Mix two penguins, a polar bear, art appreciation, art instruction, and a dash of humor, and you get a very impressive introduction to art! Creativity Express introduces kids to the basics of art through short movies, animations, interactive activities and quizzes that are so fun and well-designed, you will probably have to pry them off the computer with a crowbar at dinner time. The basic story behind the lessons is that Ruby the penguin is trying to teach Furnace the polar bear and her sister Tickles about art. Thus, they (and the user) will explore different aspects of art through sixteen topical lessons and activities. Lessons cover the language of art, how paint has been made through history, art through time, messages in art, color, warm and cool colors, eyes in art, inspiration, emphasis, line, shape and form, value, movement, portraits, math in art, and museums. Each lesson begins with a short animated movie where Ruby teaches the concept to Tickles and Furnace, complete with examples. Created by a team of former Disney animators, you’ll find the movies themselves are engaging, humorous and top notch. After the introductory movie, the topic is explored through a variety of animations and interactive activities, which the user is free to pick and choose between. You don’t have to watch all of the segments of the lesson, or do all the activities right away. However, if you’re looking to take the quiz at the end, you might be motivated to do them all! The animations largely serve to provide more background on the topic, while the activities actually let you play and explore how a concept is used in art. For example, in the lesson on making paint, some of the animations show the different ways that paint has been made through history, and how some paints were highly toxic. Then, in an activity, you are given different starting materials, including lapis lazuli and mercury, and allowed to explore the methods (rinsing, grinding, heating or blending) to see which process results in an actual pigment. In the lesson on value, activities use different artworks along with a “value-finder” for you to locate the lightest and darkest areas of a painting. And in the lesson on eyes, there are several activities which let you play with the pupils, eyelids, and eyebrows on different subjects to see how the shapes of the eyes create a mood. I could really go on and on, there are so many amazing activities here, but I’ll leave it at that for now. Additional parts to each lesson are the quizzes and “Creativity Builders.” Quizzes ask several questions about the topic, and after providing correct answers, users are rewarded with “puzzle pieces” which they can collect and assemble, and artist cards. The artist cards are kept in a collection organized by artistic period, and new cards will appear in the correct era. By clicking on the card, kids can read some short biographical information about the artist. Creativity Builders are art projects and lessons that kids can choose to do after the lesson. Often several choices are offered, all related to the topic explored. These are not computer-related activities, but good, old-fashioned break-out-the-art-supplies projects where kids explore color, design, and drawing in their own works. Additional nice features include an extensive glossary of terms, and a gallery where all the paintings used in the lessons are stored. Kids can also import their own digital artwork into a portfolio just for their works.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d have to give this a 9 ½. It’s so fun and engaging that the lessons don’t seem like work at all, and the explanations and examples are well-designed and make understanding tricky concepts like value easy. In my opinion, it’s well worth the money; the program could be used as the core of a complete curriculum with younger children - just add some child-friendly art appreciation books or artist biographies. It would also make a meaty supplement to an upper elementary/middle school art curriculum, and you could use the computer-based lessons as springboards for further reading and art explorations. Either way, I think the whole family will enjoy it! System requirements: Windows XP or Vista with Pentium 4.1 GHz or faster processor and CD-ROM drive; Macintosh OS X 10.2.8 or higher, Power Macintosh G4 1 GHz or faster processor and CD-ROM drive. - Jess

Customer Reviews

 
Kellie A. from Spring Hill, TN wrote the following on 01/18/2009:
What a fantastic product! I didn't think I could get my non-artistic son interested in any kind of art instruction, but this has changed everything for him. He has gone from grumbling and complaining about art lessons to begging to be able to use this CD ROM. He regularly wants to try the actual hands-on projects after the lessons, and our whole family has benefited from the art history facts that he now throws out from time to time. All I had to do to get him started was load the cd and show him how to use it...which has been important since I'm also homeschooling a middle schooler (who also likes to go through the lessons with her brother) and caring for a newborn. For roughly $30, this was a great purchase for our family and our homeschool!

 
Teresa D. from Round Rock Texas wrote the following on 05/27/2009:
The RR catalog description of 'Creativity Express' was extremely thorough so I hesitate to add to it. I think my review may be helpful for a different aspect of purchasing, so I continue. I purchased this art instruction CD-ROM because of homeschool mom guilt. Am I giving the kids all the classes they would enjoy in a 'regular school?' Are they 'missing out' because they aren't getting art instruction by a professional artist? This was compounded by the fact that my six year old son seems to get a great deal of enjoyment from drawing- technical drawings of planes, etc. but also figures. My basic drawing skills were about exhausted on him already and we can't afford art lessons. So I turned to RR to see what they had. I figured $25 was a decent price, and I hoped that I wouldn't be annoyed by a penguin and a polar bear discussing art... I was greatly pleased. My kids aren't allowed to watch tv when they wake up, so now when I come out for my coffee, they are on the computer learning about art. When I am in the kitchen preparing dinner, I am learning from just overhearing their lessons. The characters are not annoying or repetitive, the 'classes' are easily selected and navigated, and the skills are easily practiced on paper. They learn alot of art history and interesting facts, and usable skills for their own art projects. The lessons have come up in the car and at bedtime so I can tell that they are interesting and informative enough to stick in their little brains past the time on the computer. The 6 and 8 year olds are 'doing' the lessons and the 3 year old is sitting beside them, laughing and learning as well. My homeschool mom guilt has evaporated-- my son taught me about hot and cool colors! He's not missing out on anything! I think this CD-ROM is great for a number of uses-- you could monitor your child and ensure that they do each lesson, such as one a week, and you'd get about a year of lessons. You could just let them do art lessons on the 'give-it-up days' that we all have. You could let them use it instead of playing mindless games on the computer. It could be a summer class to keep them thinking. I am really glad that I purchased this product, and my kids say that it is "really cool and fun and funny."