Imagine, invent, and engineer right at home with Iridescent books and mobile apps. All of our books and apps are full of challenges designed to foster greater persistence, curiosity, and creativity — just like our programs and Curiosity Machine challenges, but in a different format.
Take home a book full of the design challenges we share at our in-person programs and on the Curiosity Machine.
We are excited to announce the soon-to-be released Making Dinos, the latest in our series of Making Machines. Made with the help of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
(Or download each chapter of Making Dinos individually by clicking the links below!)
We are excited to announce the release of our second Making Machines book which focuses on the amazing world of water!
The first Making Machine books, which explores the amazing things you can build out of simple materials.
Problem solving, critical thinking, persistence through failure–these skills are called on and developed when playing almost any game. But at Iridescent we don’t want to stop there. Why can’t we teach problem those solving skills using physics, instead of using magic spells and Fireflowers?
We understand how to make activities that engage kids because our design challenges share the same properties as successful games. Now we’re using what we’ve learned from our in-person programs to develop engaging Apps and Games built around physics concepts.
Iridescent games are all free for download.
As of Dec. 2014, Iridescent is no longer actively maintaining these apps and games — unfortunately they may no longer work properly on your device or operating system.
Our most complete series of games that teaches children about fundamental Physics concepts: Fluid, Gravity, Electricity, Projectile, Light and Momentum.
Design an underwater rescue robot inspired by nature’s super animals.
Why does the whale have a very powerful tail that helps propel it forward, whereas the squid uses jet propulsion? In this game, children learn about different marine creatures such as the platypus, whale, pike, mussel, and squid, through videos and animations.
They apply what they learn by choosing the right combination of robotic systems (propulsion, defense, respiration, digestion and sensory) for a rescue mission. The final test of their design is in the Navigator section where the robot has to navigate predators and natural obstacles, while maintaining its energy and oxygen sources.
The ipad app is based on the incredible illustrations of mechanical animals by John Kelly in the book, The Robot Zoo.
Players will learn about how birds have adapted their beaks, wing shapes and sizes, flapping frequencies, body size and feet to survive and thrive in specific environments.
Users then test their learning by creating and flying a bird that is adapted to a specific environment.
Enjoy learning about the dynamics of flight as you control a beautiful albatross soaring over the ocean.
With two fingers, you can directly control the angle of an albatross’s wing, causing changes in lift forces and allowing the bird to ascend or descend. Once you’ve got the hang of basic elevation changes, you can switch to Flight Mode, where you independently control the albatross’s wings using thumb-sliders along each side of the screen.
Pilot an underwater glider, picking up trash and learning about marine life along the way. Recycle collected trash for money to purchase upgrades for your glider.