In Simple Machines, kids split an iceberg egg in half with different wedges. With this printable activity, you and your kids can see how a wedge works together.

As we build apps at Tinybop, we play-test. Observing kids playing with our apps is the only way to tell whether kids will enjoy and learn from them. But we don’t just watch kids play our apps alone. After play-testing, we let kids share the app they’ve tested with their parents. If parents are as engaged with an app as their kids are, that’s a good sign.

In Simple Machines, kids use pulleys to send satellites into orbit and birds into flight. In this printable activity, you can build a simple pulley together.

“What is a machine?” We asked dozens of kids when researching Simple Machines. Machines use electricity, they said. Machines are big, complicated, metallic; they’re like dishwashers, windmills, or trains.

Next we asked, “What is the simplest machine you know?” Many kids named computers, tablets, and phones. Their answers surprised us, but they shouldn’t have.

In Simple Machines kids can use a lever to launch objects and destroy a castle. In this printable activity, you can build a lever together.

Simple machines are everywhere and we use them everyday. They’re so much a part of our lives that we don’t always recognize them. But once you start thinking about them, it’s hard not to see them — everywhere, everyday!

Above, Youngna used a screwdriver — a wheel and axle — to take apart bookshelves before moving. Here are a few more examples we’ve noticed lately.

In Simple Machines, kids can use inclined planes to make music in an arcade. In this printable activity, you can build one together.

Every app we make gives us the chance to explore new ideas from different perspectives — including that of the artist we’re collaborating with to illustrate the app. For our newest app, Simple Machines, that artist was James Gilleard. Here’s a little more about his process, working life, and inspirations.

We released our new app, Simple Machines, this week. In Simple Machines kids can destroy a castle with a lever, make music with inclined planes, send satellites into orbit with a set of pulleys, lift fish tanks with screws, travel through a wondrous world with wheels and axles, and split an iceberg with a wedge.

It’s our hope that playing and experimenting with each simple machine will not only help kids learn about how they work but also give them an appreciation for simple machines in the world around them.

As a studio of curious adults (formerly, curious children), we love to share the videos, apps, books, and other media that we hope will spark that same curiosity in children today. Here, we’ve rounded up a few that focus on science, technology, engineering, and math!