When I was setting up the computers for the new school year, I found
that my free, go to, paint program, Tux Paint, no longer runs on the newer OS (El Capitan or Sierra).
I had been hopeful that over the summer someone would take on the task of
updating the free program, but it never happened. I contemplated purchasing a
software-based paint program, however, the cost became too big too fast.
ABCya Paint – Geared towards younger students requiring less of a
learning curve. Various brushes, stickers, and backgrounds are available. It
can be a little difficult to follow where one is painting since the brush icon
appears and moves where the pointer is normally. Pictures can be saved as a
.png and reimported as a background in the event that the student needs to work
on the project later. One downside to the saving and reimporting process is that
the imported drawing cannot be further edited or erased. Students would need to
paint over it to “modify” it.
ABCyaStory Maker – This is similar to the ABCya Paint referenced above except that half
the page is the drawing and the other half is four lines for writing/typing out
the story or description. This site is an excellent option for younger students
that only write short stories or sentences.
Sketchpad – Easy to use browser based paint website. It has a
sophisticated side with layers and added tools. The advantages of this site are
plentiful including multiple step by step undos, some built-in clipart, the
ability to upload your own images, provision for later editing entered text, and
downloading of drawings in multiple formats or their saving to work on at
another time.
Our
favorite of the three is Sketchpad. Students have been able to quickly figure
out how to use the tools and create appealing projects. I found the ability to
duplicate part of a drawing useful when the Kindergarteners were creating a
counting book, which needed many of the same image. Plus, the ability to easily
undo student actions is priceless with younger students. We do use ABCya Story
Maker with our Kindergarteners during writing time, but find the site to be not
advanced enough for the older students. 