Wednesday, April 11, 2012

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.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.