iLuv Drawing Animals by Learn With Fun Apps – Review and Giveaway

Reviewed by Mary

iLuv Drawing Animals is an iPad only app from Learn With Fun Apps . It has been featured in What’s Hot in US stores and has been No 1 (education) in 10 stores worldwide including the USA.

This app gives you step-by-step directions for drawing 40 animals – including Penguins, Porcupines, Cats, Jellyfish, Giraffes and many more. The basic premise of the app is very like those “how to…” drawing books where you draw a circle for a cats head, add triangles for ears etc., but they have taken this idea and run with it. On the iPad it is much easier – you just trace over the various parts of the drawing as they appear instead of having to copy them. A friendly voice also guides you through the steps.The last step in the drawing process involves erasing excess lines. This can be a little tricky, as it can be hard to see the lines under your drawing, to it easier I recommend drawing sightly to the side of the lines instead of directly over them. Once you have completed your drawing you can color it in. There are a wide range of colors to choose from, and you can color with a choice of pen widths or do fill-in coloring. There is also an eraser in a variety of widths, and an “undo” button. As a finishing touch you can add a background from a choice of about 30 different ones. You can save your finished masterpiece in your drawing book, your photo album, print it or share it via email.

I’ve had this app for several months now, so my children and I have had plenty of time to play with it. It is the most used drawing app in my household for several reasons, and it is as much fun for the adults as for the kids. My 4yo twins need some help to use the app, but it allows them to produce art they never could with a pen and paper so it is a huge confidence booster. It is also great fine motor practice for them. My 8yo can use the app independently (in fact he taught me how to use some of the features!) and I always love to see what he has created.

This isn’t just a trace and draw app, but a stepping-stone for using your own imagination and creativity- for example adding a Halloween costume to a Skunk or a Santa outfit to a Penguin. It is fun to use your imagination and see what you can come up with. It actually improves your drawing skills too, after tracing the animal a few times on the iPad you learn how to draw it freehand. I can now draw a pretty decent Penguin, which I certainly couldn’t before using this app.

The app has just had an update (March 2012) and I wanted to mention these changes in the review. The brush and color palette have been combined to make it easier to use, and if you have an airprint printer you can now print directly from the app. There are now some stickers that you can add to your picture, and the animals make sounds when you select them.  These are all nice improvements, however the change I am happiest about is the removal of the FB button and childproofing of the “more button”. As a parent of young children I hope more developers follow suit and remove social media links from kids apps, and make it harder for children to follow external links. A great app made even better!

This app is a personal favorite of mine and it is a great value at $1.99 – highly recommended, a must have addition to your app collection. I also recommend downloading their iLuv Drawing Santa and iLuv Drawing Santa HD – which are free apps with no ads or in-app purchases.

iLuv Drawing Animals - Learn how to draw 40 animals step by step. by MyVijan LLC Category: Education, Games, Family, Educational Requirements: Compatible with iPadMini, iPadFourthGen, iPad 2 WiFI, iPadMini4G, iPad 3G, iPadFourthGen4G, iPadThirdGen4G, iPad WiFi, iPadThirdGen, iPad 2 3G Size: 63.85 MB

$2.99USD

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Giveaway
If you would like to win a promo code for the iPad version of this app we have 3 to give away, please enter via the Rafflecopter Widget. Winners must contact The iMums within 48hrs of the winners being announced to claim their prize. This giveaway is open to everyone, worldwide, and an iTunes account is required to claim the prize. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Mary

Mary is originally from England but now lives in California with her husband and three children, an 8 year old boy and 5 year old boy/girl twins. Mary and her family love soccer, camping, hiking and playing with their iPad which is also used for therapy for their daughters Apraxia (speech disorder).

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You can email me direct at mary(at)theimums.com