Short Informative or creative films on You Tube

January 8, 2015 11:07 AM

My first grader likes science documentaries (life sciences, geology, space) and creative short films. A few favorites are Secret life of Plankton, the most recent PES films (submarine sandwich and fresh guacamole) and "origami" by ESMA. I am looking for similar short films - not full length documentaries. I'm thinking about 5 minutes to 30 minutes.
posted by beccaj to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

The Science Channel from The New York Times Video section might fit your bill.

National Geographic Kids has videos.

NASA has a YouTube channel. You can also find videos on their Kids' Club site.
posted by brookeb at 11:15 AM on January 8, 2015

The Kid Should See This is your one-stop shop for this kind of thing. They do a pretty good job of tagging, so if your child likes bees you can find 5 cool bee videos in 30 seconds.

My son likes How It's Made, which is not precisely science documentaries, but which seems to scratch similar itches. The individual segments are about 5 minutes each.
posted by tchemgrrl at 11:26 AM on January 8, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKtVpvzUF1Y pretty neat to see how you let a rocket "go" with narration
posted by nickggully at 11:29 AM on January 8, 2015

2nding The Kid Should See This.
posted by anastasiav at 11:32 AM on January 8, 2015

Oh, and I should have mentioned the Mars Curiosity and Spirit and Opportunity videos, which are my kid's favorite-favorite things of this type.
posted by tchemgrrl at 11:40 AM on January 8, 2015

Full episodes are longer than 5 minutes, but have you ever shown him Beakman's World?
posted by jbickers at 11:41 AM on January 8, 2015

Powers of Ten is one of my favorite short films accessible on YouTube. I'd look for some playlists that include it to find other neat stuff.
posted by jessamyn at 11:41 AM on January 8, 2015

Looks like there are several DK Eyewitness videos available:

Dinosaur, 1, 2
Skeleton
Bird, 1, 2

This channel offers more of these DK videos, so scroll through his list.

The Secret Life of Machines series might suit, too. Here's Radio.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:11 PM on January 8, 2015

Some of the SciShow videos might be good. They have links to other good channels on the right sidebar as well.
posted by wsquared at 1:20 PM on January 8, 2015

My kids really like The Brain Scoop, hosted by a curator? at The Field Museum in Chicago. They think she's awesome. The grosser the episode (taxidermying a roadkill squirrel) the more they like it. My younger kid is in first grade.
posted by leahwrenn at 9:05 PM on January 8, 2015

My 1st grader loves MinuteEarth and MinutePhysics. Sometimes VSauce depending on the topic. Also Vi Hart. We sometimes also check out The Kid Should See This for new stuff too.

We also recently discovered the Brains On podcast.
posted by thefool at 4:23 AM on January 9, 2015

It can be very random, but the better postings to reddit's /r/ArtisanVideos can be a lot of fun. Look for those videos with 100+ likes and you usually won't go too far wrong. A good taste can be had by clicking the top link and browsing through the highest-liked ones.
posted by bonehead at 12:43 PM on January 9, 2015

Jonathan Bird's Blue World is a favorite of my animal-obsessed son. Each episode is roughly 8 - 15 minutes. It's a fantastic series: informative, lively, beautifully filmed, and not scary (important for small people...).

The Cmdr. Chris Hadfield videos from his time on the ISS (previously) are likewise awesome.
posted by Sheep Who Must Not Be Named at 6:40 PM on January 9, 2015