Science for preschoolers! Since 2014, Nickelodeon has run Blaze and Monster Machines, an animated cartoon series designed to bring science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts to preschool children. Created by Jeff Borkin and Ellen Martin, Blaze and the Monster Machines highlights concepts such as friction, trajectories, volume and more for kids in a fun way! With an underlying STEM curriculum developed by Dr Christine M. Ricci, the show follows several monster trucks and two human characters who solve challenges using their knowledge of STEM.

When you watch the show with your kids (mine are 5 and 8 years old), you can see that the format is similar in some ways to Dora the Explorer, whereby the characters ask the children watching to help them solve the challenges. Part of the fun in the series is that Blaze as the main truck character can change shape, whereby a variety of simple machines and contraptions are introduced to kids!

Being a kids show, Blaze and the Monster Machines uses music and lyrics as part of the entertainment. As the focus of the show is on STEM, this means that you can find a number of songs throughout the series that work very well in teaching scientific concepts… check out the clip below where Blaze and the gang sing about Adhesion.

Blaze and the Monster Machines also has a racing game which supports some of the learning too…

As you can see, Blaze and the Monster Machines is an entertaining series that’s worth having a look at if you have young kids. As a parent myself, I know that each episode has generated conversations with my kids about general physics principles that have helped my kids understand the world they live in and remove misconceptions that they may have. Worth your time!

Happy teaching,
Ben Newsome

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