Protozone — Wonderful Art Software for kids and SO MUCH more!

by Jenny Mannion
on 02.10.08
10-11, 12 and up, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7, 7-8, 8-9, 9-10, Grade school, adult, art
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I walked into my daughter’s preschool the other day and immediately noticed the beautiful image on the computer screen. It looked like a Kaleidoscope and one of my daughter’s classmates was creating a beautiful design on it. I asked her teacher more about it, spent some time watching the children explore and went home to find out more. What a wonderful program Kaleidodraw is. I was so happy to find that the company that put it out “Protozone” has 2 other programs that are just as exceptional (KaleidoPix and the Collage Machine) and also had so much more to offer. All three programs won the American Library Association Great Interactive Software Award for 2008 and Kaleidodraw and Collage Machine have earned this award and others before. They also have a beautiful Dollhouse Program that I know I will be buying for my daughter.

I went to the Protozone site and was THRILLED to see not only do they offer 4 amazing software Cds but also have a great site that is interactive and very kid friendly. Protozone has designed software and exhibits for museums, hospitals, school and libraries. These programs and exhibits are not only dazzling to look at but allow creativity to be nurtured and are educational. They have a few different areas to explore on their site and I have to admit I spent QUITE a bit of time there…. I KNOW it’s for kids right? Well… I think anyone from ages 4 on up would find things here to keep them playing and mesmerized for QUITE a while! They have an area to look at some of their amazing exhibits that they have built and I do recommend doing this so you can see JUST how impressive this company is. Onto the interactive areas of their site — there are quite a few! Whether it be exploring the Games and Puzzles, the Art Machines, the 3D Construction or the Pattern Maker — you will have a hard time leaving this site. The best thing is there are no ads for the kids to click on so you can feel confident that it is a safe environment as well. My son already has a favorite game Bee Bopper that he immediately said was “addicting” and sat down to play until he got better and better.

Now onto the games to buy! There is a Dollhouse Demo Video for the Dollhouse software that is a must see! Not only can you design furniture, wallpapers, quilts, rugs and other household items but you also have the capability of printing for use in your own doll house at home.

KaleidoDraw which is the first program I saw has a demo version available on the site that is fun and allows you to see some of the possibilities of creations. The description of Kaleidodraw from the site is as follows, “Discovering and exploring patterns is a path to understanding how the world works. KaleidoDraw repeats drawings around a point, spinning out ROSETTE PATTERNS, the kind you see in snowflakes, flowers, starfish, rose windows, plates, hubcaps… even faces! With a wide variety of PALETTES from which to choose, artists can make magic by drawing with colorful objects selected for the symmetries that they display. SAVE and PRINT functions allow artists to keep their creations for posterity, use them in other programs, email to a grandparent, make scrapbooks & iron on transfers & greeting cards. The possibilities are as endless as the program.”

The Collage Machine has a demo available that allows you to play with a sampling of the images and features. The description from the site states, “Children 5 and up can create amazing collages from a library of over 500 pictures and graphics or add their own photos. With Collage Machine the possibilities are endless . . . choose and move the images, re-size and draw on them, layer them overlap or fade them . . . All creations can be saved and printed as note cards or for framing, emailing, scrap booking and anything else you can think of. Turn collages into movies with the click of a button. ” While this says ages 5 and up I certainly believe preschoolers could have fun with it as well but they might need some assistance.

The description of KaleidoPix from Protozone is “Take a look at the world through a virtual kaleidoscope. Children 5 + are intuitively led to create beautiful patterns from their own photos or from dozens of pictures and images in the program. In minutes, they’ll be making amazing masterpieces and exploring the worlds of ART, SCIENCE & SYMMETRY. Save and print for book covers, wrapping paper, fabric design and emailing to friends. The only limit is your imagination. Whatever you do, KaleidoPix makes it look cool and it makes movies, too!”. How cool would it be to wrap presents in wrapping paper designed by your child? I think this, along with all their other software is truly an amazing addition to children’s software!

A BIG thank you goes to Al Jarnow and James Metcalf for creating Protozone and all that it encompasses. Protozone is also available to license and customize existing software for museums and other exhibits. Protozone, you are an inspiration and I hope others use you as example to see that software for kids can be fun, safe and inspire creativity and learning all at the same time. I am grateful for all that you have created and know my children and I will have tons of fun enjoying your work.

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