Amazing Apps - Aqua by Adobe

Aqua by Adobe is a free creativity app for kids ages five to 12, with drawing, painting, coloring, and simple design tools. It was made by parents at Adobe, and it has no in-app ads or upsells. It works as a learning tool and not just an art app, which is why it suits homeschooling: 

 

• It stretches across subjects. Drawing-based projects can support literacy, science, social studies, math, and social-emotional learning. Think illustrated vocabulary, science diagrams, and historical costume design 

• It has a built-in learning library. Thousands of activities and tutorials from real children’s book illustrators are included, plus a dedicated Learning Lagoon area for learning at home and in the classroom
• Paper meets digital. Kids can scan paper drawings and build a personal gallery to share with family, which doubles as a portfolio of their work
• Parents stay in control. Accounts are managed by a parent, and only parents can share or export content. Adobe doesn’t use kids’ creations to train its generative AI models
• It’s free and works offline. There’s no cost to use it, and most tools work without a connection 

I had a chance to learn more in this interview.

Why is it important for families to have AI-safe creative apps?

I always say we want kids to be creators, not passive consumers. Kids are curious about AI, and playing with it can be a lot of fun. However, giving them access to generative AI that wasn’t built for them just isn’t responsible. Open-ended tools can produce images, text, and ideas that aren’t developmentally appropriate, and kids don’t have the context to know what to do when that happens. Most of the generative AI tools we use weren’t designed with children in mind.

I’ll admit, it’s a lot to keep up with as a parent. I don’t want to say no to everything, but vetting every app is time-consuming, and some days the mom guilt is real. Knowing that a tool was built for kids takes a little of that weight off.

AI is showing up in more of our daily lives, whether we’re ready or not, so it matters that anything kids use was created specifically for them, with their privacy and protection in mind.

That's why I love being on the team at Aqua by Adobe. Aqua was made by parents, for our own kids. Privacy and child protection have been a cornerstone of every decision we’ve made, right alongside protecting the creative magic of childhood. I’m pretty careful about what my own kids can access, and I’m so glad Aqua exists. My kids make comics in it and design their own outfits on Fashion Island. My 10-year-old loves to invent things from our (seemingly endless) pile of recycling, and she sketches them out in Aqua first, like her own blueprint, before she starts to build.

How can drawing be used to build education in other areas as well?

Drawing is a natural part of child development. Long before kids can write a full sentence, they're already putting their ideas on paper. My 4-year-old son draws constantly, and he’ll “read” me a whole story from one of his doodles. Recently, he’s been coming up with his own Pokemon card designs. My millennial heart can’t get enough.

When I was a primary school teacher, I often had my students draw their thinking. Sometimes they sketched to plan out a story before writing a word. Sometimes they drew a representation of a math problem or a science concept to show what they understood. Other times they made an art piece about a historical figure, pushing them to think about who that person was and what mattered about their experience.

Drawing gives kids a way to work through their thinking and engage in productive struggle, the sometimes frustrating work of wrestling with an idea that's just beyond what you can do easily. A child tries, adjusts, and tries again, and that's where the deepest learning happens. With the right support, kids build resilience and confidence. Art is a low-stakes place to practice this skill, because there's no single right answer and every attempt has value. 

I’ll never forget one 4th grader I had who didn’t see himself as ‘smart.' He pushed back on almost every kind of classwork until he had the chance to respond creatively, by making a comic or drawing a picture, and it was like he finally saw the light. He’s heading into high school next year with a 4.0, because he found what made him believe in himself and in his own abilities.

So drawing isn’t a break from learning. It’s one of the most accessible ways for kids to show us what they know. Next time your child is stuck on homework or even having a hard time expressing an emotion, try asking them to draw it out. You might be surprised by what you see.

Why is it important for families to encourage kids' visual creativity and art skills?

I firmly believe that creativity is the future and it's our responsibility as parents to make sure our kids' innate creativity is nurtured and fiercely protected. We've all heard "children are the future," but let's be real: they literally are. Our kids are the future engineers, teachers, innovators, and world changers. Thinking outside the box is a key part of all of those roles, and developing visual creativity and drawing skills can provide a solid foundation for it.

There are physical and developmental benefits too. Drawing helps kids build visual-spatial skills, which is how they understand shapes, distance, size, and how things fit together. Those skills support everything from reading and math to later skills like map reading, engineering, and design. Drawing also builds fine motor skills. Gripping a pencil, controlling pressure, and making intentional lines and shapes strengthen the small muscles in the hands and fingers that kids need for handwriting, buttoning a coat, using scissors, and so much more. It also develops hand-eye coordination, as kids learn to turn what they see and imagine into what their hands create.

My 10-year-old daughter really struggled with her fine motor skills when she was younger, and my teacher-mom mind was pretty worried about her. When she was 8, she started following drawing tutorials to draw her favorite characters. Within a few weeks, she was improving. Now, she wants to be a writer when she grows up and is creating her own graphic novels (with illustrations, of course). 

When we make room for drawing and visual play, we're helping our kids build the skills, confidence, and imagination they'll carry into everything they do next. Opportunity and a little encouragement can go an awfully long way.