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

Squiggles!

Squiggles! was developed by Lazoo Worldwide, Inc. and is a drawing app aimed at preschoolers as most of what you draw are squiggly lines. You might be thinking, "All you draw is squiggly lines?!! What's the point?" Well, it's actually a cute app. After you draw the lines, which are part of a template of cars, or beginnings of cotton candy, you can set the picture in motion where the lines become the motion of the car, or the swirls of cotton candy. This is actually kinda a similar idea to my last review, Magic Doodles, but for younger kids. Also included is an e-book about an adventure with Miku and Bobu that of course involves squiggles. Price: Free (right now, at least).

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


Developmental Appropriateness: As you can tell from my intro, I was a little skeptical at first, but I think this app won me over. It's a nice way to encourage young kids, who may not be able to draw much yet, to draw and be more imaginative for what they can create than on straight up paper pencil. The e-book is pretty cute too. I actually wonder why it is not a larger part of the app - it actually can be pretty easily missed. On the main menu, there are two icons - one for an instructional animated video with Miku and Babu for what to do in the drawing app and how to make your squiggles work and then the book, neither icons are flashy. I'd almost even say the book should be the prime, and the drawing is the activity tied to the book. That being said, although much of the book has to do with squiggles, I wish more of the interactivity was for the reader to make the squiggles that functioned as part of the plot so that it's more of a hands-on book. In terms of the drawing app, it's pretty kid-friendly, easy-to-use. If the target is 2-3-year-olds, I'd even make the tools at the bottom bigger. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 3 years)


Balance: The overall feel of the app is very kid-oriented with plenty of instruction. Some of the features in the e-book are more frivolous than others. Like I mentioned, it would be great if it could incorporate some of the interactivity of the drawing part. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: The story is cute, and the drawing is fun, so it's a great deal - kinda like two apps in one. You can also save your drawings and share with others. Rating: 5/5


Parental Involvement: Although there is not quite a direct role for parents, there is plenty for them to do - read the story together, help with the drawings and use them as conversation starters, etc. Given the young age this app targets, parents will likely have to be involved as well. Rating: 4/5


Total: 17 out of 20: 4 stars

Magic Doodles

Magic Doodles was created by G S Phinest and is a drawing app that brings your drawing to life. So if you like drawing say, rockets, this app will let you draw the rocket AND launch it. Price: $1.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 3.2 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: Ok, before you think, "Another drawing app" (and I admit, I did), this one is actually kinda cool and worth checking out. It takes kids imagination to another place by encouraging them to think about action or an event - something that can become a video/animation rather than a static image. This app provides an idea or prompt, such as "What's hatching out of the egg?", or "Draw a knight and dragon." with some parts drawn already. You draw the rest and then it animates it. So the egg will hatch and whatever you've drawn will grow or the knight will slay the dragon. The down sides are that it doesn't read the prompts, so younger kids may not know what to the prompts are. Also, the area that will animate may sometimes be limited and not capture your whole drawing. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 6 years)


Balance: The overall design and interface is fairly simple. Again, adding in narration of the prompts and maybe some indication of the animation area would be helpful. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: There are 26 prompts so there's plenty to try out. I wish there was a free play page with some simple tools for animating things, so kids can explore their own ideas. Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: Parents may find this cool, but overall, kids will probably play on their own. Younger kids will need some help. Rating: 3/5


Rating: 15 out of 20: 4 stars.


Disclaimer: I received this app for free for review purposes.

Kids! Learn to Draw by Walter Foster

Kids! Learn to Draw by Walter Foster was created by MEDL MOBILE and is a step by step drawing app. The initial app is free (At least for right now) and comes with 3 lessons. You can then buy more packs of lessons on topics of your choosing. Price: Free

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: Who hasn't seen those drawing books that show you how to draw a dog or an airplane by tracing some simple shapes? Well, this is exactly that, but digitized. Nice idea. The interface is easy to use and there are a lot of opening instructions. I like the idea that this app could really separate itself from the drawing books in that there can be kinda like a "tutor" with you, providing instructions. Here's the thing - my drawings kinda sucked! I mean, I'm not the most artistic person, but I don't think I'm too awful. There's something about using your finger to draw instead of a pencil or paint brush. Since the app is capable of providing verbal instructions, I wish it went farther. It could provide tips and more feedback, like suggesting what tool is best to create that type of line. I also found it hard to do some of the fine, little lines - the screen just didn't seem to be picking those up as well. This type of instruction would be great for kids who are more serious about art. But all in all, I think kids will like trying to draw objects they didn't know how to before - a nice addition to the many free form art apps out there already. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 7years)

Balance: As I said, the interface is pretty simple and easy to use. The beginning is a lot of text and instructions that are read aloud - I wonder if it could have been make more kid friendly. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: Looks like there are many many packs for purchase, so if you're willing to spend the money, this app could go a long way. Otherwise, there is a mode to draw anything you want. Rating: 4/5


Parental Involvement: Parents who like to draw may like this app too. But the lessons are pretty much just for one. The sharing comes into play when you save or email the completed drawings for all to see. Rating: 4/5


Total: 16 out of 20: 4 stars.

