App description: Creativium is an interactive paper-like theater that is suitable for kids age 2 and above. Let your children create fairytale scenes on virtual paper sets, with 10 funny characters, 40 animations and 25 decorations to mix and match. Keep the most incredible stories in special photo gallery.

iTunes Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/creativium-paper-theater/id588946109

iDevices used for the reviews: iPad2 - iPad3

Total reviews: 10

Developer: Julia N.

Courtney D.

Rating
What I liked	I liked the graphics in the app. I love the variation that each user can bring through the vast array of masks, hats, and other accessories. I like that the app has some parts of the picture already completed. I think that allows for the creativity to expand at a quicker rate for some users. That ability to take a scene and expand on it is a much simpler process than starting with a blank sheet of paper and having to manipulate accordingly. I love that the user can increase/decrease object size, if desired.
Improvements	I would like to see the ability to create a scene from a blank piece of paper. I would also like some understanding as to where to find the decorations. It took me some time to know to click the castle to get the decorations. I think those on the younger side of the intended users would get bored/confused because there isn't much to grasp that attention. That problem solving isn't quite developed, so their ability to seek out might compromise their enjoyment!
General review	With a little investigating, this app is useable. Witin the therapy room, I would recommend it for those that are working on expressive language, following directions, and/or prepositions, there is great potential with this app! My only concern is the lack of direction, but improvising is possible and this app is easy to decipher!

Nathalie C.

Rating
What I liked	> This is so cute ! Everything is nicely crafted and incredibly cute. > I liked decorating the trees, moving the characters, decorating the castle, and shaking the device after. > I liked that kids were over and over trying to organize a scene, and trying to tell a story with it.
Improvements	> It's very hard to understand what to do at the beginning, with no clue at all nowhere. Why are there photos? Why do I have the impression that another world may be coming but is not there yet? What am I supposed to do exactly? > Some kids don't need UI clues to explore, but some others benefit from "first use" help of some kind.
General review	All in all, Creativium is a super cute environmement, wonderful to create little scene and play with them. Somewhat limited for now (few characters, few backgrounds, not much action to perform) it will probably improve quite a lot in the near future.

Amanda A.

Rating
What I liked	I liked that app because it had colorful and engaged animations. Also, I thought the ability to slide the scenes to additional pictures and characters was enjoyable. I can definitely see how a small child will have tons of fun pressing the characters to see what surprising moves they will make. Also, the addition of being able to shake the iPad and move items was fun.
Improvements	The animations are fun and engaging but as an educator, I would like to see a feature added to where a child or parent could record their voices and their animations for story and a playback/ save button. This will allow them to keep their memories saved.
General review	This app is creative, fun, and engaging for small children. Being able to slide the scenes, see and play with additional characters and animations was a nice surprise. I would like to see a feature added where either the parent or child can add their voices and record their movements on the scene.

Michelle C.

Rating
What I liked	The illustration and music of the app are beautiful, as is the idea of a theater screen in which the whole family can participate in creating a story. The surprise interactions, like appearing fruit, or musical clouds and rainbow are creative and kid pleasers.
Improvements	We felt like we were missing content, if this is the full paid app, as just one scene felt incomplete. We would have enjoyed more guidance for the storytelling aspects, perhaps the chance to record our story or an example? As we are unfamilar with the board game it is based on, a note to parents is necessary or I am afraid the developer will get bad reviews. The pedagogical usage like in the app description could be incorporated into the app somehow. There are some free apps with theater sections that offer something similar with audio and story. (See TalesApart, for instance)
General review	This app offers the possibility of free play and storytelling to young children, and we loved the idea of sharing the results with the rest of the family, however in its simplicity, we got lost. We would have liked to see more backgrounds, a way to record our story, or a demo of how *they* think the app could be best used. Without those elements, we don't feel customers will get the full experience or feel satisfied for their money.

Andy B.

Rating
What I liked	I like how you will be adding multiple scenes. The attention to detail of scenery & overall look of the app is amazing, very well finished & we loved how the scene scrolled & the characters came to life. sound effect are great. Poppy liked interacting with the woodland creatures & especially loved the Squirrel with the Heart. Finn really enjoyed taking his time with the sticker scene, which is a nice addition and you have lots of stickers available. Camera is good & the fact you have examples. I like how you light up the castle windows & promote the camera when complete. Poppy liked the clouds
Improvements	Initial app load is very slow. remove the need to scroll up to see the animals at the bottom (ladybird/snail). Make it so the ladybird can be placed anywhere on the scene, at the moment he drops off the bottom. When animals walk off the bridge they walk through it. I think you need better stickers, as the current stickers don't really align with the scene (funny moustache, ice cream?) The ability to place stickers onto whole scene & characters. The ability to delete photos. The grass is the water. Add Noises when the fruit/cones drop. Make accessory stickers proportionate to character stickers
General review	Creativium is a nice safe place for children to stay & play, the creatures are friendly & castle scene is fun. I think that children aged 2-4 will enjoy this app, but I think it has limited play. Introducing boy/girl characters or making animals talk will add a better dimension & more for children to interact with. Enabling the whole scene to be interactive & allowing children to build a house, plant seeds or 'add' to main scene will improve it.

