Science, Discovery & Laughter

Science project books have a tendency to sit on the shelves collecting dust...during the summer. But come September, the madness begins again and librarians struggle to keep up with the demand. Science, Discovery & Laughter can help. Aimed at parents, it offers a dozen good science experiments (and more in the accompanying booklet) that parents can do with their kids, emphasizes the importance of nurturing curiosity in children, and visits parent-child science clubs working on experiments shown in the video. Of the dozen examples, I was immediately ready to try 12 (which gives you some idea of how fun these are). My favorites are making glop and Martian mud (wonderfully yucky stuff that can act like both a liquid and a solid), collecting seeds for a terrarium (this is accomplished by putting a sock over your shoe and walking around in nature, and then planting your sock), and making ice cream. The quartet of instructors are enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and have no qualms about getting their hands a little messy. A very good program which will help parents rediscover their inner child (without paying 50 bucks an hour) and share some real quality time with their kids. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)