Montessori Revolution

Montessori Revolution was created by MEDL MOBILE and is based off of the Montessori method of teaching. One of the main tenets of Montessori schools is a hands-on approach, that movement is important for learning and cognition. So on one hand, I can see how the interactivity of an iPad may go well with this tenet, but on the other hand, moving things around on a 2d screen is not the same as real world movement. Does Montessori activities really translate to apps? Price: $0.99 (for the initial drawing activity plus one of your choice - the rest are in-app purchases).

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: There are currently six available activities. With the initial purchase, I received The Canvas (freeform drawing), and The Moveable Alphabet. I then purchased The Short Bead Stairs (math) and The Pouring Exercise. Note - I originally wanted to purchase The Pink Tower as I know that as a staple Montessori activity, but received an error message instead. Anyway, back to my question of whether these activities translate well.... I think some better than others. The drawing activity is like other drawing apps - kids who like drawing will like this app. The alphabet activity functions fairly well where you would drag the letter to it's place, as you would a letter block or magnet. It also provides a clear breaking down of the letter-sounds for each word, and letter-sounds for each letter option. These activity seems to be more traditional, and thus the easiest of the Montessori activities to translate to an app. The other two activities work less well. The pouring activity, is exactly that - you pour objects from one beaker into another. While the innovation of translating this into an iPad activity is kinda cool, the movement of pouring using the iPad is not really the same movement of real life pouring. You do not feel the weight lessen as you pour nor does the overall motion seem natural. And further, it seems like there should be more of a goal to this activity, or at least more examples of pouring from different containers or different amount of objects. I was most disappointed with the Short Bead Stairs. This is also a pretty staple Montessori material. There are different colored connected beads to represent each number. The activity here asks for a number, say 3, so you would move the strand of 3 white beads over. First, the number they ask for is the same color as the beads of the right length. So you can just match color rather than number. But where this really falls short is that I think these beads could be used for so much more, but this app does not take you there. Often, these beads can be used to help solve basic math problems, like 2+3. So you could take the 2 red bead rod and the 3 blue bead rod (or whatever colors they are) and line them up with the 5 bead rod to see that they are the same amount. The beads also help in that you can count the individual beads, which you cannot do in this app. So in sum, I like the ideas of this app, but some of these activities do not maximize on the original intent. Rating: 3/5 (aim for around 4 years)


Balance: Overall, the app is presented in a clean, organized manner, similar to a Montessori school. This is down to the "shelves of activities". Where I do think it could use some improvement is on the instructions. You are presented with a pretty busy instruction screen (see pic). I think that some of these instructions could also be embedded in the activities as prompts. For example, in the alphabet activity, if there is no response for awhile, the app could prompt the child to tap on the picture to hear the word. Or if an incorrect response is given, then a prompt could be given to tap on the letters first to hear the sounds. It's great that this type of support is there, it just may be overwhelming to be presented it all at once and only on a help screen. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: Some apps are more engaging than others. The pouring one is least (at least of the ones I tried, but I'm hoping the two that I didn't are better!). Once the child has figured out how to pour, then what? I know that another tenet of Montessori is no extrinsic rewards. While that's fine, the activities do need to have some sort of goal, don't you think? At least the alphabet has 3 levels that kids can work on and master. Rating: 3.5/5


Parental Involvement: This app provides a reporting feature where parents and or teachers can see what the child has done and how much time was spent doing it. It's item-level information, which is great for those who have time to look everything over, but I think it needs to also include some more general information. Rating: 3.5/5


Total: 14 out of 20 - 3 stars


Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.

Kandoobi - Animal Edition

Kandoobi - Animal Edition was created by Kandoobi, targeting toddlers and preschoolers 18 months and up. It includes four different games in one - letters, scratch and fill, coloring, and matching. Price: $2.99

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 4.0 or later.

Developmental Appropriateness: Targeting 18 months and up to preschool is hard to do. Like the many times I've said before, so much development occurs during this time that it would be hard for a single app to target the full range. I think this is what Kandoobi struggles with. Let's break it down.


First we have the letter game. This game confused me the most. It aims to teach both letters AND spelling. A three-year-old just learning letters really has no concept of spelling, let alone spelling such long words as "blowfish" or "caterpillar." Let's not even get into younger than 3-years! But then on the other hand, a child who is ready to spell would know all the letters, making this matching game way too easy. I guess this would be ok if you took out the spelling element and just thought of it as a letter matching game only.


Then the two coloring games. Children like to color, so I can see the coloring being a favorite here. The scratch and fill game is probably there to target the  two -year-olds, so older preschoolers might get bored with it. The final shape matching game is really easy, so again, the window here is very small. Kids who are ready to do this type of matching would pick it up very quickly and soon be ready for more challenging puzzles. 


