Discovery Kids Tornado Lab

The Parent Blogger Network asked if I wanted to review the tornado lab from Discovery Kids Toys.  At first, I passed, thinking that it probably wouldn't interest my 7 year old.  Boy, was I wrong.

We received this a while ago, and my son has had ample time to check it out.  It's become a favorite in our house.  When I asked him to review it, he said, "It's the best toy...EVER."

I should probably explain that he and his dad have become fans of the show "Storm Chasers" on the Discovery Channel, a reality-show about a crew of scientists, a journalist, and a filmmakers that go chasing tornadoes through the mid- and southwest in the springtime.  They have with a jerry-rigged "tornado chaser" armored vehicle that supposedly can sit in the eye of a storm and capture footage of what it happening there.  So far, from what I've seen, they've had some scary near-misses, but the footage eludes them.

Back to the toy.  When my kid opened the box, he jumped up and down and immediately wanted to fill it with water and make it work.  It looks a little like a plastic blender, with some light pieces that float and heavy pieces that sink to the bottom.  When you turn it on, a whirling funnel appears, and the heavy pieces start moving up, and the lighter pieces make their way down the middle of the vortex.  It's pretty amazing.  It has sound effects that simulate the sounds of a tornado, which is kind of spooky and not the usually annoying toy-sounds. The toy comes with a video that explains how tornadoes form, and has footage of actual tornadoes.  The star of the show is a younger meteorologist Josh Wurman, who also stars in "Storm Chasers".

My son was so enamored of this tornado machine, he insisted on taking it to school to do a demonstration.  He and his dad teamed up and explained how tornadoes are formed when high pressure and low pressure mix.  They did a visual demonstration with dad as the high pressure, boy as low pressure.  When the two met and linked arms, they spun around like psychotic square dancing partners and made a tornado.  (I wasn't there for the presentation, but got to see the dry-run at home).  They then showed the tornado machine and let the kids stick their hands in it, turn it on different speeds, and showed how the heavy and the light particles react.  It was quite a hit with the second grade class.

This is an excellent toy for kids 6 and up  It's a fun way to learn about science and weather.  Who knows?  Maybe you have a budding meteorologist in your midst!

In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that the first one we received started to leak after 3 days of fairly heavy usage.  I let the PBN folks know, and we received a second one that does not leak.  If you happen to get a leaky one, return it.

Comments

[mike]

I have a million dollar kids toy. need help