I must say that I was more than skeptical when this program arrived. I hated the idea of art being turned into a slick computer game. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth and quality of this program! There is much more here than meets the eye. Jump Start Artist 'jump started' my interest in a rather dull software market. This is good stuff!

Jump Start Artist is appropriate for children six and older. Although the box says 5-8, most 9-11 year olds will still get a lot from the program. My 12 year old even enjoys it. Three skill levels are easily adjusted from within the program.

From the main screen, your child can select one of five activity tents. Each tent contains a different art experience. Earn pieces of carnival rides by completing art projects.

Frankie's Paint-Along Songs: It's been a long time since any piece of software made me giggle, but this one did. Help Frankie complete animation cells for one of four movies. His animator has the flu. There are tons of art tools here. A drawer full of rather realistic feeling pens, paints, chalks and more. A paper blending stump adds very nice touches to your art work. The blending tool was my favorite. Once your pictures are done, watch a musical movie including your pictures, which are now animated. The stories are cute, and with good moral lessons. Seeing my funny looking fish swim around and talk was really fun. Your kids will love this!

Cassie's Concentration: I know, I know, not another concentration game! This one actually had a bit of creativity to it. The cards are placed on a revolving wheel. Each time you match two cards, you are given a clue about the missing piece of art. Once all clues are found, you must decide which one of two pictures shows the correct art work. A book stores the works of art. There are dozens of great works look at. Each page tells you something about the artist, the form, the tools used and more. This was a great basic introduction to classical art pieces. The narrations are interesting to young and old alike. There were some real artists behind the design of this program and it shows.

Personal Studio and Gallery: Here you can create pictures, collages, make puppets, and draw to your heart's content. Frame your works of art in the main gallery hall. There are great art tools to use. While they are not endless, they feel realistic, and really teach art concepts.

Hopsalot's Invention Tent: Learn about colors and build your visual perception in this activity. An 'invention' is shown at the top of the screen. You must put the pieces at the bottom together so that it looks just like the invention. At level one you are just dealing with shapes. By level three you must blend colors and paint the pieces correctly as well. You will learn a bit about the color wheel here also.

CJ and Edison's Amazing Art Expeditions: This activity plays much like the old Donkey Kong Game. Help load items into the balloon, while watching out for falling paint blobs. Each item relates to a type of art project. Each time you load an item, you will learn a bit about that item. Once all three are loaded, you get to find out the mystery destination of the hot-air balloon. For example, load a sheep, a ball of yarn, and a Navajo rug as CJ and Edison take off for New Mexico to learn about Navajo rug making.

Our only complaint with this one was the slow load times at minimum requirements. Unlike so much of today's software, this is not a re-packaged, re-hashed program. This is fresh and innovative. One well worth adding to your library!