Crayola Art Studio 
by Steven L. Smoot

Crayola Art Studio 2 is made by Micrografx, which is a well- known name in the Desktop Publishing industry. In fact, I've been using their Picture Publisher program for about eight months and have been extremely pleased with the functionality and capability of that program. I mention this because I think Micrografx produces quality products and this program is no exception.

 The minimum requirements for the Windows version are a 386DX with 6MB of RAM, 3MB of hard disk space, a mouse, 256 color display, CD-ROM, and a sound card. My installation was on a Micron P90PCI (90MhZ Pentium) with 24MB of RAM, a Plextor 4X CD-ROM, and Sound Blaster 16. I am running Windows 95 and so I installed Crayola Art Studio 2 by inserting the disc into the CD-ROM drive. The Auto-Play function took over and the install went smoothly.

When I first showed my three year old, Amber, the package she exclaimed that "this is just what I wanted" about a half a dozen times. She was obviously very pleased and excited about getting it. She has been using a computer for several years now and so I let her do most of the work installing the software on the computer.

The program may be divided into three components: Watching Crayola videos, Art Adventure, and Art Studio. The section on watching Crayola videos contains six video sequences which tell the history of Binney and Smith and explain how Crayola Crayons are manufactured. These videos are quite entertaining for young adults. In fact, watching the videos was the first thing Amber wanted to do. She completed five of the six episodes with no pauses in between. After that, she was ready to color.

The next section of the program, called Art Adventure, is designed for children ages 3-6. Clicking on Art Adventure takes you to a mock-up of a room. From here, you can click on any number of icons for either an animated surprise or to go color. But, this really is more than just an automated coloring book. Here you'll find things like Dragon's Birthday Hidden Pictures, Monster Maze Craze, Hidden Treasures, Spaceball Paint by Dot. This is reminiscent of the Highlights for Children magazines you always find in doctor's offices. This section also has Crayola Beginner Paint which not only provides an assortment of colors but also some tools like adding Letters and Words, Drawing Geometric Shapes, Creating Crazy Lines, Adding Stickers, Dropping in Animations, and using Special Effects. There are also various crayons and water color paints and brush patterns that can be used.

One tip for parents: you will want to learn where to turn the sound on andoff because as you click on something, the program verbally tells you what the function is. Children tend to move a mouse continuously and the barrage can get raucous.

 Art Studio is the title of the section for ages 6-12. This section provides a Badge Maker, a Certificate Maker, a Picture Show Maker, Note Paper Maker, Word Puzzler, and Crayola Paint. There are also about 300 stamps (called "stickers"), half of which are animated. The painting tools in Art Studio are a little more complicated and versatile providing children with more tools and flexibility in designing and drawing pictures. To get full benefit from Crayola Art Studio, you’ll need a color printer to save and treasure the art your kids will produce.

I think this is a fine program and would highly recommend it for children as young as age three. There aren't many tools that can spark creativity as much as art. But, through the use of a computer, your children can benefit from technology in creative ways. Though not inexpensive, this program should provide many years of enjoyment and creative learning for children.

 The retail price is $49; street price is closer to $39. Micrografx is in Richardson, Texas, (800) 733-7329.