Draw it. Scan it. It comes alive.
A play app for children. What they draw or cut out on paper walks, swims and plays on their own island, and joins every game.
Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play
How it works
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Draw
On real paper. A scribble, a cut-out or a coloured-in outline: anything counts.
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Scan
Hold it in front of the camera. The app cuts it out and keeps the child's own lines and colours. It never redraws them.
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It comes alive
A moment later it hops onto the island, and it can play in every game.
The first time, the app shows these steps in four picture cards.
What's inside
Every part of the app uses the things your child made. Playing needs no reading: pictures and a pointing hand show each game.
Craftum Island
Every Craftum lives on a bright paper island. They swing, slide, swim, play volleyball, nap in hammocks and take the boat out. Tap one and it hops; drag it anywhere. Things made on paper, like a tree or a house, can stand on the island too.
The collection and Decorate
All Craftums together, like a toy shelf. Each one keeps its own name. In DECORATE a child colours on their Craftum with a chunky crayon, adds stamps, or dresses it up with hats and glasses, painted ones or ones they made on paper. The scanned drawing itself is never changed.
Make a picture book
Put Craftums on a page, make them walk, hop, wave or go into a house, and add more pages. Then watch it as a book that turns its pages, or as a movie. A grown-up can add words or record a voice for a page; recordings stay on the device.
Play together with a grown-up's phone
The child's Craftum walks a path and stops at a log, a gate or a sleeping bear. Picture cards show one easy word. The child says it, signs it or points to it, the grown-up taps it on their phone, and the Craftum does it at once. Any try counts.
JUMP
OPEN
WAKE UP
The phone scans a code on the tablet: no app and no account on the phone. It needs the internet, and only button presses travel.
Games with their own Craftums
Big modes to come back to, and quick mini games. In every one the star is something the child made. Nothing is lost: no lives, no game over, no timer that tells them off.
Draw & GoDraw a track with a finger and ride it.
WishesA Craftum is hungry or sleepy. Make something on paper that helps.
PuzzleTheir own Craftum as a jigsaw, from 4 pieces up.
CountingCount Craftums, fill a boat, share a picnic. Numbers up to 10.
CrossingHop across two busy roads.
Sky JumpJump from platform to platform, up into space.
MazeGuide a Craftum to the star.
BandPlay music, then play the tune back.
PairsMemory cards with their own drawings.
BoopBoop the Craftums that pop up. Let the mole sleep.
Made for children
- No adsNot in the app, not in the games.
- No in-app purchasesNothing to buy inside the app.
- No accountsNo sign-up, no login, no email address.
- No trackingWe run no analytics and follow nobody. The app contains no third-party SDKs that collect data.
- Photos stay on the deviceThe camera picture is cut out on the device, and only the cut-out is kept there.
- Grown-up things are behind a holdSettings, printing and throwing things away need a grown-up to hold a button for two seconds.
- No reading neededPictures and a pointing hand show every game.
- English, Dutch and SpanishThe app follows the device's language.
Questions grown-ups ask
What do we need?
An iPhone, iPad or Android phone or tablet with a camera, some paper and crayons or pens. Scissors are optional: a drawing on plain paper works too. A tablet gives the biggest island.
What happens to the photos of the drawings?
The photo is taken and cut out on the device. The app keeps only the cut-out drawing, on the device, and deletes the photo. Nothing is uploaded. Read the privacy policy for the details.
Does it need the internet?
Only ADVENTURE's play-together needs it, to connect the tablet with the grown-up's phone. Everything else works offline.
Does the app listen to my child?
No. Nothing in the app listens or reacts to voices. In ADVENTURE a grown-up hears the word and taps it on their phone. The microphone is used only if a grown-up chooses to record a voice for a page in STORY; those recordings stay on the device.
What if the drawing is just a scribble?
Then the scribble comes alive. Any drawing counts, the app never asks what it is, and a scan is never rejected. The app comes with four starter friends so there is something to play with straight away; once your child has made their own, a grown-up can hide the starters in Settings.
Can we print things?
Yes. A grown-up can print a Craftum as a sticker sheet or as a colouring page, through the device's own print dialog.
Where do we get help?
The help page answers the common questions about scanning, sound, the phone in ADVENTURE, printing and deleting things. Or write to hello@craftums.com.
When can we get it?
Craftums is not in the App Store or Google Play yet. This page will link to both when it is.
Craftums started with one child who doesn't like crafts. We wondered: what if his drawings could walk?