Crayon Doodle, Y Lau

I'm a mom, so I always have certain things in my bag; colored pencils, random soft toys, tissues/wet wipes, spare pants and some random bag of kiddie treats. Sometimes though, in the rush to shove all of the stuff from one bag to another, something gets left behind, and it's almost always the one thing I need. But now, on the days that I forget the crayons or pencils, I have a backup plan - Crayon Doodle on my iPhone.

This app is dead basic, and only does one thing: makes your finger into a crayon. You can choose a colour from 6 basic shades and off you go. You can draw whatever your imagination decides. Whizzy bits? You can save your picture, and then, if you're feeling wild, hit "replay" and watch the picture re-draw itself. Basic? Yes. Fit to purpose? Also a big yes.

You'll like it because: It's easy to figure out, and open to plain ole imagination.

Too bad: It's a one-trick pony.

iPhone Apps users gave it 3.5/5 stars

Cost: £0.59

Ages: 2-5

ColoringBook, Beach House Software

Besides my natural desire to like an application that comes from a developer with a name like Beach House, this is easy to use and does what it says on the tin: Presents you with a series of "pages," each with a different outlined pictures just waiting to be colored in. You can choose a pirate, lion, fairy, etc. - choose a crayon from the box - even erase your booboos. At the end, you can save it (a function I didn't know existed until I was scrolling through my photo gallery and encountered a variety of half-filled-in pictures). And it's simple to figure out; my friends 3 and a 1/2 year old had sorted it five seconds after getting his hands on my phone.

You'll like it because: Simple to figure out and most no pens to leak in your bag.
Too bad: Some of the pictures are kind of creepy and amateurish (the fairy needs a re-draw).
iPhone Apps users gave it 3.5/5 stars

Cost: £0.59

Ages: 2-5