Zizzle Inventions

Short and simple explanations of how a variety of inventions work are kid-friendly, but activities lack depth. Zizzle Inventions shows kids what's going on under the hood of machines, appliances, and other inventions with straightforward explanations and animations made for young kids to grasp. Learn about toasters, cement trucks, toilets, elevators, roller coasters, bicycles, escalators, vacuum cleaners, and hot air balloons. Kids who are fascinated by how things work will love seeing it all in action. However, the explanations are so simple that they may not be entirely satisfactory, especially for older kids. The biggest disappointment of Zizzle Inventions is the activity, which is simply a standard puzzle. Even though the narrator invites kids to "tap to tinker," there's no actual tinkering going on. As kids tap on each misplaced part of the invention, they hear the part's name, which is nice, but there's no room for exploration, experimentation, or hands-on deeper learning. For example, the elevator introduces the ideas of pulleys and counterweights, and the activity could be experimenting with using different counterweights and pulleys at varying heights. Silly animations that start after completing the puzzle will make kids laugh, but they don't add anything to kids' learning. Zizzle Inventions has potential to shine, but as-is it falls a bit flat.