Thomas Edison's Secret Lab

The Secret Lab is an app based on the new American TV children’s cartoon show of the same name, which is currently available on Netflix and DVD. Along with Thomas Edison and his robot assistant, Von Bolt, there are five kids who guide you around the different rooms of Edison’s home. In each room there is a science-themed activity that will introduce children to a wide range of topics in science.

In the library you can uncover facts about the history behind some of the world’s most famous scientists. The scientist’s profile includes a short biography, pictures of their inventions, fun facts and a personal inspirational quote. Initially in this room it seems to be quite empty but by searching round you’ll soon discover the hidden scientists.

On offer in the movie theatre are short video clips from the TV show, some of which are educational music videos. These songs are quite humorous and feature ‘The Von Bytes’ a band of colourful robots who sing about things like gravity, the periodic table and bumblebees. The episode clips give you a taster of what the full show is about as Thomas Edison encourages the kids to go and discover science for themselves. If you want to read up on each of the members of The Secret Lab gang they are all introduced in the ‘HoloCentre’ room.

The secret lab is where you can learn about simple yet impressive experiments that can be done at home or in school. The four experiments are explained with a list of things you need, a set of instructions to follow and the all-important reason of how it works.

There is a lot of fun to be had in the Arcade room where three basic games can be played. They are loosely based on chemistry (‘Kaflooey Ka-Splat!’, a matching chemicals game), biology (‘Honey Bee-Spree’, a pollination game) and physics (‘Circuit Switch’, completing circuits game). Each game is easy to pick up and there are two levels of difficulty to keep you entertained.

As with the cartoon TV show this app is aimed at primary school aged children who are beginning to connect with the world around them using a scientific mind. Their interest and curiosity will be fed in many different ways by this app. Significantly, most of what they can learn is found through their own investigating because the app doesn’t follow any set path, it is up to the user to go where they want, when they want.

Some of the scientific language can be a bit inconsistent; it is sometimes slightly too complex for the average pre-teen scientist. With this in mind a nice addition to a possible future update would be to include a glossary of scientific terms for each section and this might help those learners who are enthusiastic about knowing more.

You can download Thomas Edison's Secret Lab on your iOS or Android devices from the app stores. Download the Thomas Edison's Secret Lab app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.