Kids Story Builder

If you have a crazy child or two around the house like this app developer has, one technique that’s great for keeping them occupied is engaging them in an activity where they can create something themselves. That’s why I love Kids Story Builder, an app that lets young kids build their own stories out of photos, audio clips and video recordings.

The app gives kids a blank canvas to work with, and they can add to it by dragging in their own photos (and the ones they’ve taken with the camera) and voice recordings. They can select an existing audio clip or record their own, then slide it into the story at any point along their timeline. This is a great way to stop your kids from getting bored on long car rides or at bedtime: just let them pick a story from the library and use it as a guide for recording parts of their own story.

I had so much fun playing around with this app that I decided to do some promotional videos featuring my five-year-old son. Kids Story Builder records him talking about the project (in English) and takes his photo, which it uses for his avatar in the library. Check out these videos for more information about Kids Story Builder:

“I have a child who’s in love with her own voice and is always saying, ‘Watch this! Watch this!’ And I wanted to make it so she could say, ‘Watch this!’ in the app.”

The app has a simple interface: kids can choose from a list of voices to record themselves reading a short story. The story builder shows visual cues to help them know when to stop recording. Then they can choose from a list of photos and add their own voice to each photo. When you press play, the character will say the words onscreen in the voice of your kid—or whichever voice you’ve chosen for them. It’s like a little movie that’s all about your kid.