Yesterday I posted a tutorial for creating a very basic witches hat scene in the 3D modelling software blender.  This tutorial is a little more advanced, for creating a 3D carved pumpkin model.  It isn't 100% complete because the software crashed on me right near the end and I didn't save in the meantime (SAVE OFTEN!) but I did want to get it up because today is halloween.  I'll do a better one for next year, but in the meantime enjoy.  If you are coming across this one first and want to know how to get Blender and a few of the basic commands, then do look at the Witch Hat one first, at least for a minute or two.

This is a fun chase/action video that my kids and I made last weekend.  Hope you like it.  Happy holidays!  Hope they're less stressful than my eldest's :)

The kids helped with the special effects, and of course they were the stars.

Here is an idea for an activity that brought huge joy and fun to my kids -- they couldn't contain their excitement. I present the results to you, along with a how-to guide for creating this great kids game -- A magic show video that your children will be proud to watch and show off countless times.

My eyes zip to the right helplessly following the extended finger of the child magician. I’ve missed it. The chocolate chip isn’t there. I dart the eyes back to the magician’s body, searching. His hands are now fists. The chip must be in one of them.

“Where is it?” he asks. I knew he knew I didn’t know.

I touch the left fist, which he opens empty. I touch the other. Empty too. The magician laughs at my confusion.

“Now you tell me where it is!” I beg, hoping to understand. “Maybe it’s in that bag over there,” he suggests, nodding to the floor helpfully. I sneak a quick look wondering how that was possible. There is no chip so I begin to ask “Where in the b--”, and stop cold. His hands, exactly where I’d last seen them, now hold the chocolate chip.

Had he fogged my mind? Had I missed what was right in front of me since the beginning? Or were his hands so quick that my eyes could not see him transport and hide the chip from one hand to the other at will, just faster than my senses could process?

Kids love magic. I’m no magician, but I’m good enough to make some killer performances for 3 and 5 year olds. My kids and I always have a great time inventing simple magic tricks for each other, sometimes putting on a more major magic production like this one.

This film is our first magic show, when Robert was 2 and Jakub was 4. You can see the children giddy with pride and pleasure as they execute the simple illusions. I’m sure you can figure out how to do these tricks but I’ll explain the several “young kid friendly” tricks that they love.