Sid the science kid poop

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PBS Kids spotlight playlist

PBS Kids shows

Onward and Songward/Why Did the Turtle Cross the Road?

Sue Ellen's Lost Diary/Arthur's Knee

Grandma Thora Appreciation Day/Fern's Slumber Party

The Potato Ultimato/A Fistful of Fruit Juice

The Last Largest Lobster

Sloth Bear Suction

Reading the Mud/Unsinkable Molly Mabray

Tooth or Consequences/Qyah Spy

Traffic Trouble

Knot So Fast / Made in the Shade

I am Zora Neale Hurston/I am Charles Dickens

Cave Dad/Grumpa Comes to Call

Coming Soon!/Fire Dog Tucker

The House that Ants Built/Special Places

Tiny and the Crocodile/Meet the Grandparents

Sand Palace/Zoo Day

All Tangled Up/Above the Clouds

Bug Scouts

A Home for Gecko

Special Delivery/Campout Confusion

Family Sports Day/The Cake-Off

Daniel's Winter Adventure/Neighborhood Nutcracker

Quiet Time at School/Naptime in Blanket City

George Measures Up/Something New Under the Sun

Free Hundley/Bag Monkey

A Night Out/Poetry Problem

Piano Problem/Bongo-lympics

Special Delivery/Campout Confusion

Family Sports Day/The Cake-Off

Do the Waltzango/Big Brother Bootcamp

Alma's Book Swap/ Finders Keepers

Appily Ever After/Sound Off

Great Salt Lake/The Praying Mantis Hunters

Cents-less/Buster the Lounge Lizard

Prunella the Packrat/What's in a Name?

Soundcheck Part Deux/Jinx

City Hoppers!

Snowy Owl Invasion

Basketball Blues

Ice Sculpture/Tale of a Totem

Buzz and the Tree

All Over the Map / Lights Go Down in City Town

I am Winston Churchill/I am Cleopatra

Lost and Found/Time of Goodbye

Family Sports Day/The Cake-Off

Do the Waltzango/Big Brother Bootcamp

Alma's Book Swap/ Finders Keepers

Appily Ever After/Sound Off

Great Salt Lake/The Praying Mantis Hunters

Cents-less/Buster the Lounge Lizard

Prunella the Packrat/What's in a Name?

Soundcheck Part Deux/Jinx

City Hoppers!

Snowy Owl Invasion

Basketball Blues

Ice Sculpture/Tale of a Totem

Buzz and the Tree

All Over the Map / Lights Go Down in City Town

I am Winston Churchill/I am Cleopatra

Lost and Found/Time of Goodbye

Samantha's Perfect Day/Welcome Home, Natalie Chan

Big Trees/Baby Steps

Love Day / A New Leaf

Cupid Calls It Quits

Doggie Job Search

Bug Scouts

Snout Wash Day/A Super Recipe

Trouble in Chalk Town/Story Time Garden

It's Love Day!/Daniel's Love Day Surprise

Daniel Makes a Mistake/Baking Mistakes

Where's the Firedog?/Toot Toot Tootsie Goodbye

Monkey Stagehand/Magic Garden

Flying Flapjacks/Pickle Penguin Problem

Super Duper Sleepover/Mountain Climb Time

Snout Wash Day/A Super Recipe

Trouble in Chalk Town/Story Time Garden

Beatbox Big Time/Super Sisters

Basketball Birds/Looking for Litter

Rock Clues/Sweet Scent

The Legend of Gold Gardens/Winter Dance Party

Buster's Secret Admirer/The Last King of Lambland

Francine Redecorates/Arthur The Loser

First Day

Elephant Brains!

Puffin Rescue

Molly's Valentine's Day Disaster/Porcupine Slippers

The Night Manager/Not So Permafrost

Hacker's Bright Idea

Snowy Journey/Super Summertime

I am Florence Nightingale/I am George Washington Carver

Mr. Precise/The Case of the Missing Cheese

Trouble in Chalk Town/Story Time Garden

Beatbox Big Time/Super Sisters

Basketball Birds/Looking for Litter

Rock Clues/Sweet Scent

30 Great Science Shows For Kids

Kids' Entertainment

Netflix

From rockets to root systems, there's something for every curious mind.

Updated: Oct. 18, 2022

Originally Published: March 7, 2021

Kids have an annoying habit of not enjoying things that are good for them. Vegetables. Bathing. Naps. But how about educational programming within enjoyable TV shows so fun they won't even know they're learning? We've got you. Here are 28 great science shows for kids, because we want to encourage all that STEAM-y goodness early and often.

The promise of quality educational programming that kids will actually want to watch instead of another insipid unboxing video or low-quality home video of someone mindlessly playing with slime on YouTube (seriously, what the heck is the appeal there?) seems hard to believe, but there's actually a lot of it out there! This list is just the tip of the iceberg — incidentally, your kids can and will learn all about icebergs in some episodes of these shows. Not only that, there's a healthy mix of disciplines out there, too. There are shows that focus on astronomy, biology, earth science, physics, and zoology, as well as others that run the gamut for a well-rounded kiddo who might not even think to be interested in a given topic yet.

