IncrediFlix offers children, ages 7-16, an opportunity to bring imagination and creativity to life! Camps center around making movies using arts and crafts, acting, writing, directing, special effects and operating a camera. Whatever the vision, Incrediflix does their best to turn it into reality. Camps are broken up into age-appropriate groups, and after they edit and produce the DVD from the work created, they mail out a copy to every student! Camps are held in one-week sessions, Monday – Friday, either in the morning or afternoon for three hours a day.

Clay Flix – Claymation rocks! You’ll make your own clay character and you’ll bring this character to life in it’s own movie! Students will work in age-appropriate groups to storyboard, write, film, and act out the voices of their characters in these stop-motion animated flix!

Lego Flix – They know you love Legos and you can create incredible worlds. Now it’s time to bring those worlds to life in Lego animated flix! They provide the Legos, and you provide your imagination. Students will create a Lego set with Lego characters for a movie they storyboard, write, shoot, and voice-over in age-appropriate groups.

Cartoon Flix – Your characters can fly over mountain tops, destroy cities, or swim the deepest oceans! In age-appropriate groups, you’ll make a paper-animated flick where you get to create your own character, build backgrounds, shoot your movie, and provide the voice for your character.

Animation Flix – Join them for the ultimate in animation creation. Each day you’ll make a new movie, with different styles of stop-motion animation. Clay stars may explode, or your favorite toy may even come to life! This is the ultimate arts and crafts camp where you will create, direct, and film in age-appropriate groups.

Filmmaking Flix – Are you the next star director? Actor? Writer? Cameraman? Of course you are, and you get to do it all in these live action flix! You’ll work in groups to make your vision come true in these movies where you’ll act, write, direct and more.

Acting for Flix – So you want to be on camera? Whether you’re completely new, or want to improve your skills, this camp will help you to the next level. They offer practice casting calls and training, plus you’ll make your own commercial! And, they’ll send you the DVD, so you have it for your reel or for practice.

Cracker Cottage

An easy no-bake way to get started with little kids is to build your own “gingerbread” abodes from good old fashioned graham crackers and a squeeze-bag full of frosting “glue.”  You can generally get 10 to 20 mini houses out of one box of crackers, depending on how many you break (or eat!) Click here for complete instructions. For an even easier technique for very young kids, use these directions from the graham cracker experts at Nabisco.

Pre-fab Fabulous

If you need a little more square footage, pick up a pre-baked gingerbread kit from a local grocery or discount store, or buy one on-line. Most kits come with a ready-baked gingerbread house “puzzle” for you to piece together, as well as instructions, icing mix, decorating bags and tips, and a few types of candy for decorating.

Do-It-Yourself

If you’ve got a little more time – and courage! – you can bake and build a gingerbread house all by yourself. Find instructions for My First Gingerbread House at Family Fun magazine or check out Ultimate Gingerbread for dozens of free patterns, photo inspirations and recipes for “construction grade” gingerbread, royal icing, marzipan, marshmallow fondant, edible varnish and more.

The Cherry on Top

Think outside the jelly bean box when it comes time to decorate. Cover the base with coconut flakes for snow. Use upside-down sugar ice-cream cones covered with green frosting to create a forest of trees. Create a cinnamon-stick woodpile by the back door and stack caramels for a chimney. Try sliced almonds, frosted wheat cereal, dried banana chips, gummy fruit slices or Necco wafers for roof shingles, and add a ridge of chocolate kisses. Outline doors and windows with strings of licorice or pillow mints, and add a “wreath” to the front door made from a gummy ring and a licorice bow. Anything edible is fair game.

Move-In Condition

If your cookie crumbles, don’t despair. You can place an order this week for a personalized gingerbread estate from Williams-Sonoma for just $249,95, with your family name in frosting over the door. Or call local specialist Ellie Wilson, a 39-year gingerbread veteran based in Bellflower, who hosts gingerbread parties and makes custom creations ranging from $25 to thousands of dollars. Email her for details at sewmuchfun0@yahoo.com.