Parents' Guide to

Toca Lab: Elements

By Dana Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Budding chemists freeze, spin, and explode 118 elements.

App iPhone , iPod Touch , iPad , Android , Kindle Fire Entertainment
Toca Lab: Elements Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this app.

  • Toca Lab App: Screenshot #1
  • Toca Lab App: Screenshot #2
  • Toca Lab App: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 5+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Malkairani
Malkairani Adult
September 10, 2020
age 6+

Not what expected , disappointing

I was under impression Elements and plants are educational apps for 10 years old kids however it is game without any explanation and just wondering in the app for 6 years old and above. I am very disappointed
1 person found this helpful.
jmbrentnall
jmbrentnall Adult
September 14, 2018
age 3+

Young kids will find it fun but they will not learn very much

This is not an educational app. Superficially it appears to be an educational science game. In reality it is not really a game nor does it contain any science. Elements cannot be changed into each other (barring nuclear fission/fusion) You may think it is harmless but the kid may be internalising these misleading ideas at a young age that later on they will have to unlearn. Kids may find it fun pretending to be a "scientist" but I prefer not to expose my kids to the potential confusion dressed up as something educational.
1 person found this helpful.
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What’s It About?

Enter TOCA LAB and choose a lab tool. Swipe, slide, tap, or hold to set the equipment or experiment into motion. Listen, and watch the element change during the experiment. When the arrow at the top of the screen turns green, you know the element has changed as much as possible, and you can tap the home icon to return to the lab and experiment with a different tool (or just throw the blobs up on the lab ceiling or gather pieces together). As the periodic table fills with 118 elements, choose others to use in experiments.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (3 ):

There's a lot to be said about getting kids excited about science, and Toca Lab's colorful free-play experiments can absolutely do that. As kids explore the basics about the periodic table of elements in an imaginative way, they learn the traits or "personalities" of each element. This app also empowers kids to use the mysterious tools of science found in a chemistry lab (virtually, of course), including serious equipment, such as a Bunsen burner, a centrifuge, and an oscilloscope. Many kids will love watching the cute elements react as they vibrate, spin, heat up, and more during the experiments and then change states. Watching more elements appear on the periodic table also can be motivating.


That said, for parents, teachers, or hard-core science buffs looking to provide kids with detailed, scientifically accurate information, this app doesn't entirely satisfy. The developer notes: "While the periodic table in Toca Lab is accurate, the way new elements are created is not." Specifics aside, Toca Lab can be a fun way to introduce young kids to the general concept of elements, chemistry experiments, and lab equipment in a kid-friendly, non-technical way.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Talk with your kids about substance properties of everyday things they're familiar with, such as water.

  • Print a copy of the Toca Lab periodic table of the elements from the Toca Boca blog so you can give kids the full names of the elements, rather than only their abbreviations.

App Details

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