![]() ![]() My 8-year-old and I put the green screen together in about 30 seconds, but it took a few minutes to set up the camera, partly because my hefty battery-pack case toppled the tripod. Unlike a lot of toys, this doesn’t require batteries, a plug, or much assembly simply slot the cardboard tabs together to create the “screen” and secure your smartphone to the tripod. ![]() ![]() Using the low-tech contents along with a smartphone and corresponding user-friendly app, the studio lets burgeoning filmmakers channel their inner Walt Disney and create stop-motion animation shorts (which, according to Disney, is actually how Walt got his start). The studio includes three Stikbots (two humans and a dog), a cardboard green screen, two smaller cardboard prop boxes (slightly larger than a deck of cards), and a mini tripod for a smartphone. The Zanimation Studio, I learned, comes from the world of Stikbot toys its included figurines are Stikbots, or Lego-looking things the size of an adult finger that are adjustable (legs and arms move, head swivels), with “hands” and “feet” that are suction cups. Was it a toy or an electronic device? Was it easy enough to use without me? Would they grow bored with it after opening the box? Would it require batteries (for them) or noise-canceling headphones (for me)? At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. But recently, my sister-in-law (a mother of two tween boys and an attender of more birthday parties than should be allowed under the Parental Geneva Convention) gifted them a new plaything: a funny-looking set of plastic figurines and cardboard pieces called a Zanimation Studio. They went from being obsessed with Fisher Price Bright Beats before growing up and moving on to lightsabers today, it’s all about Nerf guns, Fortnite trading cards, and anything with a screen. Throughout their lives, my 5-year-old and 8-year-old boys have received dozens - or more likely, hundreds - of toys. And handing over a gift card just doesn’t feel very festive to an 8-year-old. There are the usual suspects, but they all have downsides: No parent wants more Fortnite in their life, so V-bucks are out. Thoughtful consideration (for the kids and the parents) is key. Any parent who has taken a Nerf dart to the neck knows that the world of toys, especially if you’re shopping for boys, can be downright hazardous. ![]()
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