small sample size, but yes! I've tried it on my son, and had some friends also try it out with kids of various ages. Being able to to turn whatever idea is in their head right that instant into a story seems to be the real hit.
Some feedback I've received from other parents is they wish there was more than one image to help keep the listener a little more engaged. Been tinkering with this but it is challenging to get a consistent series of images.
1. Put the project in a private GitHub repo. Paying for it adds incentive to work on it.
2. Break up the work into small tasks and add them as issues in the GitHub project. Aggressively separate them into milestones to stay focused (Milestone 1 == MVP, less important stuff in Milestone 2, etc).
The reason I think this works is that it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the work on a side project, and you have limited time to work on it. Now when you have time, you grab a ticket, complete it. Each ticket should be doable in a few hours or the scope of your ticket is too broad.
The more intensive processes are a fine line to walk. It's easy to go overboard. I recently went through an interview process that was more on the intensive side and left feeling better about it because I knew the people I would potentially be working with had gone through that same process. It's harder, yes, but I felt the chances were higher that I would be working with more competent people on the other side.
Some feedback I've received from other parents is they wish there was more than one image to help keep the listener a little more engaged. Been tinkering with this but it is challenging to get a consistent series of images.