Dora the Explorer Coloring Adventures (iPad)

$4.99, iPad (29.1 MB)

Teaches: coloring, creativity, Spanish

CTR Rating: 46%

CTR Review

This touch screen coloring book looks good at first, but has some primitive features you should know about before spending the $5 for your young Dora fan. Children first choose one of five backgrounds, and can then rotate between three sets of tools: Crayons (seven colors, plus a magic "rainbow" crayon which paints the screen automatically); Stickers (about 60, featuring mostly Dora-themed items); and Backgrounds (representing each season). When each crayon is touched, you hear the word in Spanish; a nice touch. Other features include three levels of zoom, either on the background, or on a specific sticker, which is nice for getting into the crevices. Weaknesses include; continually looping music that can't be changed, which is an unforgivable design mistake for any type of creativity experience, and a menu system that isn't obvious to a preschooler (or an adult). For example, putting the three sets of tools on a carousal-style menu makes them hard to find. In addition, you can't easily erase a mistake or simply start a picture from scratch. Pictures can be saved to your photo library at any time. All in all, even the Dora theme can't save this poorly designed electronic coloring book. Created by Chewy Software http://www.chewysoftware.net/ for Nickelodeon.