BILD + Animate Kit

$70, Windows, Mac OSX

Teaches: animation, stop motion

CTR Review

Designed in the UK but sold in the USA, this is a set of snap-together toys combined with a camera and Mac/Windows software that is designed to help children create stop motion projects. The parts make stop motion projects easier because the can be used to make posable figures, with joints that can be moved slight amounts. The kit contains Animate It! Express software, which was developed with the Aardman Animations studio (the creators of Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run) and a book that introduces the basics of stop motion animation. The box for the $70 kit we reviewed included 103 OgoBILD construction parts, a printed instruction book, a USB webcam for Mac and Windows PCs and a software download certificate for the Animate It! Express software. The kit can can be purchased without the webcam for $35; additional OgoBILD kits cost $17 each. Important to consider: there are many stop motion apps that cost less, and use the built in camera on a tablet.