Art Doodle Live

Art Doodle Live was created by TOGEVA Ltd. in collaboration with Bridgeman Art Library which allows it to showcase many works of art by great artists from Monet, da Vinci, Klee, you name it. The goal here is to expose kids to these great works and inspire them to create their own using the original masterpieces as a base. Price: $1.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.3 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: The strength of this app is of course the availability of a great library of art from many different genres. I like the idea of not just creating an app for kids to make art, but to expose them to and teach them about works of art by others. Unfortunately, as far as the "teaching" goes, Art Doodle Live falls short. No additional information is given about the artworks - no prompts, "fun facts", etc. In fact, I at first didn't even notice the title and artist labels that are pretty small that are given when you first choose what piece of art to work with. So while it does expose kids to many artworks, I don't feel they learn much about them. 

The layout of the art tools also seem more fit for adults rather than kids. 

All that being said, there are a couple of cool features here. For the art tools, there's one where you can "drip" the paint. Also, there is a "live" feature where if you login, you can activate a multi-user and multiple people can paint on the same canvas at the same time. You can then of course save and share and even order prints and get your creation printed on mugs and things. 

Rating: 2/5 (aim for 7 years)

Balance: The app is easy to navigate - all the menu features are on the top of the screen. The artworks are organized by type (photography, animal art, etc.) It'd be nice if you could choose by other options like artist or even "black and white", which I think would help kids to learn and think about the art in different ways. This would help keep the focus on learning about the artworks, instead of this app becoming just another art app. Rating: 4/5

Sustainability: There are tons of art pieces and kids can draw forever. I'm just not sure if kids would continue using it because the artworks or simply because it's a fun art app. Rating: 4/5

Parental Involvement: This could have been a great opportunity for parents and kids to learn about artworks together. But since their's not much offered about the artworks, parents will have to rely on their own knowledge. It's still a good opportunity to create some art together. Rating: 3/5

Total: 13 out of 20: 3 stars

Disclosure: I received this app for free for review purposes