kiddo

Kids nowadays start using the computer at a young age, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are tons of educational applications which aim to train the little human from multiple points of view. For instance, kiddo comes as a simple drawing tool to enhance imagination with various brush styles and possibility to print the design in the end.

The application starts off with a large empty canvas and a compact set of tools so most space is dedicated to drawing. The window can be resized and maximized for more comfort. Feedback is instantly delivered because the default drawing method saves you the effort of pressing any buttons to draw, and mouse movement is enough to leave a colored trail.

Three types of brushes are at your disposal, such as snowy trees, colored squares, and space images, each with several variations for better more variety in drawing sessions. Input method can be left to the default configuration, or switched to a normal mode where every press of the left mouse button only places an instance of the brush shape.

All drawings end up colored one way or another. Unfortunately, there’s no control over the color used, with the application automatically cycling through a standard set with every bit of paint you apply. For instance, drawing a continuous line can be a pretty psychedelic experience, even if you simply draw trees or simple squares.

As far as export options are concerned, the only good outcome is through a connected printer. There’s no built-in option to save a picture to file, but virtual printers can be used as a method of bypassing this inconvenience.

Bottom line is that kiddo comes with good intentions, aiming to give youngsters a little fun time on the computer. Unfortunately, the rough design and lack of control over color switching makes the whole experience wear off pretty fast.