 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Art Academy
- Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi
- Price: $19.99
- Genre: Art
Common Sense Media says
Thorough, fun lessons will genuinely help your art.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that Art Academy is more than just a video game, it is a fun art tutorial. Following these lessons can genuinely help kids learn about creating art. These are not dumbed-down, oversimplified lessons, though. Everything is thoroughly explained and every technique is demonstrated clearly, but very young kids may likely find the textual lessons over their heads.
What kids can learn
Kids can pick up a great deal of in-depth knowledge and expert tips about creating quality artwork. This is not so much a game as it is a virtual art course. Through 10 incredibly detailed lessons (and several mini-lessons in between), kids can learn about sketching and painting techniques such as shading, adding perspective, color mixing, and much more. During lessons, kids are introduced to famous artists and the techniques associated with them. Not really a game, Art Academy feels like what you'd expect from a beginners' course at a real-world art school.
Skills
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Creativitycombining knowledge, imagination, making new creations
- Emotional Development
- Health & Fitness
- Responsibility & Ethics
- Self-Directioneffort, self-assessment, self-reflection
- Tech Skillsdigital creation, using and applying technology
- Thinking & Reasoning
What's it about?
In 10 somewhat lengthy lessons (plus a number of quicker mini-lessons), Art Academy can make you a better artist. Starting with the basics of line drawing and moving on to shading, mixing colors, and everything in between, your virtual tutor, Vince (a Leonardo Da Vinci look-alike), not only tells you how to hone your artistic skills, he also demonstrates, stroke for stroke, how to do everything. Once you've got all the various techniques under your belt, you can create art as you wish -- and then save pictures to your gallery, adorned by the frame of your choice.
Is it any good?
What makes Art Academy such a wonderfully helpful tool is the way it not only tells you what to do, but shows you. After Vince explains how to use intersecting lines to create cross-hatch shading, you get to watch -- in close-up -- exactly how his brush or pencil moves to create those intersecting lines. The game might not be able to make you a great artist, but if you truly pay attention and follow these lessons, you can't help but learn a few things along the way. The tools all work wonderfully, and in very realistic manners. You can choose from multiple different brushes and pencils and even choose to hold a pencil at different angles. The amount of paint coming off a brush will decrease until you "re-dip" and start a new stroke. The DS screen makes for a very tiny canvas, but Art Academy doesn't intend for you to work only in this virtual format -- the game actually tells you to take what you've learned and use it in real life.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the value of art. Why do we need art in the world? In what ways does art make the world a better place? Can you imagine a world without art?
What kind of things do you like to draw and paint? Ask kids their reasoning behind the pictures they make.
What kids can learn
Kids can pick up a great deal of in-depth knowledge and expert tips about creating quality artwork. This is not so much a game as it is a virtual art course. Through 10 incredibly detailed lessons (and several mini-lessons in between), kids can learn about sketching and painting techniques such as shading, adding perspective, color mixing, and much more. During lessons, kids are introduced to famous artists and the techniques associated with them. Not really a game, Art Academy feels like what you'd expect from a beginners' course at a real-world art school.
Subjects
- Arts: drawing, painting
- Hobbies:
- Language & Reading:
- Math:
- Science:
- Social Studies:
Skills
- Collaboration:
- Communication:
- Creativity: combining knowledge, imagination, making new creations
- Emotional Development:
- Health & Fitness:
- Responsibility & Ethics:
- Self-Direction: effort, self-assessment, self-reflection
- Tech Skills: digital creation, using and applying technology
- Thinking & Reasoning:
How kids will learn
The virtual instructor demonstrates -- stroke by stroke -- the creation of a sketch or painting, all the while explaining what he's doing and why. Kids then duplicate the image, step by step. This method of breaking down a picture into small parts allows kids to see exactly what they need to do to create pictures that are similar. Once kids have a technique under their belt, they can apply it to create their own original art and then save it. The game can’t judge your art, though, so kids will need to rate and assess their own development.
How parents can help
- View your kid's library of saved artwork; add your own comments and compliments.
- Provide access to art supplies at home, so your kid can continue to create offline.
- Take kids to art museums. Let them see art where some of the techniques they're learning have been put into practice.
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- Teens & kids
AGE
If you are a die-hard gamer, this is NOT for you!!!
I bought this game recently for a long car trip, and I, as a 14-year-old that it is EPIC (in my own way)!!! I still play on the Metallic Rose-colored Nintendo DS Lite that my mom bought for me at the local Walmart the day after I got out of the sixth grade, so I don't have the ability of the camera that is included in the DSi/XL/3DS, but it's not the end of the world. (I honestly don't care). I like the fact that you can use the free paint and create whatever you feel like, but the only disadvantage is that once you switch from pencil to paints, you CANNOT switch back to pencil (which is a piece of advice for people who are complaining that they can't swich back to pencil once they go to paint without starting over or saving the current painting. But, I've done the same thing in art class). And, this would make an excelent Wii game. MY FAVORITE!!!
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AGE
A fantastic art instructor WILL help you with art.
I was never a great artist, until I saw this game.
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AGE
art academy review
very good would definatly buy aga.in, excellent has high educational values
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AGE
fabulous for learning to draw and paint
My 10 year old loves playing this game and has picked up many great tips she now uses in her own art.
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| Platforms: | Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi |
| Available online? | Not available online |
| Genre: | Art |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
| Release date: | October 25, 2010 |
| Price: | $19.99 |
| ESRB rating: | E for (No Descriptors) |
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