Learning the periodic table can be a snooze if your kids are not excited by seemingly random facts. The approach I take with my own kids is to explain the logic behind its organization by focusing on both the atomic orbitals and the simple concept of attraction between an element with extra electron and one needing an electron to be stable. While they understand these concepts, I did not see the spark of excitement in their eyes until yesterday.
Yesterday we watched a documentary called Hunting the Elements (available free through Amazon Prime) featuring David Pogue and his humorous viewpoint towards life.
I have to say at this point that anything produced by PBS is generally banned in our household, but this documentary was surprisingly excellent. So no matter which way your beliefs and values and political leanings sway, I think that you and your children will enjoy it. The only sensitive topic, referred to just briefly in the documentary, is a reference to “billions of years.” So if that is an issue for your family, it is very easy to use it as an example of alternative ideas that some people hold about a past that no one can really testify to anyway, since no people were there to see it (or you can fast-forward about 30 seconds).
Regardless, I found value in the documentary for my children.
I have read studies that indicate that if you eat something after a period of study and learning, that the increased blood sugar rise in your system seems to help cement the concept firmly in your brain. I suspect that if the concept you are studying is presented with humor, the same result occurs.
Learning the how, why, and what of elements through the content and humor in this documentary has emblazoned the periodic table in my children’s brains.
Mission accomplished through entertaining elements.