new software to love

1. Animation-ish
Finally, a great, simple, kid-friendly animation program! Michael Steinberg recommended this, and I love it. Haven't used it with kids yet, but can't wait. Created by the guy who wrote Ish and The Dot.

2. Sam Animation
This one is for making stop action animation using a built-in camera. Simple, but very versatile. And free! (From the Tufts Center for Engineering Educational Outreach) I'll get to try it out on kids in a couple of weeks.

3. Doozla
From the people who make Comic Life, the main things to love about this art/drawing program are the coloring-book type of thing for younger kids, and the easy ability to take a picture with your built-in camera and draw on it. I've been having 2nd graders draw diagrams of their brains with their thoughts labeled on top of photos of themselves and it's great. KidPix required too many steps to import and draw on a picture, and wouldn't let you erase the drawing without erasing the underlying photo. Plus, Doozla has unlimited undos! Yay for Doozla! (The new Pixie also has a built-in camera feature, too, but I only know this b/c one of my first graders discovered it today!)