Photo Kit Junior
© 2004 APTE, Inc.
If you teach young children (preschool through elementary) and use a digital camera, keep reading. This playful photo editor/organizer lets children "play" with pictures using editing tools and a variety of games. Getting the pictures into the program can be tricky; it's a two step process, requiring navigating some Windows menus. The management system is very classroom friendly, however, making it easy to set up groups of photos for each child in your classroom. This software includes six activity centers -- a Book Center, Picture Show, Art Center, Puppet Show, Special Effects and Games and Puzzles. For example, in the photo editor, a photo can be selected, and then drawn on, cut in parts, stretched; and then saved and printed. Note that you'll want to have a digital camera, however, to get the most out of the program. There's also a nice set of eight different simple but fun games that you can play with the pictures, such as concentration, tic tac toe, and so on. Weaknesses include an overly chatty narrator, many cluttered screens, and a complex system for adding pictures that requires navigating around Windows. All things considered, while it's not perfect, this is a program that could become a trusted classroom companion.
$64.95, Windows XP
Teaches: creativity, photography, reading, writing