Favorite educational shows for 6-12 year olds?

[creekmom]

I know there are some good shows on the Science, History and Discovery Channels; I just don't watch it enough to know what they are. Do you have any favorites for the elementary/middle school ages?

[Farrar]

My kids are not quite six... they really like WordGirl on PBS Kids - definitely aimed at a slightly older crowd than most of their preschool shows.

 

We think Bill Nye and Magic Schoolbus have held up well. And the kids like Bindi, the Jungle Girl. I generally roll my eyes and remind myself that she's homeschooled, which oddly, gives me a fuzzy feeling of happiness about her show.

 

There are a billion of the reality shows out there that are appropriate for kids too. My kids aren't hugely into them yet, but we've sampled cooking shows, shows like How It's Made about engineering, shows like Meerkat Manner about animals... There's just so much to look at now...

[creekmom]

Bill Nye the Science Guy

 

This sounds good - what channel/day/time does he come on? Thanks!

[Caitilin]

My kids all love BBC's Planet Earth, even my little guy when he's in my lap; I want to get Life for them too. We also liked Walking With Dinosaurs, etc. but we don't own those.

[RachelFlores]

I agree, Bill Nye is great, but he isn't on around here anymore. Dh bought Planet Earth and we ALL love it, watch the extras, it is SO interesting what they went through to get some of the footage. Life is on our list of movies to get. Another series that might be a bit young is The Magic School Bus cartoon (you might have to get it on video too though). As adults, we are fans of Myth Busters, but I could see a 8+ year old really liking it. We don't have cable so our choices are limited, we like Nature and NOVA on PBS, but they might not always hold the attention of a younger child.

[Terabith]

Fetch with Ruff Ruffman

Prehistoric Planet

Liberty Kids

Cyberchase

Martha Speaks

 

Those are all shows my six year old likes. I'm guessing as they get older, there are a lot more shows on Animal Planet, Science Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, History Channel, etc that will have a lot of appeal.

[Vida Winter]

Although I can't stand it, my kids love The Magic Schoolbus, and they have learned a lot from it, somehow, effortlessly.

[sbgrace]

Magic Schoolbus and Liberty Kids really seem to have big learning impacts here and the boys love them. They also love Between the Lions but that wouldn't fit the older kids!

[Devotional Soul]

Popular Mechanics For Kids (DVDs your library may have)

[lailasmum]

The new series of Horrible Histories. The BBC live action version not cartoon. Its hilarious. Series 1 is out on DVD and series 2 is on TV at the moment so should be out on DVD soon i would think. Worth watching just for the silly songs.

 

There are quite a lot of long clips on their website but I am not sure if they would be available outside the UK

[Closeacademy]

On Discoverykids, my youngest fell in love with Egypt after watching Tutenstein.

[rafiki]

.

[KarenNC]

Bill Nye the Science Guy can be watched free online at http://tv.blinkx.com/show/bill-nye-the-science-guy/fhUZQG3HldcPXCMQcwXAixgnVBw#s5e17

 

Unfortunately, they only list the subjects for season one. I have done a listing of the subjects of all the seasons on this site in checklist format (we were using them as part of science last year and my daughter loves Bill Nye ;)), so let me know if you would like a copy of the file.

[msjones]

Dragonfly TV on the PBS website. I don't think it's a regularly aired program (?). It's science-y videos on the website. We all enjoy those.

[buttercup]

My kids LOVE Word Girl, Cyberchase, and Fetch on PBS. :)

[Jilly]

My kids have been enjoying The Science of Disney Imagineering. I am not sure if these episodes are available on tv. We have been renting them from the library.

[sunriseiz]

There is a new show called SciGirls on PBS here. So far, it's a huge hit at our house along with Bill Nye (from the library).

[Joyofsixreboot]

My 9 and 11 yo are big fans of Mythbusters, Discovery and Animal Planet. My now 14yo has an encyclopedic knowledge of war machinery and battles from nothing but documentaries on the discovery channel. Blech but suited him. There's also Discovery Classroom which depends on the topic whether mine are interested or not.

[K&Rs Mom]

Dragonfly TV on the PBS website. I don't think it's a regularly aired program (?). It's science-y videos on the website. We all enjoy those.

 

These are free on iTunes too (I think in the Podcast section) - dc have liked some of them.

[Jayne J]

Bill Nye the Science Guy can be watched free online at http://tv.blinkx.com/show/bill-nye-the-science-guy/fhUZQG3HldcPXCMQcwXAixgnVBw#s5e17

 

Unfortunately, they only list the subjects for season one. I have done a listing of the subjects of all the seasons on this site in checklist format (we were using them as part of science last year and my daughter loves Bill Nye ;)), so let me know if you would like a copy of the file.

