Mac Program Is Truly Child’s Play
I don’t often review children’s software, but three people whose opinion I respect have persuaded me to write about a Macintosh graphics program designed especially for kids.
Katherine Magid (soon to be 7 years old) says Kid Pix “is neat because you can do all different types of things.” William, my 4-year-old, just says, “I like it.” My wife, Patti, who barely tolerates computers, actually encourages the kids to play with this program because it stimulates their creativity.
Kid Pix, from Broderbund, allows children to create their own paintings, graphics or other illustrations. It is a lot easier to use than painting programs designed for adults. Just as important, the program offers lots of extra goodies, including sounds, predrawn images and plenty of special effects.
To begin with, the entire painting fits on a single screen. No need to fool around with scroll bars or arrows to maneuver your picture. All the graphic tools are presented as icons, and the sounds, which emanate from the Mac’s speaker, make the program more fun and help reinforce learning.
You can actually hear the paint gurgle as it is poured from its can. The pencil makes a faint sound as you drag it about the screen. You move objects from place to place via a “moving van” whose engine roars when it starts and whose brakes screech when it comes to a halt.
There is no need to use the keyboard. Kids can use the mouse to select letters and numbers from the screen. When you select a letter or number, the program reads it aloud in either English or Spanish.
You can even add your own sounds if your Mac is equipped with a microphone. The Mac LC and SI come with a microphone. Owners of other Macs can add sound input via the MacRecorder from Farallon Computing in Emeryville, Calif., (415) 596-9100.
As soon as you select a drawing tool from the left side of the screen, several option icons appear at the bottom. Selecting the “wacky pencil,” for example, causes the bottom line to display a series of different line widths and patterns. The same is true with the line, circle and rectangle icon. You select the first icon, choose an option from the icons that appear on the bottom row and start to draw. The method provides lots of options without having to display complicated menus. People who design adult productivity programs could learn from this program.
The “wacky brush” paints in a variety of ways, depending on which option you select. You can paint in fuzzy lines, pine needles, spray paint, letters, stars and several other “media.” A magnifying glass option causes the paintbrush to enlarge anything under it.
A 3-D icon causes the brush to create a very interesting three-dimensional line. The kaleidoscope makes it possible for someone as untalented as I to create attractive symmetrical drawings. One icon causes the paintbrush to drip as you move it about the screen.
Every Macintosh program has an “undo” command. This one, called the “undo guy,” says “oh no,” “oops” or some other statement when you press on him. Just about all paint programs have an erase feature, but this one has several optional erasers, including a firecracker that explodes the image into oblivion.
The program works on both color and black-and-white Macs and prints in color on the Apple ImageWriter II printer.
Kid Pix has a suggested retail price of $49.95. The company has plans for an MS-DOS version for IBM and compatible machines, to be ready this fall. Broderbund, which is based in San Rafael, Calif., can be reached at (800) 521-6263 or (415) 492-3200.
Computer File welcomes readers’ comments but regrets that the authors cannot respond individually to letters. Write to Lawrence J. Magid, P.O. Box 620477, Woodside, Calif. 94062, or contact the L. Magid account on the MCI electronic mail system.
