Cost: Free/9.95 for additional coloring kits
Age Range: 2-10 officially, but younger children and adults seem to love it too.
Official URL: http://www.mycoloringthing.com
Rating:

My Coloring thing is the greatest idea for a creative computer idea for kids since sliced bread. If you’ve read my prior reviews, you know it takes a lot to impress me and I am impressed. If you’re looking for a safe, fun activity your kids can use on a PC that will also hone their hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills, My Coloring Thing is a must have for your household.

WHAT IT IS

My Coloring Thing is easy to use “coloring book” software for kids. It is a free download with two images to color, or you can buy one of the add-on coloring kits. It works on Mac and Windows.

COLORING KITS

MyColoringThing currently has two coloring kits available: Zoo Animals and Musical Instruments. More coloring kits are scheduled for release in December. Each coloring kit has 10 images, 10 songs and 10 “Fun Facts”. The music is composed by Broadway’s Michael Valenti.

Zoo Animals

The Zoo Animals coloring kit contains 10 animals. Each animal has it’s own musical theme that plays while you paint the image. Amazingly, the music seems to match the animal. The elephant is matched with very BIG music, the monkey’s music is playful and the flamingo’s peaceful and serene. The music has a classical but contemporary sound that is relaxing but not boring. There are 24 different colors to choose from on the pallet and 5 different brush sizes.

In addition to the coloring feature, each animal has a screen of “fun factsâ€? with a detailed description of the animal, its habitat and origin. A narrator reads the text to your child and they can easily follow along if they’re learning to read.

Musical Instruments

The Musical Instruments coloring kit has a menu of 10 instruments. The same coloring pallet and brush selections are available. Each instrument has excellent detail and nice background features to paint as well. These include bubbles, wavy lines and floating clouds. As you color the picture, music from the corresponding instrument plays in the background.

The “fun facts� for the musical instrument kit tells about each instrument, how it is played and other fun details. As with the other kits, a narrator adds to the learning experience by reading the text to the user.

QUALITY

The quality of the images in each of the coloring packages I’ve tried is superb. I have used the Zoo Animals, Musical Instruments and Dog Sampler. All of the drawings are crisp, clear and easy to recognize. The narration is succinct and easy to understand and follows along with the words carefully. The “fun factsâ€? are detailed and accurate, making this creative toy a helpful learning experience as well.

EASE OF USE

This program is by far one of the easiest I have used and my 4-year-old daughter has no problem maneuvering the paint brush to create her personal masterpiece. The parental controls are self explanatory. There is a control switch that enables you to easily turn the music feature on or off. An on-screen keyboard makes it so that you can unplug the keyboard when you walk away for even more security.

FEATURES

My Coloring Thing is loaded with user friendly features. The parental controls lock your little user out of anything else on your computer, requiring a password to exit the program. You can create multiple users within the program so each of your children (or you yourself!) can have your own set of coloring sheets to enjoy. There is an “erase canvas� switch on the screen so if you want to start over at any time, you can. The print feature allows for manual coloring pages as well. You can make beautiful coloring sheets for your child to use with regular crayons while listening to the music or just on the go.

After a sheet has been colored, you can print out your child’s masterpiece from the program, or export it to another location on your computer. My Coloring Thing also provides a special service where you can send them your finished work electronically and they will make it into a poster print that you can frame and hang. A poster print colored by your child would be perfect decoration for a child’s room or playroom. As a bonus, it preserves their artwork for years to come in a form that is much more usable than coloring sheets in a box of keepsakes.

ISSUES/NITPICKS

Honestly with this product I have only one small nitpick. The print feature is easy to find and easy to use, but it is not simple to figure out how to print only one coloring sheet. I clicked “print selection� with a specific sheet on the screen and it still printed all 10. To print only one coloring sheet, you have to know which number it is on the list. If it is number 5, you tell the print screen to print “page 5 to page 5� and that will limit it to one sheet.

THE BOTTOM LINE

My Coloring Thing is the most innovative and fun way to encourage your child’s creativity that I have seen in a long time. With its user friendly features, parental controls and wide variety of backgrounds to paint, it will keep you and your child entertained for hours on end. As a bonus, it can be a wonderful way for grown-ups to relax at the end of a busy day. Something about putting the colors between the lines while listening to the beautiful classical music is soothing and revitalizing. I am addicted to it personally and would recommend it to any family as a marvelous addition to your software collection.