10 TOOLS

10 Best Arts Apps and Sites for Middle School

In middle school, students become more aware of the world and their place in it. They're naturally inclined to work through these thoughts and feelings by creating art. We've put together this list of great arts tools for middle school, with an eye toward a range of styles and mediums sure to satisfy the diverse tastes, interests, and talents of your middle schoolers. Whether they're inclined to make movies, games, music, paintings, or social connections with fellow young artists, these tools effectively enhance creative abilities and encourage self-expression.

Kennedy Center Education

Stellar content, practical tips for integrating arts into every subject

Bottom Line: If you're willing to do some digging and prep, this is a terrific resource for integrating the arts across the curriculum.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free

Green Screen by Do Ink

Versatile, easy-to-use moviemaker and photo editor yields great results

Bottom Line: High-quality moviemaker and photo editor has numerous uses for students' projects.

Grades: 3–8
Price:
Paid

Yousician - Your personal music teacher

Appealing, feedback-rich tool helps kids build core musical skills

Bottom Line: Paired with great in-person instruction, this is a fabulous tool to boost musical skills.

Grades: 3–12
Price:
Free to try

Canva for Education

Create, collaborate and share with versatile design tool

Bottom Line: From interactive presentations to group collaboration to parent communication, Canva is a one-stop shop for a variety of classroom tasks.

Grades: K–12
Price:
Free

Adobe Express

Enjoyable and practical design tool supports creators of all ages

Bottom Line: Beautiful templates and user-friendly tools empower students to turn their creative ideas into professional-looking media.

Grades: 2–12
Price:
Free

Artsteps

Immersive virtual exhibit tool is attractive and versatile but fussy

Bottom Line: For teachers and students who can invest the time, Artsteps provides a compelling, free option for presenting and exploring images and audio of any kind.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free

Google Arts & Culture

Well-curated art and history site inspires curious learning

Bottom Line: A beautifully presented one-stop shop for compellingly curated and contextualized art, history, and culture resources, but it's lacking educator supports.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free

Photoshop Express Photo Editor

Top-notch photo editor helps perfect pics for creative projects

Bottom Line: This is a powerful, free creation tool from the industry leader in photo editing.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free

SketchUp

Make learning meaningful through 3D design

Bottom Line: SketchUp is a fantastic, subject-agnostic tool that does take time to learn but helps students gain truly useful, transferable skills.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free, Paid

Soundtrap

Powerful online audio production with built-in collaboration features

Bottom Line: Soundtrap is a uniquely collaborative sound-production environment, but if you want the top-quality EDU version, you have to pay top dollar.

Grades: 6–12
Price:
Free, Free to try, Paid

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