Free Digital Art Creativity For Kids

 Here is a creative activity I setup for the kids.  What they are doing is designing their own 2d video game.  I start by downloading a set of free game tiles, and use a program called a tilemap level editor, a good free one is Tiled.  The kids click on different tiles and draw out their gameworld, adding in monsters, heroes and magic items.  This is a great activity for them because they feel like they are playing a video game, but instead of passively reacting to a game, they are pouring in all of their imagination and creativity into design their own (would be) game.  For them its not just a picture, its an entire saga unfolding.  The stories and ideas that come out of these sessions are incredible, and this keeps them busy for hours.  Here are their game world creations:

Planet B Concept Image

Here is a concept image for new game project, Planet B.  I drew the characters, based off pixel art from Legend of Zelda from NES.  The scenery tiles are a modified version of Lanea Zimmerman's Basic 16bit tile set from opengameart.org.

All I can say about the game at this point is that its an action game for Android devices based around 1 touch play. 

Play Idea: Toy Map Drawings

We drew some play maps for our dinosaurs.  Its great to do this on huge sheets of paper.  Its a good creative activity for the kids that adds some new excitement to old toys.