Where it started
During my first October half-term school break since my daughter started nursery at our local school, I learned that keeping one little person entertained all day is a full-time job.
I imagine that if you have two children, it must be much easier because they play nicely together all day, right? 😅
And if you have three or more, easy peasy... you've basically got the start of a football, rugby or hockey team. You name it. 🤣
Jokes aside, I started thinking about simple, creative things we could do together at home. That's how Trazolino came about.
A little guidance, plenty of room
Trazolino is a free, work-in-progress drawing teacher for children and their grown-ups. The site shows each step, but the drawing happens on paper. All you need are some pencils, crayons, paper and a little imagination. 🎨
An adult stays with the child. Families can pause, replay a demonstration or take more time, and there is space at the end to add their own ideas. The app cannot see or evaluate the drawing on paper.
There are currently 30 authored lessons across three levels, with nine language and voice options. The recordings and optional music are prepared in advance; no live AI runs during a lesson.
A connection to her roots
One of my favourite parts has been adding Venezuelan Spanish voice. It's a small way to help my little one stay connected to her roots. 🇻🇪 ❤️
The project has sparked a bigger idea: making free creative learning available to children around the world in their language. I would love to add more languages, handwriting and other pen-and-paper activities that families can enjoy together during future school breaks.
Building and looking ahead
I built Trazolino with React and Vite, using tldraw for the drawing demonstrations, ElevenLabs for voice and background music, and Vercel for hosting. I used OpenAI GPT-6.1 Terra to help bring it all together.
It's still a prototype. The language catalogues have automated checks, but independent native-speaker listening and broader family and educator feedback are still needed.
You can try Trazolino and explore the source on GitHub.
If you are a parent, educator or someone who enjoys building, I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. And if you know someone who might like to support the project, please feel free to share it!