions along the way

 

Cons

• You are only given three scenes for free

 

Final Thoughts

The Toontastic Jr Shrek Movie Maker app is an excellent example of a successful app that encourages kids to be creative, imaginative and of course have fun in the process. This app is sure to provide hours of fun for kids and the full version is likely well worth the price.