Art
Tux Paint
A children’s drawing program with a penguin mascot, sound effects and an open canvas.
Tux Paint starts from a blank canvas, and the child decides what goes on it. Its tools come with sound effects and a picture-based interface. Because it is open-ended rather than a set of coloring pages, a small prompt such as an imaginary place or a picture for someone can help a child get going.
- Ages
- Ages 3–12
- Works on
- App
- Topics
- Art, Creative play
- Languages
- English
- Listed
- 2026-10-11
What kids do
- Draw an imaginary place
- Experiment with drawing tools
- Make a picture for someone
- Illustrate a short story
Who it suits
Tux Paint is listed for ages 3–12. A child who prefers filling in a coloring page might find the empty canvas less inviting.
Notes for parents
An adult installs it from the official download, which covers Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and Android-capable Chromebooks; the iOS version linked from the site is unofficial. Younger children may need a hand with the pointer and with saving.
What you need
- Compatible device
- Software installation
- Adult setup
In these guides
- Drawing, animation and music apps for kids who would rather make than watch: Creative apps for kids: digital painting, step-by-step drawing, stop motion, pixel animation and beat-making, grouped by the kind of making each involves.
More Art
- Art for Kids Hub: Step-by-step drawing videos in which a parent and child draw the same subject side by side.
- Stop Motion Studio: An app for making stop-motion films by photographing small movements one frame at a time.
- MoMA At-Home Art Activities: Art-making ideas from MoMA, each starting from a work in the museum’s collection.
- National Gallery of Art Paint ’n’ Play: A digital painting tool with brushes and palettes based on artists in the National Gallery of Art collection.
- Jarrett Lerner Creative Activities: Printable comics, story starters and drawing prompts from author-illustrator Jarrett Lerner.
- Getty Drawing With Kids: A short Getty article with five drawing ideas tied to artworks in the museum’s collection.
- V&A Make & Do for Kids: Design activities from the V&A, from a fantastic creature to a patterned tile or a story setting.
- Piskel for Kids: A pixel-art editor for drawing small characters and turning them into animated sprites.