Remember when you learned about how primary colors could be mixed together to create more colors? Maybe you can’t remember it now, but your little one will remember mixing colors him- or herself when they play Mix 2 Color for iPad.
Developer Little Beetle released Mix 2 Color earlier this year, and it’s largely remained a hidden gem in the App Store. But anyone with little ones should know about this terrific way to teach kids about colors. (Note: Mix 2 Color is regularly priced $2.99, but at the time of this writing is on sale for $.99.) Even though it’s listed under the “Games” category, it’s a very educational little title.
Fire up the app and you’re presented with two basic choices: draw a picture or color a picture. In drawing mode, the user is given a selection of colors and tools and a blank canvas for drawing their masterpiece. The tools include cute stamps like a smiley face, a footprint, a snowflake, a heart, and more, as well as brushes with three widths. You just select from twelve colors at the bottom of the screen, and draw with your finger. Make a mistake? Instead of a standard eraser, Mix 2 Color gives you a sponge to wash off the “paint.”
Coloring mode gives you eighteen different pictures to choose from, much like you might see in a coloring book. The pictures include kid-friendly objects and animals like a rubber ducky, a beach ball, an airplane, a sheep, a rocket, an elephant, a butterfly, and lots more. Here’s the twist. Coloring mode only gives you five colors to use: blue, red, yellow, black, and white. There are ten additional colors you can use, but to access them, you have to mix the original five. The funnest part of the app is also the most educational — getting to experiment and see what new colors you can create.
The app doesn’t get any more complicated than that. There’s a selection of music that comes with the game, which parents will be happy to hear can easily be turned off. There are cute sound effects for each action you can perform, too.
The real draw of Mix 2 Color is being able to blend those primary colors and see how they work. That sense of discovery and experimentation is fun enough to occupy your kids for some nice, long bits of time. They may not even realize that they’re learning as they play.