From quirky to inspiring and funny to freaky, these kids science shows will educate, entertain, and hopefully spark your child's curiosity about the world (and universe) around them.

The cool thing about Brainchild (aside from quirky host Sahana Srinivasan) is that the various experiments go beyond the standard baking-soda-and-vinegar volcanoes we're used to seeing. From social experiments about the psychology of social media to "what happens when you put a glass of water in a vacuum?" (it boils... well, vaporizes), parents will be learning right alongside their kids. Produced by the legendary Pharrell Williams, the show explores and breaks down complex subjects — such as deep dives into the science of emotions, the ocean, dreams, and selfies — that most parents likely can’t answer questions about for their children.

Watch Brainchild, rated TV-G, on Netflix.

Most nature documentaries or shows about animals and animal behavior take a reverential, awe-inspired tone. Not Absurd Planet. Narrated by "Mother Nature" reflecting on her most bizarre creations (seriously, Google an aye-aye), this show admits that, yes, nature is amazing, but sometimes it's so weird that it's pretty funny. From introducing audiences to the goo-spewing bombardier beetle to explaining how there’s a butterfly that sustains its appetite by drinking turtle tears, Absurd Planet is filled to the brim with live wonders of the world. And did you know that goats speak in different regional dialects? This show boasts a crazy interesting lineup of weird animal facts that anyone will enjoy.

Watch Absurd Planet, rated TV-G, on Netflix.

This is a great series to teach young future scientists about our solar system. Every episode asks and answers questions about the solar system in an age-appropriate, accessible way. With each episode coming in just under 15 minutes long, What's Up In Space doesn’t contain information overload, and it can easily be put on while your kids have a snack in the afternoon. Featuring an array of live-action sequences, colorful illustrations, and computer created animations, it’s a dazzling, easily digestible display of scientific introductions to the planets and stars, including topics about how are stars formed, how far away planets are from Earth, what technology allowed humans to visit the moon, and so much more.

Watch What’s Up In Space, rated TV-G, on Amazon Prime Video.

Sid wants to be a stand-up comedian, and it just so happens that all of his observations also make him a pretty good scientist! In Sid the Science Kid, he learns and plays in his Montessori-style classroom with his friends and teacher, Susie. Throughout the show’s two seasons, viewers can learn everything from how a computer works and how recycling prevents waste, to the ways in which matter can change states and animals build their unique homes in the wild. Not to mention, Sid the Science Kid’s hybrid combination of animation and puppetry makes for a fun, colorful watch.

Watch Sid the Science Kid, rated TV-Y, on PBS Kids.

Real life scientist Emily Calandrelli conducts a series of experiments with kid helpers to teach them that science is fun! From baking with solar-powered ovens to making tornados in a bottle, each episode comes with a safe, at-home experiment for kids to try out themselves (with parental supervision, of course). Bonus feature about this show that we love: Calandrelli hosted the first (and currently only) season while visibly pregnant, and we are so here for this science mama representation. Known on social media as the “Space Girl,” she’s a former MIT engineer turned author, public speaker, and TV host. You can also catch Emily on Netflix’s show Bill Nye Saves the World.

Watch Emily's Wonder Lab, rated TV-Y, on Netflix.

Twin doctors Drs. Chris and Xand van Tulleken (their parents must be so proud!) use humor, lab experiments, and visits to pediatric hospitals in the UK to educate audiences about medicine, biology, and the human body — everything from snot to first aid to spines. Currently in its ninth season, Operation Ouch not only shows its young viewers how things actually work in the real world of professional medicine, but the program also offers experiments for everyone to try at home and participate in. And for more fun and informative medical learning, a U.S. remake is currently in development, too.

Watch Operation Ouch, rated TV-PG, on YouTube.

Sometimes there's no topping a classic, and when it comes to science shows for kids, The Magic School Bus hits all the right notes as Ms. Frizzle's fourth grade class goes on magical field trips to learn about nature, the human body, chemistry, and simple physics. Not only does this well-known TV show teach young viewers about scientific facts and ideas, but it’s also a fun watch from start to finish as Ms. Frizzle and the school children get themselves into some pretty wacky situations — such as being shrunken down in order to take an inside tour of the human body.

Watch The Magic School Bus, rated TV-Y, on Netflix.

There's no topping a classic, but sometimes the sequel really is just as good. Ms. Frizzle (now Professor Frizzle) has retired from teaching grade school. Fortunately, her younger sister Miss Fiona Frizzle is there to ensure the Magic School Bus will continue its scientific adventures. In The Magic School Bus Rides Again, the educational and surprising adventures continue for young viewers to enjoy and soak up — this time introducing subjects like how genes influence the way we look and act, the native sea life of Hawaii’s oceans, and even the importance of poop for humans and animals alike.

