Campers started their morning by exploring KidPix 3D to create animated art. KidPix 3D is a multimedia program that allows children to create digital projects and animated stories by drawing or painting with digital tools. The program offers access to multi-layered 3D backgrounds, 3D animations and 100 video backgrounds. Children are also able to add their own narration to their project. Free trial downloads and pricing plans for Kid Pix 3D are accessible at the Kid Pix/Mackiev software website.
Later this afternoon the campers had an opportunity to explore an Augmented Reality tool. Quiver is a free app that turns coloring pages into 3D animated scenes using augmented reality (AR) technology. The app combines layers of digital content with actual environment using the camera feature on the tablet device, creating a virtual reality on the tablet’s screen. The app offers various themed/topical sets of pages for children to print and color. Once the campers were done coloring their scenes, they opened the Quiver app, held the iPad camera over the colored page and then used the camera to scan their colored picture. The picture then came to life utilizing animations built into the app.The app is available for iOS and Android tablets at no cost and at premium levels for access to additional coloring page sets.
The campers finished their afternoon with a coding lesson using The Foos app. Produced by CodeSpark, The Foos curriculum is based on research conducted by MIT and is designed to facilitate sequential thinking and problem recognition. The app also targets specific coding concepts such as loops, conditionals, commands and parameters. The Foos is multi-platform with free applications available for desktops, Kindle Fire, as well as iOS and Android tablets.