So this may be a good app for families with multiple kids of different ages - a little something for each, but I highly doubt that one kid would be interested in all four games at the same time. Rating: 2/5 (aim for around 3 years)


Balance: The app is very kid-friendly in terms of colors and ease of use. My only thing is that the pictures of the animals are extremely cartoony (the butterfly pictured above is a less cartoony example). If the aim here is to teach kids about animals, research has shown that the more realistic looking the pictures, the better for learning - and I would think that this is more important when it comes to teaching about the shape of animals. This is not to say that we should only be using photographs or anything like that, but just that we should consider the level of realism in terms of any animation or drawing. Rating 4/5


Sustainability: As discussed above, some of these games will have greater longevity than others. Rating: 3/5


Parental Involvement: Parents will probably need to help their child out with the letter game - talk about the animals, show them what to do. Any type of coloring activity can always spark some conversation and sharing, so having two types of coloring activity saves this app. The matching game probably requires the parent the least. Rating: 4/5


Total: 13 out of 20 - 3 stars


Disclosure - I received this app for free for review purposes.

Scribble Press

Scribble Press was created by Scribble Press and is an app that allows your child to create a book or drawing and then share it with you or even everyone else. This app reminds me a bit of Doodlecast for Kids but for older kids. I loved Doodlecast - it's simple and encourages quality interactions with others. How does Scribble Press compare? Price: Free

Device Requirements: Compatible with iPad.Requires iOS 5.0 or later.


Developmental Appropriateness: This is a great app that engages kids in books, writing, and art - all in one. They can choose to create their own book from scratch or use one of the many templates that is more like mad libs where you fill in words in a pretty much scripted story. You can then draw pictures using hundreds of colors and types of tool options, take/upload a photo, and choose from an array of stickers. You can then save and print your creation and show it to your friends and family and even order a professionally bound copy or you can upload it to the gallery where other Scribble Press users can see it.

Overall, this is a fun and engaging app that I can see being used not just at home but in the classroom as well. Since I can see it being used in a more instructional kinda way, and since we are dealing with older kids, I do have a few suggestions to make it more "educational." With the mad libs type books, it could offer a spell check kinda function to help kids with their spelling. Right now, you can enter gibberish and it accepts it (not that it shouldn't be an option if kids want to be silly). Or it could even offer word options that range from appropriate to silly words, which could help target a younger audience. And maybe with the blank book, it could offer prompts about basic story writing like, think about characters, what's the beginning middle and end, etc. Rating: 4/5 (aim for around 7 years)


Balance: The overall design is fairly clean, and with all the color options, looks very pretty. There are enough drawing tools to satisfy an adult and perhaps even artists. I wonder though, if all the options may be overwhelming for kids. I would suggest for at least in the drawing only feature where younger kids could partake too, there could be a setting for a basic set of tools, and then advanced set of tools or settings by age group or something like that. While all the options are nice, especially for more serious and budding artists, so many options may be distracting for more casual young users. Rating: 4/5


Sustainability: Aside from the endless possibility of drawings and self-created books there are 50 book templates. The gallery that features books created by others can also be kinda like a library. So I think this is an app that's definitely got some life to it. Rating: 5/5


Parental Involvement: The sharing aspect of this app is great. What parent hasn't pinned up a drawing or creation by their kid on the refrigerator? With this app, you can do the same and more since it's digital too. It'd be cool if it also had a recording feature so the kids could read the story and you can send to a grandparent or someone and have that more personal feel to it. Also, my suggestion with the prompting with the blank book could help to engage the parents in the writing process. Since we're dealing with slightly older kids, it does take more effort to think of ways to get parents involved. Rating: 4/5


Total: 17 out of 20: 4 stars

Doodlecast for Kids

Doodlecast for Kids was created by zinc Roe, recommended for children 3-5 and is a drawing app that families can do together. After my post about parental misconceptions, I wanted to find an app that really highlighted how apps can encourage family interactions. Doodlecast is a great example of this - putting the interaction itself front and center. Price: $1.99

Device Requirements: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad; Requires iOS 4.3 or later

Developmental Appropriateness: Drawing is great for kids of any age. It's a pretty basic activity that kids like to do. Where this app takes it further and really maximizes on what technology can offer is by recording the drawing so that it captures both the process of the drawing and the conversation that takes place. These recordings can then be shared with other friends and family near and far. The recording feature also encourages kids to tell stories, which promotes literacy. The app also provides a bunch of prompts, or "starting points" to encourage conversations about topics like "clothing" or  adjectives like "stinky". These are great teaching opportunities and are the type of quality interactions that should be occurring.   Rating: 5/5 (I'll stick with the developers' recommendation of 3-5)


Balance: This app is very straightforward. It's very easy to use, with a simple looking design, nothing distracting. The only part where it took me a little bit to figure out was the the while color acts as the eraser. There's an "x" icon, but that clears the whole picture, and that's what I ended up doing when trying to redo something. So maybe a clearer indication of the eraser is needed. Rating 4.5/5


Sustainability: Kids love to draw, so I'm not concerned about this app's sustainability and this is a great way for them to do that anywhere, without having to find materials. I could see for the older kids, that maybe some add-on features like being able to change the background color or having sparkly markers would be enticing. I've definitely seen kids get really excited when you offer them color construction paper (why does orange always get left behind?) or cool new markers. Rating: 4.5/5


Parental Involvement: I think I've already said what I need to say here - this is the best I've seen so far for not only parental, but family involvement. Rating: 5/5


Total: 19 out of 20: five stars