Overview
With Bobo, a little robot, kids embark on a journey to explore the scientific concepts of light. But instead of just containing reading material, Bobo Explores Light is filled with videos, fun facts, cool stories, images, and hands-on explorations.
How to Explore
This non-fiction app is set up like a book, with a unique table of contents presented on gear-like circular format. Kids rotate the gear to find topics of interest. Bobo Explores Light covers 21 topics that include lightning, Thomas Edison, lasers, reflection, refraction, color, telescopes, bioluminescence, photosynthesis, and much more. By starting with the tutorial, kids will meet Bobo, an adorable robot, who invites them to join him in his spaceship as he blasts off toward Earth.
Each topic that Bobo introduces is represented as a page in the book, but many have full animation and ambient sounds in addition to the written explanation. For example, on the page about Bioluminescence, Bobo is shown deep underwater as glowing fish swim by. Others have mini-games or hands-on science activities for kids to explore, such as moving lasers to reflect off of mirrors. .
Along the top of each page are three additional information areas to explore. Each is accessed by a pull-down cord, or if you tap on the title, Bobo reaches up with a robotic arm to pull down the material. Some are videos, others additional facts or a cool story, and many have more photos and explanations.
Why This Science App Is So Good!
Bobo Explores Light transforms complicated science into a fun, interactive experience that blends learning with humor. Bobo is tremendously fun to interact with even though he never speaks. The app makes navigating throughout simple by providing a button to the interactive table of contents on every page.
By placing the extra information in drop-down menus across the top, this app puts kids in charge of how much information they want to explore. This navigation method also makes the app appeal to a wide range of ages. However, kids must be able to read to explore the book on their own.
Hands-on Experiments
By providing kids with hands-on experiments, the app makes each child's experience personal and memorable. A standout activity within the photosynthesis pages asks kids to use their fingers to shine light on a blighted forest. It is magical to watch colorful plant life return and bask within the light that kids create.
Best For
Bobo Explores Light is great for all kids, even if they think they have no interest in science. The app cleverly chooses topics that all kids have an interest in, such as why glow sticks work. It is brilliant in how it presents difficult topics in a way that kids can grasp and understand.
Note to Parents:: This app lets parents control external links and social media by going to the iPad's
Settings button and then scrolling down to the
Bobo Explore Light app. From there, parents can turn off the ability to tweet, email, send postcards, etc. The default position for external links is to not allow kids to go there.
Note to Teachers: A Teachers Guide can be accessed from the
publisher's website.
This Bobo Explores Light app review was written by Jinny Gudmundsen
All tech products are judged on a five star scale by looking at the following factors: fun, education, ease of use, value, and technical.
