The Archives
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03.13.13We can’t get enough of the IdentiKat iPad app for kidsOur youngest son is still a bit grabby for our cats to let him anywhere near them. Thankfully, there's iPad app IdentiKat to fill his need for feline interaction. It's a wonderful creative app from developer Ovolab that gets kids to make their own cats from a range of virtual household objects: "Colored buttons, old brooches, fine fabrics... the things you'd find in grandma's secret drawer..." It's a mixture of puzzles – a section called KatCut – and a free-play KatLab part where children get creative. The artwork comes from artist Cristina Làstrego Testa, and there are catty sound effects to add to ...
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02.25.13Puppet Workshop – Creativity App for Kids comes to iPadSometimes the simplest ideas are the best – especially when they’re as well-executed, colourful and easy to use as Puppet Workshop – Creativity App for Kids. Select a glove or sock from one of the 20 different options, then bring it to life with more than 150 accessories such as buttons, ribbons, pegs, zips and so on, to make a truly unique character. Give your puppet a name, then select a background - there are 18 provided, or you can use one of your own photos. Finally, take a snap-shot of your masterpiece using the camera icon. This image then appears in your ...
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02.11.13Can this app teach your kids to play safe with your device?We like the idea behind this app, which has been put together to help parents teach kids how to treat their device with the respect and care it needs, via a series of games and activities. There are six different activities in all, including puzzles, drawing and tapping games. Four of these have different levels of difficulty, which will help to keep older children amused too. There is also a parents’ section with some advice on how to manage your kids’ time on tablets and protect yourself (and them) from in app purchases (IAPs). Continue Reading...
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01.04.13Da Vinci – History app gets arty for kids on iPadWe've seen several children's apps in recent times that want to introduce classic artworks to kids: Play With Leonardo da Vinci, PlayART by Tapook and MoMA Art Lab being three good examples. Those all focused on interacting with art to make new creations. New iPad app Da Vinci - History is more about finding out about one of the world's most famous artists, Leonardo da Vinci. It's the result of a partnership between publisher Quelle Histoire Editions and French museums body Réunion des Musées Nationaux, so you can trust they know their arty onions. Continue Reading...
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12.21.12Get creative with Leonardo da Vinci and PlayART X’MAS iPad appsChildren and art don't always mix well. I remember visiting the Louvre in Paris on a school trip, and having a spectacularly-angry teacher due to the fact that 15 boys were loudly protesting their boredom rather than gazing at the Mona Lisa. We were horrible little tykes, of course. But one of the interesting things in 2012 is the idea of using apps as a way to make art more immediately engaging for children. Two new examples: Play With Leonardo da Vinci and PlayArt X'MAS, which were both released for iPad this week. Continue Reading...
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09.28.12Crayola DigiTools iPad apps create 3D, Airbrush and Effects artworksUpdate: Read our newer story for news on the Crayola DigiTools Ultra Pack going on sale in the UK. Crayons brand Crayola is a veteran of this children's apps lark now: we've written about its Paint & Create, Silly Face Swaps and Crayola: Ruckus Reader apps in the last year. Now it's trying something new on iPad. That something is Crayola DigiTools, which the company reckons will be "the next generation of digital art". Due to be launched this side of Christmas, they're physical packs of drawing tools, designed to be used on an iPad screen with companion apps. The first three apps ...
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07.02.12PlayART iPad app shows kids the Monet (and the Van Gogh, Cezanne…)Fact: our two children's artworks are way better than anything classic artists came up with. It's the way they put big smiley mouths on everything, and also the seven-eyed monsters. One day, auction houses will agree with us. Possibly. PlayART by Tapook is a new iPad app that aims to unite the worlds of classic art and children's creativity, though. It's free, and aims to encourage "children’s creativity through a playful and engaging activity of composition". The composition being based on works by Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Henri Rousseau and Paul Klee. The idea: your child takes objects and shapes ...
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06.08.12Museum of Modern Art launches Art Lab iPad appThere are plenty of creative iPad apps that let kids play with sound and images, but how many of them feature the artworks of Henri Matisse? A new app called MoMA Art Lab does. It's the work of the Museum of Modern Art, one of the world's most famous museums. The idea behind its app is to help children and their families "explore how artists use line, shape, and color, and create your own artwork inspired by MoMA’s collection". This means making shape poems, sound compositions and drawings, which can then be saved and shared with the museum itself, or with other ...
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05.16.12Color Vacuum iPhone app teaches kids the theory of coloursThe theory of colours? For most children, that theory concerns whether to paint the spotless white living-room wall blue, red or green before a parent catches them. Thankfully, new app Color Vacuum is less messy, but just as creative. It's the work of a new developer called Curious Hat, launched by a pair of veterans from the animated movies world, having worked on the likes of Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda. High credentials indeed, and we like the cut of their jib too: the company is building apps based on a fictional inventor from the 19th century called Professor Vapori. Continue ...
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02.13.12Colorforms app wants to create an arty iPad RevolutionBeing Brits, we're not familiar with the Colorforms brand, although apparently it's been going strong for 60 years, with a focus on visual creativity toys for children. We're impressed by its new Colorforms Revolution app though. It's a free download for iPad, and aims to get your children creating collage images using shapes, colours, patterns and backgrounds – with the twist that these backgrounds can be their own photos if they want. Shapes can be dragged and tapped to change their size, orientation and colour, meaning there is plenty of scope for creativity for older children, yet not that high a complexity bar ...
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