Screenshot (click to view a larger version):

Tuxpaint is an excellent quality kids painting program. Even more remarkable is that it is completely free!

It is maintained by a group of volunteers as an "open source" project where anyone who can program computers can improve it and add new features.

It is recommended for age 3 and upward but all my kids (ages 1 to 6) love it. It is easy to control with large icons and cursors, bright colours, and sound. The sound can be turned off, luckily, as can the ability to print or even accidently press the "exit" icon. It can also be started covering the whole screen rather than just in a window where little hands can cause the mouse to wander.

My kids were able to draw bright, lively pictures within minutes once I'd explained what the icons were. The program supplies a range of painting tools that cover all abilities. My older kids particularly loved the simple painting effects (like glitter and rainbows) and being able to select and add pictures (called "stamps" in Tuxpaint) all over their drawings.

My rating:

10/10

You can download it from the website shown in "Web address" above by clicking on the Download menu item on the left hand side of that webpage.

In fact, we liked the program so much that we have created a web-based painting program inspired by it!! Follow this link... for a preview.