TATE KIDS

NEWSFLASH!! OUR LICHTENSTEIN INSPIRED GAME IS NOW LIVE. PLAY DOT SHOP

GUEST BLOG ALERT! This is from our friend Emilia over at Kanoti. Enjoy – any questions, ask them in the comments, and we’ll get back you ASAP! SJ

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We are super excited to tell you about a new app we’re working on, due to arrive in Games very soon.

In the app,’Dot Shop’  you can create your very own comic panel in the style of a “Pop Art” artist like Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein is most famous for his big, action-packed paintings inspired by American comic books, but he did have other subjects too:

 

To use ‘Dot Shop’, first you upload a photo of your own face (or your Dad’s, or your sister’s, or anybody you like!). If you haven’t got a photo, you can choose a portrait from the Tate Collection instead. ‘Dot Shop’ will work its magic on your image so it looks like it’s made up of lots and lots of dots, just like a Pop Art painting. You can play with some of the settings (like the size of the dots and the brightness of the picture) to get it to look just how you want it!

Once you’re happy with your Pop Art-y picture, you can personalise it with all kinds of extras like tears, explosions, speech bubbles and more.

 

This app is extra-special because you can play it on your computer and on an iPad. You might have noticed that this isn’t normally possible. So we’re using a special technology called HTML5. People have been using HTML to build normal websites for years, and HTML5 is just the latest version, which lets you build loads of other cool stuff like games.

Keep an eye out for “Dot Shop” which will be online next month. We can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Tags: Games, Pop Art, Roy Lichtenstein, Tate Modern

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Good evening to you all!

I’m pleased to report that we received all your entries to the Night Zookeeper competition here at the Night Zoo! They were all excellent and it was a very tough competition to judge.

We invited SJ to the Night Zoo to look through all of the entries together. This is a huge honour, as we can’t invite just anyone to our magical zoo. (SJ: Yes, I’m very lucky, ha!) SJ was able to meet a huge variety of animals, such as those that live in cereal bowls, volcanic monsters and even the mysterious rainbow fish.

Before beginning the judging we needed to establish the criteria. We decided that we would be looking for a complete mission including: Picture, Title and Story. We then looked for a good level of explanation and character in the mission. We also had to consider how well the mission would work on the Drawing Torch app.

Now that we had our criteria, we could begin judging. After many hours of debate, we were able to narrow the competition down to three contenders, eventually leading to one overall winner. The two runners up were as follows:

Louise Thomas, age 10
Mission Title: Help the sand snakes find something to cool them down

 

Charlotte Marriage age 9
Mission Title: Jurrasic X-Ray

And finally our winner, who created a fantastic mission as well as a new character for the Night Zoo.

Well done to Leon, age 6 for inventing ‘Monkey Vet saves the lion’

Mission Story: The Lion is poorly and the vet is out, a monkey vet steps in to save the day. What would Monkey Vet look like?

Leon will receive the new iPad mini for his efforts. WELL DONE LEON!!

Good night, we’ll be back soon
The Night Zookeeper

 

Tags: Competition, Games, night zookeeper, The Night Zookeeper

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Hello All,

It’s almost December, which means it’s almost Christmas whoo!

Anyway, it’s Night Zookeeper competition time. Are you excited? I am.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?
This: invent your very own mission for the Night Zookeeper Drawing Torch app. Not only will the best missions be included on the app itself BUT ALSO one lucky winner will win themselves and iPad Mini to play it on. Oh yes. Don’t worry if you haven’t got an iPad now, you can, of course, still get involved.

GOT IT, SO WHAT’S A MISSION?
Well it’s a task like: ask people to turn a shoe into an animal OR draw the ocean without the colour blue OR EVEN imagine what the zoo gates look like.

CAN YOU SHOW ME AN EXAMPLE?
Sure!

Mission Title: Imagine what a Lionfish looks like

Mission Story:  A new animal has just arrived in the zoo and it is our job to find and look after him.  He lives in the desert and he is half lion, half fish!  You must draw a picture of him for our records.

WHAT DO I NEED TO INCLUDE?
Make sure you include a mission title,  a mission story and a picture of your completed mission. Also add your name, age, contact email address (of your adult). If you are the lucky winner, I’ll email your adult for your address.

SO HOW DO I ENTER?
There are a few ways:
-       If you have an iPad, ask your adult to download the Night Zookeeper Drawing Torch app (It’s free, don’t worry) draw a picture, save it and email it to me: kids@tate.org.uk with your mission title,  story and your details.

-       Download the mission sheet, fill it all out, with your mission title, story and picture and your details and either email it to me kids@tate.org.uk OR post it to me:

SJ
Tate Kids Editor
Tate Media
Millbank
London
SW1P 4RG

WHEN’S THE DEADLINE?
Friday JANUARY 4 2013 at 23:59.

ARE YOU GOING TO WISH US LUCK?
Of course! Good Luck! If anything is unclear let me know, or if you need any help with the app email the Night Zookeeper Technical Support Otters: otters@nightzookeeper.com

SJ

Tags: animals, Competition, Games, night zookeeper

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Hi Everyone!

Have you noticed the strange and magical animals popping up on the blog recently?

These creatures are visitors from the magical world of the Night Zookeeper.

I’m sort of looking after them for a bit. Pretty much like a neighbour left in charge of next doors goldfish. Only in this case, these fish have super powers, weird personalities and make me do mad missions to make them laugh.

Night Zookeeper, if you haven’t seen it yet, is a new website that, like Tate Kids, encourages you to get creative.

You can invent your very own magical animal to live in the Night Zoo over there.

I love it, and think you will too. That is why we’ve joined forces for a very, very special competition where you can win an iPad and play with Drawing Torch, a new app.

Keep an eye on the Night Zookeeper blogs over the coming weeks to discover how you can win! More details to come.Good luck!

SJ

Tags: animals, Games, night zookeeper

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NAME: FREDDIE FROAFFE

LIVES: IN A JUNGLE WITH LOTS OF PLANTS

LIKES: EATING FLYS FROM A FLY TREE

DISLIKES: DOING HOMEWORK

SPECIAL BECAUSE: HE IS TALLER THAN A DOUBLE DECKER BUS

MISSION: FIND OUT WHY RED EYED TREE FROGS HAVE RED EYES

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Join me over the next four weeks as I introduce you to more of the magical animals that reside in my amazing zoo.

Do you have any questions about how to care for this strange and magical animal?

The Head Night Zookeeper

Tags: animals, Games, night zookeeper

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