X-TuxPaint

X-TuxPaint is a straightforward program dedicated for kids to develop and improve their creative skills, by drawing on a board using heart, flower, cat, and geometrically shaped brushes, as well as an extensive color palette.

As the app can be run directly without a prior setup, means it can be carried with you on a thumb disk, and opened from any location on any computer. It comes in handy when you want a bit of time for yourself, and want your child to do something educational yet entertaining.

The interface is self-explanatory and approachable, with all the options in plain sight, accompanied by fun noises to keep your kid entertained.  You have the painting tools, text box, magic wand, and eraser on the left, while on the right, you can find the brush gallery, and the color palette, at the bottom.

Sadly, the noises can become quite annoying after some time, and they can't be turned off. The stamp function offers a wide collection of animals and birds that are followed by the animal's natural sound, and it's name pronounced by a virtual voice.

You have the option to insert lines and unite them creating unique forms, as well as add geometrical shapes that can be filled or empty, such as square, rectangle, ellipse, triangle or pentagon. What's more, you can also type in text in custom font types and colors, as well as use the magic wand to design impressive effects (bricks, color shift, chalk, drip).

The eraser helps you delete unwanted items, and undo your creation to the previous one if you're not happy with how it looks. Unfortunately, the save function only saves the progress so you won't lose it when you access the app again, but doesn't offer the choice to store it on the computer as an image.

Taking everything into account, X-TuxPaint is a reliable and interactive program especially for the children to create unique drawings using different brushes, animal stamps, and give their work a spark of ingenuity with the aid of the magic wand. The output can't be saved to the PC.