Tech Tuesday: Crayola ColorStudio HD Review

Kieran loves to color. What 4-year-old doesn’t? But having the ability to create original artwork or color with different media and without a mess? This was something I definitely had to look into!

Installing and Start-up

As with any app, it was incredibly easy to load onto our iPad. When we opened it for the first time, we were given the option to trial the program or to unlock with our ColorStudio iMarker. I love that it has a trial option so you can really get a sense of the program before you buy it! Before we could use it, we had to do a calibration with the pen, and then we were ready to go.

Learning Curve

My 4-year-old and I took the tutorial right away, which I highly recommend. The features are easy for her to use, but certain aspects like finding more colors available, were not immediately obvious to navigate (simply sweep over the colors to scroll through them). There is a slight bit of finesse to using the iMarker that took Kieran some time to master. Because the pen is so chunky, it is a bit unwieldy for her little hands, so having a thinner iMarker would be better in her case. It doesn’t bother her to use the grip she found easiest, but I would prefer a more natural hold, like when she’s using a pencil or crayon (see video below).

Here is a video of Kieran using the Crayola ColorStudio HD for iPad. This is day 4, after three previous sessions with about 30 minutes of use on each day. She’s currently about 5 minutes into her current masterpiece:

Great Features

There are many levels of creativity your child can enjoy with this app. There is a “Coloring Page” with your standard white background and black line art. But, unlike your standard coloring book, the pages are animated! This animation feature can be paused for when you are coloring over that specific area. These coloring pages also have a soundtrack, which can also be muted if you prefer.

"Free Draw" mode. She calls it "Mommy Doggy and Baby Doggy"

Additionally, there is a “Free Draw” section and a “Create Your Own Coloring Page” section. In the latter, you can drag and drop different clip art into an existing scene to make your own custom coloring page.

Once Kieran is done with her pages, you can email them, print them, and even post them on facebook. There is also a “Gallery” section within the app, so she can show off her masterpieces later.

Pros

Kieran really enjoyed being able to switch between different types of media: crayons, watercolor markers, brush tip markers, colored pencils, etc. I could tell she loved the music that would play in the background while she worked (this is something that can be turned off in settings if you prefer a quiet coloring experience). She also really enjoyed the “save” feature, allowing her to store all of her masterpieces to show off to her daddy or the grandparents (or whoever else would look)! I love this app for travel, as it alleviates my fear over finding another melted crayon by the carseat (thank goodness for car seat covers!)

Cons

At times, it seemed the color would not go beyond the borders of the object she was working on, but then sometimes it would. It may have been dependent on the pressure she was applying. I tried it myself and this did seem to be the case. It would be nice if the coloring experience was always like if she had a coloring book, meaning if she went over the lines, so did the color.

Final Thoughts

This is definitely our new “coloring book” for road trips. Although it’s too late for the melted crayon stain left in our car seat covers from previous road trips, at least we won’t be adding any more!

BUY IT: The Crayola ColorStudio HD can be purchased for $29.99 on Griffin’s website. It is recommended for ages 3 and up.

* We did not receive monetary compensation for this review. That’s IT Mommy received the Crayola ColorStudioHD app and package from Griffin free of charge to facilitate this review. This will in no way sway our opinion of the product or service.
 The review is in our own words and is our opinion. Your results and opinions may differ.