 

 

Thank you! I have wanted to show the kids Bill Nye, but couldn't get them at my library! Yipee! I would love a copy of the file with the episodes listed, if you would be so kind.:hurray:

[JennyW]

We watch plenty of the shows mentioned, but my kids also love Peep, and my 9 year old daughter has recently gotten on to Unnatural History. It's live action, but she loves it. Of course she also loves watching the NASA channel, which is another good source for shows for slightly older kids.

[KarenNC]

Let's try this for the Bill Nye at tvblinx list--might be easier---I've left off season 1 as the topics are listed on the website. Hopefully it's not too long!

 

Season Episode subject

 

2 1 Magnetism

2 Not available

3 Blood and circulation

4 Chemical reactions

5 Static electricity

6 Food web

7 Light optics

8 Bones and muscles

9 Oceanography

10 Heat

11 Insects

12 Balance

13 Sun

14 Brain

15 Not available (forest?)

16 Not available (communication?)

17 Not available (momentum)

18 Reptiles

19 Atmosphere

20 Respiration

 

3 1 Planets and moon

2 Pressure

3 Not available (plants?)

4 Rocks and soil

5 Energy

6 Not available (evolution?)

7 Water cycle

8 Friction

9 Germs

10 Climates

11 Waves

12 Ocean life

13 Mammals

14 Spinning things

15 Fish

16 Human transportation

17 Wetlands

18 Birds

19 Population

20 Animal locomotion

 

4 1 Rivers and streams

2 Nutrition

3 Marine mammals

4 Earthquakes

5 Not available (video countdown)

6 Spiders

7 Pollution solutions

8 Probability

9 Pseudoscience

10 Flowers

11 Archaeology

12 Deserts

13 Amphibians

14 Not available (volcanoes)

15 Invertebrates

16 Heart

17 Inventions

18 Computers

19 Fossils

20 Time

 

5 1 Forensics

2 Space exploration

3 Genes

4 Architecture

5 Farming

6 Life cycle

7 Diy science

8 Not available (atoms and molecules)

9 Ocean exploration

10 Lakes and ponds

11 Smells

12 Caves

13 Fluids

14 Erosion

15 Comets and meteors

16 Storms

17 Measurement

18 Patterns

19 Music

20 motion

[Aurelia]

We don't watch TV, so our shows are limited to what looks good at the library or redbox. Ariel, 6, loves Sid the Science Kid and The Jeff Corwin Experience.

[Jen in PA]

There is a new show called SciGirls on PBS here. So far, it's a huge hit at our house along with Bill Nye (from the library).

 

DD loves SciGirls, and I have been impressed by the range of science and engineering topics they cover.

[Guest janainaz]

My ds10 and I love The Universe.

[Happy2BaMom]

my son loves Bill Nye!

[Athome]

My public library has a gazillion movies! We search PBS and find all the movies they've produced. We watched an amazing one on the migration of butterflies the other week. My kids were amazed.

 

Planet Earth is a must, must see! The Disney version is great for getting your feet wet, but if you enjoy it go get the BBC original version that Disney used for their production. You won't be disappointed.

[HollyB]

My kids only watch PBS, and they love the Electric Company, SciGirls, Fetch, and Design Squad.

[WishboneDawn]

Mystery Hunters!

 

From Wikipedia:

 

Teenage hosts Araya and Christina investigate real-life reports of mysteries such as ghosts, monsters, vampires and UFOs. They use scientific rigour to try to find plausible explanations for the sightings and eye-witness accounts that trigger their investigations. In another section of the show, Doubting Dave, a scientist played by David Acer, attempts to explain mysterious personal experiences that have been emailed in by viewers, in a feature called "V-Files", as well as a way to create your own versions of the mysteries in the show in his "Mystery Lab" segment.

 

It's essentially in the same vein as Penn & Teller's Bull***t and Mythbusters except it's full of wonder and respect, unlike Bull***t and with better and more rigourous science then Mythbusters.

 

They've covered things from "ghostlight" on a rural road to the Oracle of Delphi and they never squelch that love kids have for the spooky and mysterios even while they're explaining how to reasonable and critically questions those events.

 

I think it's got Mythbusters beat and I love to watch it myself.

[cschnee]

Oh good, someone mentioned Mythbusters. Any of Jeff Corwin's shows are great too.

[creekmom]

Wow! Thanks for all the great suggestions! :001_smile:

[melissel]

Thank you! I have wanted to show the kids Bill Nye, but couldn't get them at my library! Yipee! I would love a copy of the file with the episodes listed, if you would be so kind.:hurray:

 

Uh, watch out if you go to the Blinkx site. I clicked the link and had my eyeball seared by an incredibly graphic Playboy ad on a page that also had links to iCarly, Hannah Montana, etc. :blink: Don't open it with any kids around :eek:

[KarenNC]

Uh, watch out if you go to the Blinkx site. I clicked the link and had my eyeball seared by an incredibly graphic Playboy ad on a page that also had links to iCarly, Hannah Montana, etc. :blink: Don't open it with any kids around :eek:

 

Wow, we've watched 63 of the episodes via this link and I've not ever encountered a Playboy ad.

