Art is an important outlet for children who need to learn to express themselves in positive ways. But with so much technology, including handheld devices, sound systems, and television, distracting our youth from the simple pleasures of creating something beautiful from scratch, and with budget cuts in school systems forcing the removal of valuable art programs, it's up to parents to encourage their children to be artistic. And by blending creativity with the latest educational apps, you can do just that and you never know, if your kids really get a taste for art, you could buy them their first canvas from second hand sellers like Gumtree or even pop into an art gallery in town. It’s important to get kids excited about art from a young age as many experts have championed the benefits of people enjoying art work.

Brushes

Brushes is an award-winning and versatile app that offers 19 different electronic paintbrushes for your child to experiment with, making it perfect for parents who want to give their kids creative freedom without having to deal with the mess that comes with painting. This fun app also provides a wide range of brush sizes, special effects, and colours so that your child can stretch the imagination.

Toontastic

Toontastic is a free app that is ideal for children aged 5-10. With all of the tools and built-in sounds your kid needs, he or she can create cartoons with ease. From the setting to the characters, music, and movement of the characters, your child will have complete control over the storyline and will even be able to provide the voices to these characters. By creating one scene at a time, your child learns to bring an original story to life. And, once complete, it can be shared for others to see on the app's very own Toontube.

PlayART

The best artists are influenced by the most famous creators, from musicians throughout the centuries who composed great music that we still enjoy today, to painters who created breathtaking scenes that are hanging in the world's biggest museums. And with the PlayART app, your children will not only be able to make original artwork, they will also be taught all about some of the greatest artists, including Henri Rousseau and Vincent Van Gogh. It even gives kids the opportunity to take the work created by these great minds and mash it up into their own new piece of art.

Zebra Paint

Kids as young as 3 can begin using your device to play on the Zebra Paint app, which lets them fingerpaint to their hearts' content without creating a mess that you will have to clean up afterward. The app acts just like a colouring book in that it provides your child with a variety of black and white images to choose from. Then your son or daughter can go to town "painting" the image using the 48 colours included on his or her very own palette.

MoMA Art Lab

Modern art is very different from other styles, and your child can learn all about it using the MoMA Art Lab app. The tools that are included in the app focus on geometric shapes that are bright, bold, and beautiful in their own right but that are even more impressive after your child has put them together in a creative way to make a new piece of art.