Magic Fabric Creation Studio Immediately

My six year-old daughter and eight year-old son and their five year-old friend enjoyed an afternoon playing with the Magic Fabric Creation Studio. All the kids had a great time. They'd have made more than one each, but there were only enough material for five characters, so we stopped at one per kid.

It's all quite simple. There are five cards. Each card makes one character, but kids can mix and match material if they want. On each card, Magic Fabric material is scored. The kids peel off the material like they would a sticker and place them on the press plate -- first the back side, then the middle pieces (tails, ears), then the foam insert, then the front side, then the stuff that goes on the front (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.). The fabric sticks when pressure is applied. So, place the top press plate on and run it through the machine, which presses everything together. Voila.

Actually, the press plates and machines are gimmicks, because the whole thing can be done by pressing the material with your fingers or sticking everything between two books and standing on them. You could get by with just buying the refills, but kids like the machine.

Here are some tips:
1) Younger kids will need help, if you want the work to come out neatly. Otherwise, the masterpiece will come out lopsided with the foam insert exposed.
2) Press the top edges and bottom edges together with your fingers to seal them before running them through the machine. This lines up the front and backsides perfectly and prevents the foam insert from slipping out.
3) Keep some glue handy. Although no glue is needed per the box instructions, we did find a few pieces had a hard time sticking without some help.

Refills are expensive. I wish they'd sell just the fabric, so we could invent our own characters.

I'd also mention the photo on the website is a little misleading. The machine and animals are not all that big. The creations are about three to four inches tall.

Lastly, for some reason, the kids thought the creations would stick like stickers to anything. Maybe that was in the commercials. They will only stick if you supply your own tape, which is what my son ended up doing.

PROS:
+ lots of fun for the kids

CONS:
- kids need adult help
- refills are expensive
- not many projects included
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