 

Here's the link I use http://tv.blinkx.com/show/bill-nye-the-science-guy/fhUZQG3HldcPXCMQcwXAixgnVBw#s5e17 It had links on the side to "similar shows" and had static ads for Wizards of Waverly Place, iCarly, Hannah Montanna, H2O, the Boondocks, DeGrassi High, Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon and How I met your mother. The only issue I've ever had is if one misclicks on the green button at the ireel site (ie not directly on the green button), you might get some questionable megavideo ads.

 

I refreshed the page about 15 times to see if anything changed and twice I got a video ad (rather than a static ad). There was one with a doughnut, but then the last time, yes, something terribly inappropriate came up. My apologies, I don't recall ever even noticing a video ad on that site, much less Playboy (which I would have noticed!). We haven't watched any of the Bill Nye in a week or two as we've been watching other things, so perhaps it's a new ad. I usually set up the Bill Nye myself so that it's the episode we want to watch for science---guess that's a good thing!

[KarenNC]

I've emailed Tvblinx asking them to correct the issue. It is likely they are just getting an ad feed from a supplier and don't realize a mistake was made in the line up.

[melissel]

Wow, we've watched 63 of the episodes via this link and I've not ever encountered a Playboy ad.

 

Here's the link I use http://tv.blinkx.com/show/bill-nye-the-science-guy/fhUZQG3HldcPXCMQcwXAixgnVBw#s5e17 It had links on the side to "similar shows" and had static ads for Wizards of Waverly Place, iCarly, Hannah Montanna, H2O, the Boondocks, DeGrassi High, Avatar the Last Airbender cartoon and How I met your mother. The only issue I've ever had is if one misclicks on the green button at the ireel site (ie not directly on the green button), you might get some questionable megavideo ads.

 

I refreshed the page about 15 times to see if anything changed and twice I got a video ad (rather than a static ad). There was one with a doughnut, but then the last time, yes, something terribly inappropriate came up. My apologies, I don't recall ever even noticing a video ad on that site, much less Playboy (which I would have noticed!). We haven't watched any of the Bill Nye in a week or two as we've been watching other things, so perhaps it's a new ad. I usually set up the Bill Nye myself so that it's the episode we want to watch for science---guess that's a good thing!

 

This time I got a Westin ad and an ad for some kind of celebrity news. Whew! :lol: I did open it at 10:00 last night--maybe it's related to time of day? Either way, no worries, I just wanted to make sure no one opened it with kids around, just in case. What I saw would be difficult to explains:001_huh: :lol:

Edited August 1, 2010 by melissel

[KarenNC]

This time I got a Westin ad and an ad for some kind of celebrity news. Whew! :lol: I did open it at 10:00 last night--maybe it's related to time of day? Either way, no worries, I just wanted to make sure no one opened it with kids around, just in case. What I saw would be difficult to explains:001_huh: :lol:

 

I don't think it's time of day, as I was able to eventually get to the inappropriate one after refreshing a lot this morning. It seems to be a somewhat random rotation. Glad that it was an adult and not a kid who found out that this problem existed!!

[Aoife]

We got rid of cable a few years ago which was the best decision ever! :tongue_smilie: We do have netflix though and I keep my laptop connected to the TV for watching and playing games. Things we like to watch here are:

 

 

How things work - all of my kids like this show

Walking with dinosaurs

walking with monsters

China _ GORGEOUS documentary!

Ok most BBC documentaries

Magic schoolbus is a hit with the younger kids

The littles like ok LOVE blues clues

 

 

If you have netflix there is a documentary category with TONS of stuff that you can go through! We are bad documentary freaks here :lol:

[Spock]

I know there are some good shows on the Science, History and Discovery Channels; I just don't watch it enough to know what they are. Do you have any favorites for the elementary/middle school ages?

 

 

My 8 & 10yo like:

• Word Girl (great plots, vocabulary more for PK-2nd grade)
  
• Martha Speaks (annoying to teens, great vocabulary)
  
• Fetch!
  
• Nature
  
• Nova (sometimes, depending on the topic)
  
• Nova Science Now
  
• Design Squad
  
• Animal Adventures with Jack Hanna
  

Sort of educational:

• Curious George
  
• Arthur
  
• Anne of Green Gables
  

Edited August 1, 2010 by Spock
Note: We don't have cable, so these are all PBS shows.

[KarenNC]

Looks like the TV blinx site has corrected the problem with the adult ads. I just got the following message from their tech support:

 

Hello Karen,

 

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the temporary issue which caused

adult videos to display on our site. This was unintentional and has since

been resolved, so you should not see adult video ads on blinkx Remote

(http://tv.blinkx.com) going forward.

 

 

So it looks like it's safe to watch Bill Nye again :001_smile:.

[cam112198]

:bigear: