A free kids' drawing app that actually lets kids draw

My five year old has spent the half hour or so playing around with a new free kids drawing app called Kid Van Gogh, and I'll do the best job I can explaining it, considering I can't get my iPhone out of her hands.

 

What seems to differentiate the Kid Van Gogh drawing app for iOS from kids' art apps is, first of all, it's all about free form drawing, not coloring in existing pages or templates. I really appreciate that. There are friendly audio prompts that ask you to do things like write your name, or ask you what color you want--helpful for kids who aren't strong readers yet.

The other thing that's different is the ability to draw not just on a blank canvas, but over existing photos. My daughter is having a blast finding photos of her best friend and putting hearts and squiggles all over it; or taking pictures of my feet right now.

(Maybe she'll fill in the chipped nail polish? Nope...she drew a yellow crown on my toes. Princess feet!)

But there's one big caveat in two out of the four drawing options--the ability to create games or animations with your drawings looks great, but it's not entirely ready for prime time at this early date--you click it and it takes you to Safari, asks you to add that page to your home screen, and from there you can see the animations. Then it requires going back to the original app through your home screen for kids to play which . . . kind of a pain.

Otherwise, two out of the four options make this a really a nice free app for preschoolers or even a little older. But it might not be free for long--grab it while you can. And hopefully they'll smooth out some of the animation functionality in the next gen. -Liz

Download the free Kid Van Gogh drawing app for iOS from iTunes

Find More: Apps for iOS, Apps for kids, Educational!, Free or close to it