12 Unique Things Your Future Scientist Needs in Their Life
It can be hard to keep up once your future scientist finds their passion and joy in learning the sciences. It can seem never ending as they are constantly exploring, researching, questioning and growing. Once you have done some Simple Science Experiments and fostered that love of science, you might be wondering where to go next. Here are some great suggestions to keep those young minds exploring, jet propel their curiosity, and foster their thirst for more science.
Tips for Inspiring Future Scientists
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Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime has tons of amazing programs plus many original programs to help inspire your future scientists. For a small monthly fee, you can unlock access to an incredible array of programs that will foster curiosity in your kids. Programs like Popular Mechanics for Kids, How Stuff Works, In Space, Codebreakers, SciGirls and hundreds more are just a few we discovered. With new content always being added and the line up always changing, it is a great service to keep your kids making new discoveries.
You can try Amazon Prime free for 30 days here.
Netflix
Netflix is always changing their offerings, so it is hard to list any specific shows, but we are always discovering the most amazing science focused programming on Netflix. Just recently we really enjoyed watching Blue Planet together. Netflix offers full fledged movies and shorter TV episode options. They have so much fantastic educational content for all ages.
Membership to a Local Science Center
A quick Google search will tell you about any science centers and museums in your area. This is also a highlight for us when we are traveling, to check out the science centers in other communities. It is amazing all the cool things you can see, plus most science centers offer programming and classes. A great tip to keep in mind, is that many science centers have reciprocal admission programs, so you can buy one membership and get free or discounted admission for others all around the world.
YouTube Channels That Inspire Future Scientists
There are some amazing science focused, educational channels on YouTube. Here are a few of our favourite channels:
- ASAP Science
- Smarter Every Day
- Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell
- SciShow
- Minute Physics
- It’s Okay To Be Smart
- Periodic Videos
- Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls
- Crash Course
- Crash Course Kids
Set up a playlist of videos and let your kids supplement their learning on their current themes with some fascinating, and often fun, videos.
Basher Science Books by Simon Basher
This collection of REALLY cute books include The Periodic Table, Physics, Biology, Rocks and Minerals, Planet Earth, Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy. These books are very unique and can show you the world of science like you’ve never seen it before. We are always adding to our collection!
TED-Ed Videos
TED has a website devoted entirely to lessons for students of all ages called Ted-Ed. Each video is roughly 5 minutes long and is packed with information students will find fascinating. After each video, there is a quiz, additional resources, and a guided discussion. I often share these to the STEAM Powered Family Facebook page because I am always finding the most fascinating lessons at Ted-Ed, I just want to share them with the world!
Hoopla & A Library Card
It may seem obvious, but having a library card for your child is like gold! Teach them how to use the library catalogs, how to find materials, and most of all how to do research. Make library trips a regular occurrence in your schedule. You will be surprised how much your child starts to look forward to these days.
You will also want to sign up for Hoopla, which is free with a library card. It is packed full of amazing programs, movies, audio books, ebooks, magazines, and even graphic novels to inspire your young learner. We use Hoopla all the time, and I love that we can use it offline as well. Access to Hoopla is one of the great benefits of having a library card.
Tappity App – For Curious Young Scientists
Over the past year we have loved learning, exploring and growing with the Tappity App. Designed for elementary aged kids, they do one of the most incredible jobs I have ever seen for inspiring future scientists and teaching in a multi-sensory way that resonates for all children, even those with learning struggles. The first time my struggling learner proudly recited all the planets in order, he proclaimed happily, “That’s thanks to Tappity!” We love this program and highly recommend it for all aspiring scientists.
As a friend of STEAM Powered Family you can save 33% by signing up here!
Subscription Box For Monthly Inspiration and Lessons
Sometimes you need a little inspiration to keep the kids excited and motivated and a great way to do this is through subscription boxes. A quality subscription box will deliver a package to you every month packed full of innovative, projects and ideas. These boxes are also a great way to combat that wonderful saying, “I’m bored!”
Tinker Space
We often talk about the power of freedom to explore and tinker to inspire curiosities and passions for science. In addition to lots of simple tinker supplies like Lego, craft sticks and glue, make sure you also have a collection of kitchen science essentials like baking soda, vinegar, cornstarch, baking powder and more. When it comes to lab time, your future scientist will have a blast conducting science experiments like a real scientist in a lab.
Podcasts For Future Scientists
There is a great website and app available called Kid Listen and it lists all the kid friendly educational podcasts available that will keep your future scientist busy. This is fantastic news, as many podcasts are not kid friendly, but it is a wonderful medium for kids to learn. A few others to check out are:
- Tumble Science Podcast
- But Why? A Podcast for Curious Kids
- Brains On! A Podcast for Kids and Curious Adults
- Plus NASA offers lots of Podcast options
Your time, Help & Passion For Learning
Your child needs to be able to share his thoughts and curiosities with someone and that person should be you. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers to all their questions. Showing your kids how you do the research to find the answers to their questions, will help them learn valuable skills so they can do this research themselves one day.
I also strongly encourage you to come up with projects to do yourself. Having your kids see you playing with science, maybe talking about the science as you bake bread, or make some candy, or maybe make a batch of bath bombs to gift over the holidays, will help your kids see how learning science is a life long passion, with real life applications. Plus they will likely get curious and want in on all the fun science you are doing!
Most of all, encourage your kids to be curious. Foster that thirst for knowledge. And help them build a foundation that will gift them a love of learning for life.