At Small Factory Productions, you'll find a layout similar to a professional space, with designated areas for creating art, practicing music and recording sound. The kids get hands-on experience as they combine art, music and storytelling with cutting-edge technology to bring their imagination to life. Small Factory offers a variety of activities for children from toddlers to teens. Classes include cartoon creation, puppet theatre, computer animation and video game design. They also host summer camps, birthday parties and drop-off Factory Nights. Every Friday and Saturday night, you can leave the kids to enjoy 2 hours of movie and social time while you get a much-deserved break.

I recently visited their studio to check out the Create-a-Cartoon Camp for 5-8 year olds. The kids had been working on their cartoon—ominously entitled “The Russian Terror”—all week and were super excited to be recording the voice-overs that day. The characters, with names such as Fluffer Nutter and Evil Potato, had been created and drawn by the group earlier in the week. They devised the setting, crafted a story line and even wrote their own dialogue. I had a blast listening to them voice the roles and even got a sneak peek at the original song they created to accompany the cartoon. In a few weeks, all the children will be invited back for a premiere at which they can show off their completed masterpiece to family and friends.

In addition to on-site classes at their facility, Small Factory works extensively with schools and hospitals throughout the NJ/NY area to introduce arts programs to students and patients. These programs help foster creative expression while also reducing anxiety and building self-esteem. A wonderful example is the case of five teenagers in the Children’s Art Therapy Program at Riverview Medical Center, all having experienced personal losses, who created a cartoon to help younger children deal with the death of a loved one. Their cartoon “Tyler’s Reef” is part of Small Factory’s “Kids Kare” series, which was recently awarded an Emmy for Excellence in Children’s Programming.

If you’ve got a budding musician, actor or artist on your hands, they’ll surely find an activity at Small Factory to spark their imagination. Registration for fall classes begins soon—if you’d like to visit the studio before signing up, they’re hosting an Open House on August 21st. Bring the kids along to check out the facility and get a sneak peek at their upcoming offerings. Can’t wait until September? There is still some availability left in Small Factory’s August camps—please call the studio for further details and to reserve a spot.

Special Discount: Small Factory is offering our readers $5 off an upcoming Factory Night visit! Please call 732-212-1088 to make your reservation and mention Mommy Poppins NJ to receive the discount.