Most children love the idea of laying in front of a television all day relaxing.  Why not use this to your advantage.  There are numerous shows on television that all focus around various aspects of science that can be used as a jumping base to help hook your child into being interested in science.  Who ever said that science had to be boring and uneventful to truly teach your children?  Let me help you add some creative spice to your child’s science. 

Have you ever watched the Discovery Channel?  Watch the channel for a while, you will see it is packed full of shows that are highly educational and offer a great amount of material that can be used in science projects and experiments.  The first show we will discuss is Mythbusters.  Have you ever stopped and watched the show?  Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are the stars of the show and take great pride and joy in using scientific methods and experiences to prove or disprove myths. 

Have you heard that a lighter in a pocket can catch on fire randomly?  The Mythbusters crew enjoys looking at myths and doing everything possible to prove or disprove their theories.  What better excuse can you use to catch your child’s attention and jump off and create an experiment that you can recreate with your child?  Be very careful what myths you chose to recreate thou, there are some that are very dangerous and should be limited to discussions and research only. 

Another show that is great for science lessons is How It’s Made.  This show takes a few items in each episode and breaks down the entire production process so that you and your child are both able to see the entire manufacturing process from raw basic materials to the completed  finalized product that is ready to be sold in stores.  This is a great basic jump-start for those who are looking to teach their children how things are made, how plastic bottles are created, screen-printing, and so much more.  Makes a great addition to a lesson on how materials are created, as well as so many other lessons can be extracted from the episodes. 

Does your child take an interest in how buildings are built?  Look at the show Extreme Engineering.  This show examines such scenarios as  Tokyo’s Sky City, a City in a Pyramid, and Widening the Panama Canal just to mention a few.  This is a great way to help your child stretch their imagination as well as creative thinking towards science when looking at air pressure and other things that must be considered when building.

While each and every child must learn about science while they are in school, there is no reason for it to all be boring and tiring.  Instead, look for creative ways to jazz it up, use some of the great television shows to your advantage to help hook your child.  Let the shows help set the pace for the science lesson and once your child has learned and gotten into the thrill of how much fun science can you, you can explain how much they are really learning.  Children crave a fun and exciting learning experience; this is a great way to fulfill that need for your children while teaching them so much more than a standard textbook would ever teach.