Erin B.

Rating
What I liked	I love the pictures! All of the animals, trees, castles and such are entertaining and attract my kids to the app. I love tht they are interactive and the little surprises like tapping the trees to make fruit/flowers and then shaking the iPad causes it all to fall off. I love that nearly everything on the screen can be moved or manipulated in some way.
Improvements	I would like to see a little more instruction. I was confused with what to do with the app at first. I'd like to see an option to add items and delete items. I'd also like to see more scenes. An option to record a story would be nice. I love that there is animation after shaking the trees and I'd love to see more animations with that. My kids love surprises, so anything they can touch or shake gets a wild response.
General review	A very cute app tht has potential for a lot of fun times! Using your imagination. You can come up with many different scenes and stories. The pictures are very cute and eye catching for young children. There are many different props to explore and arrange. As a family app, this could entertain for hours on end!

Cheryle D.

Rating
What I liked	Wow, this is a fantastic app! I love the colors and the soothing sounds. Each animal has several movements. I love the raccoon protecting his acorn and the bird fixing his glasses. Even the clouds changing colors was a wonderful detail. Shaking the trees to have the fruit, leaves, and hearts fall off is a great idea too! All of my students gave this a thumbs up! Can't wait for the coming soon space scene!
Improvements	*The ladybug is stuck on the bottom. You can only see a little bit of him. When you pull him up, he just falls back down. Would love to see him and see more animation with him. *Same with the snail, you can move him up, but then he just walks back down -maybe more animation with him as well. *Maybe have colorful flowers come up when touching the grass. *It would be neat to have the rainbow turn into different mini piano or xylophone tones to create music/songs. Maybe like the castle, it would turn into a mini game.
General review	What a great app for young children! There is so much to do in the scene. There are soothing sounds and vibrant colors throughout. Your child can "grow" fruits, leaves, and flowers on the trees/bushes and shake them off. They can interact with various animals. The clouds change colors at the touch. The castle has stickers to create a scene. There was a lot of attention to details in this app! Can't wait for the next scene!

Paula W.

Rating
What I liked	I liked the look of the characters and that they had a paper-like quality to them. I thought the background was interesting and the ability to move the screen from left to rigtht was an added bonus. The character choices that matched the castle were cute and my students enjoyed being able to place them on the castle.
Improvements	The characters and items should be able to be made smaller to fit onto the castle. Also that the characters at the castle could be brought into the forest scene. My students tried to bring the characters into the scene to interact with the animals and they became frustrated that the characters disappeared when they tried. The character choices didn't make sense to some of my students as they created so more character choices that match the scene would be nice. The ability to write about each scene or record your voice telling the story so students can work on writing or speech skills.
General review	Overall the app is cute but from an educational stand point it is lacking. Students need more excitement to keep them intrigued with the app and want to use it and there has to more to the app for an educator to want to consistently use it. My time frame to catch a students attention is limited so a student needs to be grabbed immediately as well as the app needing more functionality than just decorating a scene. Lacking in overall purpose.

Michelle W.

Rating
What I liked	My kids and I had fun adding fruit to the trees and moving the animals around. Great colors used in the graphics and nice sound effects. My kids thought it was fun to take pictures of the scenes they created. We enjoyed decorating the castle with the different decorations.
Improvements	My kids said that they would like the castle to be moved around like the animals. It would be nice to be able to put the hats and glasses on the animals and people. I tried shrinking the hats and glasses and couldn't get them to stick. It would be nice to have multiple backgrounds to choose from. Also wondering what the bear does other than sleep?? There also needs to be directions on how to use app.
General review	Nice clean graphics and sound effects. My kids and I enjoyed making our own scenes. I thought the sound effects were soothing. We had fun taking pictures of the different scenes we made. I do think there needs to be some instructions on how to use app. and would like to see the castle be able to move around and different background choices as well.

Bethany P.

Rating
What I liked	This is an attractive, well thought out application. There are clever, unique graphic actions such as the owl opening only one eye, or the fox showing up. The music and artwork are nice. The photos help give a person ideas of what can be done. Adding a pirate allows for even more unique storytelling.
Improvements	I think it would be helpful to have directions within the application. If the objects were labeled with the name it could help with literacy skills (castle, raccoon). I would like to see the people and castle a little larger. It would be nice to have more variety in the props maybe a pirate's chest of gold, a moat, or draw bridge.
General review	My daughters liked trying this app. It has some nice attention getting attributes with animals, clouds and sounds. The apples falling off the tree is a nice touch. This will be great for storytelling. I would like to see more choices of props. I would like to see a smaller snail.