We knew Toca Boca‘s latest app was coming out today based on a teaser video posted by the developer last week. Now Toca Lab is live on the App Store.

We love it for its focus on science, but in the playful, creative way that’s become the company’s hallmark. The app gets kids to play with 118 elements from the periodic table in a virtual laboratory.

“Take your element for a spin in the centrifuge. Warm them up in the Bunsen burner. Ouch, too hot! Put the element on ice with the cooling agent! Add a drop or two of mysterious liquids from the test tubes. Change their voltage and make them magnetic with the oscilloscope,” encourages the App Store listing.

Toca Boca stresses that while the elements are real, the way new ones are created is not – the aim is to get children interested in science, rather than present strictly accurate chemical reactions. It wants to enthuse “future scientists” to explore further, in that regard.

As a parent ashamed of his teenage sulkiness about all things scientific – I decided arbitrarily at around 13 that I was rubbish at it – I’m pretty excited too. Toca Lab might just teach me a thing or two. Or 118.

Toca Lab costs £1.99 for iPhone and iPad on Apple’s App Store.

Read about more science apps for kids on Apps Playground.