Hellobee

Drake has recently been on a huge Curious George kick. Since he started watching the show, I’ve discovered that a lot of science is actually incorporated into the plots. On the surface it seems like a show that closely resemble the books about a naughty monkey and his adventures. But the show does a great job of taking George’s natural curiosity (one that I think children will relate to well) and expanding on that in a real and testable way for kids. For example, one morning Drake came into my room while I was still sleeping. We have a floor fan that we use when we sleep and after I woke up, I discovered two small piles of random toys and objects from around the house next to it. When I questioned Drake, he told me he was testing wind theory to see which objects the fan was able to blow and which ones were too heavy. To say I was a little blown away (pun intended) is an understatement, and when I asked him where he learned that idea, and he said George!

I looked it up later and saw in Season 3 Episode 9: Red Sky At Night, Monkey’s Delight, George learns about predicting the weather by watching wind patterns, and he even creates his own wind sock to see which way the winds were blowing. Drake held up one of my socks to the fan to show me his own wind sock. After that I started to notice how the shows would often create scenarios in the show that could be tested by children afterwards.

Season 1 Episode 1: From Scratch 

Drake watched George use various objects to measure different lengths and was obsessed with using Mr. Chocolate’s tape measure and creating ones out of different objects the way George did.

Season 8 Episode 2: Curious George Clowns Around  

George uses his fingers to do math as he tries to navigate multiple stair levels as he delivers packages. He draws the numbers onto tape which he puts on his hands and adds and subtracts with them to move along the flights. After that Drake started to use his hands and prompt us to ask him addition and subtraction questions.

Through the various episodes he’s learned many facts like maple syrup comes from tree sap (Season 6 Episode 7: Maple Monkey Madness), the difference between primary colors and secondary ones (Season 2 Episode 7: Color Me Monkey), and how sheep’s wool is cut off of them so we can create clothing from it (Season 5 Episode 6: Curious George Sheep Herder).

After seeing how much Drake has been learning from watching George, I wanted to find ways to expand on the episodes. We watch George on Amazon Prime (8 seasons are free) and not PBS (which does live action break downs of the episodes highlighting some of the lessons George presents in the show) so we don’t see any of the science break downs, but they are listed after each episode on their website. The website is also chock full of parent-child activity suggestions.

Here are some ideas I had about lessons and activities that could tie in to certain episodes:

Season 1 Episode 4: Buoy Wonder

George tries to create a boat that doesn’t sink in order to enter it into the Model Boat contest. After some trial and error, he discovers which materials float and sink. There are so many fun DIY boats to try to create. How fun would it be to see all the different kinds of boats we create floating in the tub or outside in a plastic pool. I also remember a Sesame Street episode where kids made boats out of tin foil and then washers were added in to see how many the boats could support depending on their construction. I think that would be a great tie-in to this idea of floating and sinking.

Season 3 Episode 1: The Perfect Carrot

George needs carrots to feed the bunnies. After he sees how carrots grow from seeds, he is off to grow his own perfect carrot. Drake already knows a little about gardening thanks to his Grandma and Pop Pop’s garden. We are working on eventually creating our own garden, but last year Drake had the opportunity to help out in his grandparents’ garden and they carved out a small section for him to plant what he wanted. This year Drake wants to plant tomatoes (because I love them though he doesn’t) and we have the seeds and pots for this. I also like the idea of trying a root garden or bulb garden so he can observe the details of the plants growing under ground.

Season 3 Episode 3: For the Birds

George loves feeding the birds but how to keep the pesky squirrels from eating all the bird seed? Trial and error as well as a squirrel’s ability to leap test this monkey’s ingenuity. Drake has a great affinity for birds. We already have a bird feeder that locks down when squirrels try to climb on, though they still get their fair share of the dropped seeds. But I’m sure the birds wouldn’t mind some extra treats hanging in the yard. We could even try making another feeder all together.

Season 3 Episode 4: Much Ado About Nothing

George learns about composting and how only certain things work as compost while others things just make smelly trash. I would probably have to enlist Mr Chocolate’s help if I wanted to create a real fancy compost bin, but even I could probably manage this simpler plastic one. Not only is this teaching Drake about composting and recycling, but it’s a great way to get some nice soil to work with when we do get around to creating our garden.

Season 4 Episode 5: Juicy George George discovers the joys of juicing and sets out to create the ultimate juicy treat

Drake loves making smoothies with me and this has become our new thing together. Smoothies are typically a bit thicker with yogurt or milk bases compared to juices which only use fruits and vegetables.  I am looking into some recipes in hopes that the juices will be just as fun to create and make as the smoothies have been.

Season 6 Episode 5: Hamster Cam 

George’s friend Steve’s hamster is loose in the city with a camera on his back. Can they find him using clues and signs to hone in on the hamster’s location? Since watching this episode Drake has been fascinated by maps. He has drawn quite a few and incorporated it in his play with friends. I think this might be a good lesson to start showing Drake real maps to understand our world and the town we live in, and how to find his way to places he knows like home, school, the grocery store, friend’s house etc. I also love the idea of creating a treasure map together or doing a scavenger hunt with a fun surprise for him at the end.

Season 7 Episode 5: Honey of a Monkey 

In this episode George and his friend Steve eat the last of the honeycomb and are desperate to find more. Through the episode they learn how bees create the honeycomb and George creates his own beehive. While I wont be creating my own beehive for Drake, I do find the entire process of how bees make honey (a product Drake loves) to be fascinating, especially after seeing how a man made bee hive is made with all the different compartments and entrances for the bees. I found some local bee hive farms and one that travels to fairs and libraries to give demonstrations. I want to take Drake to one of the events now to see a real live bee hive.

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There just seem to be so many wonderful new and fun learning opportunities presented by George and his insatiable curiosity. I love that we can incorporate educational activities to build on the lessons he learns from watching the show!

Are there any shows your LO watches where you incorporate real life activities?