Aquarium Coloring ~Ocean Life~ is an iPad coloring book application that lets you color with the use of a finger and also teaches the names of aquatic life. There are many drawings and colors to choose from, as well as many options to make the coloring in of these pages user friendly. Drawing can be saved on your iPad, used as wall paper, or Facebooked.

I enjoy this application. There are 17 pages to choose from, and I really like that the names of these aquatic animals are given as page titles. The drawings here are very nicely done, simple but realistic looking and not childish or cartoony, and I like how many of these pages include some nice oceanic details like coral, plant life, or rolling waves. The color choices are bright and numerous, and I appreciate that four brush stroke sizes as well as zooming in are options in the aid of coloring in details. An undo function, as well as erase feature are also included – something I always look for in a good coloring book, especially important when you use your finger as a crayon or paintbrush.

Children will appreciate being able to save their completed work on the device which can then be used as wall paper or Facebooked to friends, but I did have a problem saving work in progress in order to continue coloring at a later time. When doing so, the application closes unexpectedly without the drawing being saved. I hope this can be worked out, as the ability to save drawings to finish later is a nice touch. I also don’t understand how to use the colors to create the effect shown in this app’s icon in iTunes and title image, that of a jellyfish, with the water around it looking as if it has a hazy, marbled coloration of some sort. I tried to recreate this look with no luck, which is unfortunate because this soft coloring effect is what drew me to this app in the first place. I hope the kinks can be worked out because the drawings are quite nice for adults as well as for children.

Animals, Art, By Age Range, By App Feature, Creativity, Just For Fun, Nature, Preschool, Primary School, Reviews, Toddlers