Long, gray, winter days and the plaintive wail of “I’m bo-o-ored” call for parents to have a preemptive stash of entertaining activities for kids to while away the hours. SpaceFlix allows kids to use their Apple or Android device to create a space-themed, stop-motion film.
In the process, it will have the tweens mining their creativity. How? They can’t yell “action!” until they’ve sculpted their lead aliens, er, actors from modeling clay. A younger child may even want to draw storyboards to plan out each scene, while an older child may even be tempted to write a screenplay before recording.
After they’ve set the stage (which is a two-sided set, featuring a pockmarked, green moonscape on one side and an interior of a spaceship on the reverse), they can download the stop-motion animation app and get the players moving. The kit includes stickers, invisible fishing line, and punch-out props to jazz up the actors and set.
Recommended for wee Steven Spielbergs ages 8 and older, this is riveting way for a child to play alone, with friends, or with a whole family of earthlings.
SpaceFlix kit and app, $16.99, www.marbl
