Extreme Drawing

Screen time for kids that ends in the real kitchen

For parents

Do it on screen, then do it for real

Extreme Drawing is built to lead off the screen. Your child tries magic milk, red cabbage juice or a baking soda volcano in the app, and every one of them has a real version on this site that you can do together in the kitchen, usually with things you already have.

Play in your browserSee the experiments
  • No ads
  • No notifications
  • A real version of every experiment
Painted illustration in two halves: a girl doing magic milk on a tablet, and the same girl doing it for real with a dish of milk while a grown-up's hand helps.

What we can and can't tell you

We make a drawing app, so we're not the people to tell you how many minutes a day are right for your child. That depends on your child, your family and the day. We also won't promise that an app makes children smarter.

What we can tell you is what the time is spent on. In Extreme Drawing a child isn't watching or collecting. They are making something and changing it: painting, then seeing what happens when the paper gets wet, when it goes in the oven, when soap touches milk. Then the question "would that really happen?" has an answer you can test at the kitchen table.

One afternoon, start to finish

Here is how it goes with magic milk. The same shape works for almost every experiment on the site.

You need milk, food colouring, dish soap and a plate: about ten minutes on screen and fifteen for real.

Magic milk, step by step

  1. Play first

    In the Science tab, pour milk, drip in food colouring and touch it with dish soap. The colours rush away from the soap and keep swirling.

  2. Ask what will happen for real

    Will a real plate of milk do the same? What about water instead of milk? Let your child guess out loud before anything is poured.

  3. Do it in the kitchen

    Put the tablet away and try it on a real plate, with you nearby. Try the water too.

  4. Compare

    What was the same as in the game? What was different? Children are often delighted when the real one surprises them.

  5. Find out why

    Every experiment page has a short explanation for children and a longer one for you.

Painted illustration of a parent and child at a kitchen table looking at a colourful painting on a tablet, with a cup of tea, crayons and a ketchup-zigzag drawing.

Official guidance worth reading

Two places we trust for screen-time advice:

  • The World Health Organization recommends that children of 3 and 4 spend no more than an hour a day in sedentary screen time, and says less is better. Its guidance covers children under five.

  • The American Academy of Pediatrics offers a free Family Media Plan: you work through it together and decide your own family's rules about screens.

The AAP also encourages using media together with your child and talking about what you see, which is exactly what the do-it-for-real step is for.

WHO guidance for under-fivesAAP Family Media Plan

What the app leaves out on purpose

No notifications

It never calls your child back with reminders or messages.

No ads or videos

Nothing plays by itself, and nothing sends your child somewhere else.

No streaks or scores

There is nothing to keep up and nothing to lose by stopping. It's paper.

How much screen time is OK for a 5-year-old?

We'd rather point you to the experts than guess: the WHO's guidance covers children under five, and the AAP's Family Media Plan helps you set your own family's rules. Both links are on this page.

Is drawing on a tablet as good as drawing on paper?

It's different. The app shows what real paper does (paint bleeds, wet paper wrinkles), and our art technique pages give the real version of each one, so you can do both.

Does Extreme Drawing have a time limit for children?

Not built in. Use your device's own controls (Screen Time on Apple devices, Family Link on Android), which work for every app at once.

Do the real experiments need special kit?

Most need things from the kitchen cupboard: milk, vinegar, baking soda, food colouring, salt, a lemon. Each page lists what you need and says where an adult has to help.

Off the screen next

Painted illustration of the painter dripping blue, pink and yellow paint onto a salt-covered glue star and flower on dark card, the colour spreading along the salt.

Salt painting

Glue, salt and watercolour that races along the lines.

Pick tonight's experiment

Try it in the browser together, then take it to the kitchen.

Play in your browserAll parent questions