As a Mom & former school teacher, I sincerely believe in the philosophy behind this series. Children need to THINK to create art! Through their individual ideas and the creative process they develop in numerous other ways; from fine motor, to impulse control to reasoning and more. I personally feel that the best part of this app is that it addresses the one critical part of childrens’ personal growth which is required for them to become young problem solvers & innovators. Kids need to be allowed the freedom to be FREETHINKERS, instead of just filling in the blanks with a ‘tap’ on a screen. This app is a perfect outlet for a child’s personal expression.
Ms. Striker’s ACB exercises not only promote free thinking and creativity in children, but they also intentionally oppose the “stay within the lines” mentality. The app even allows kids to erase parts of the author’s drawings if they choose to! The activites are a fantastic way to keep kids engaged, while offering them a concrete means to show their individuality! In the app, the child is first offered an idea or question to start them thinking. Next the child has the ability to manipulate various colors, tints, shades and drawing utensils. They can make specific changes as well as corrections instead of a general ‘undo’ tab. They can even blend colors and mix textures! The app brings art to the child’s fingertips in an intuitive manner, as well as making it convenient & easily accessible anywhere... anytime! Each unique final piece of artwork can be put into the child’s personal online gallery, printed for display or even shared on social media!
In addition to all of these features and benefits, the app also links the drawing topics to related children’s literature. This easily allows for extension activities or connections to a theme. You really can tell that this app was created by a teacher and not a tech company! As a personal sidebar, Ms. Striker’s starter questions like “If you could fly your own airplane, where would you go?” have begun some amazing dinnertime conversations for our family! It would be simple to connect an ACB activity with a classroom discussion or possibly an online forum.
I personally have the books as well as the app. Both my 8yr old (artist) & 12yr old (athlete) truly enjoy them. Through the exercises, my kids are challenged to look at things in an open-ended way which requires THEM to become the author of THEIR own ‘story’ through art. It’s so much fun for my husband and I to hear our children’s different perspectives on the questions & statements given by the app. THERE ARE NO WRONG ANSWERS and my kids love that! The concepts offered in the app are truly thought provoking. We often hear our kids in their rooms talking about their ideas to each other as they work. The best part of the process is when we get to see each child’s unique results and listen to WHY they designed what they chose to. Our kids also really enjoy us taking time out to slow down, look at their work & listen to their opinions, preferences, reasoning and even their values. The ANTI-Coloring Book exercises have become springboards for so many insights into our children’s hearts & minds. It goes without saying that this app has become invaluable to us as a family.
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Melissa Hornbein
PillaG00se
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