Watch The Magic School Bus Rides Again, rated TV-Y, on Netflix.

The Cat in the Hat is back with siblings Nick and Sally to explore the natural world on the Cat's wacky, all-terrain Thinga-ma-jigger! With comedic actor Martin Short voice acting as Dr. Seuss’ iconic, eccentric title character, audiences can watch as the gang flies, drives, floats, and skis to wondrous locations — ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the rainforest — and learn about topics related to science and engineering along the way. You might even see appearances by the Cat in the Hat’s quirky sidekick duo, Thing One and Thing Two, throughout the team’s journeys.

Watch The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That, rated TV-Y, on PBS Kids.

Host Phil McCordic explores the science of everyday things through not-so-everyday experiments revolving around the subjects of ecology, biology, chemistry, and physics. Throughout the three seasons of Science Max: Experiments At Large, viewers can learn about Rube Goldberg machines, friction, propulsion and inertia, Newton’s third law, and aerodynamics, among many other subjects. Wearing his signature yellow jacket at all times, Phil shows off a number of large-scale, professional experiments that explain different scientific principles while being incredibly captivating to watch.

Watch Science Max: Experiments At Large, rated TV-G, on YouTube.

George is always very curious. And, since science is just curiosity taken to its logical conclusion, that means that this little monkey — along with his human and animal friends — winds up learning a lot about science, from biology and physics to simple chemistry. In many ways, as the show demonstrates, George’s natural curiosity mirrors that of children, with a sense of wonder, intrigue, and educational potential in fields like science, engineering, and math. Not to mention, the friendship dynamic between Curious George and his trusty chaperone, the Man in the Yellow Hat, is basically cuteness and wholesomeness at its peak.

Watch Curious George, rated TV-Y, on Hulu.

Eight-year-old Dot loves technology, and she uses that technology to explore her world and solve problems. This animated series targeted at 4- to 7-year-olds looks to inspire learning and creative exploration while modeling how different technologies can be used as tools to enhance real world experiences. For your future engineer, this show is also a perfect way to share the message that messing up a lot and laughing along the way is perfectly fine, and it’s all part of trying to find the solution to any problem. Oh, and Dot’s bright blue hair and pink polka dot dress are also fantastic.

Watch Dot, rated TV-Y, on Amazon Prime.

Siblings Charlie (an ecologist) and Kirby (an artist) host this National Geographic series found on Disney+ that explores the "how" and "why" of the way the world works. As you can guess, the answers are often weird... but true! Featuring arts and crafts segments and tons of fun facts, this show is perfect for the most inquisitive of kiddos. Weird But True! isn’t afraid to get a little goofy and embrace the strange along the way, as the series dives into topics such as flying planes and excavating dinosaur fossils in the field. Plus, Charlie and Kirby are the ultimate bubbly and funny duo.

Watch Weird But True, rated TV-G, on Disney+.

This exploration of wildlife and habitats all over the world features stunning footage divided over seven episodes, one for each continent on Earth, and is intended for children and families. From the hot and dry deserts of Africa, giant winding Amazon river in South America, to big, bustling cities in Asia, watch as Destination World explores some of the coolest places and most intriguing facts from all the corners of the earth. Next thing you know, your little one might be asking for a globe or map of the world the next time the holidays or their birthday rolls around.

Watch Destination World, rated TV-G, on National Geographic Kids.

Hosted by Will Smith and directed by Darren Aronofsky, this visually stunning series features interviews with NASA astronauts exploring all the ways in which Earth's natural phenomena are interconnected and just how delicate yet powerful that balance can be. Currently streaming on Disney+, One Strange Rock is a beautifully cinematic series that the whole family can enjoy together. And although your littlest ones might not fully understand what is being talked about just yet, they’ll surely love the vibrant visuals throughout.

Watch One Strange Rock, stream TV-14, on Disney+.

Newly born chick Peep and his friends Chirp and Quack are a hilarious trio of buddies whose little world holds all kinds of big adventures. The scientific ideas and lessons featured in each episode are followed up with simple, at-home experiments conducted by real children following the cartoon. Each 30 minute episode features two stories that touch upon specific scientific concepts, in addition to two live-action shorts that show real kids experimenting with these concepts. Peep and the Big Wide World is a cute and engaging series that celebrates being curious, and, for some extra fun, it’s narrated by award-winning comedian Joan Cusack.

Watch Peep and the Big Wide World, stream TV-Y, on YouTube.

Spies McKeyla McAlister and her best friends work for an organization called NOV8 (Get it? "Innovate"), a highly secretive group of insanely smart female operatives who use science and technology to protect and save the world. This Netflix series is a perfect middle ground between a highly informative science and technology show and a series with a captivating plot and lovable characters. It’s easy to feel like you’re watching the show for purely entertainment purposes. As the NOV8 girls in Project MC2 prove, as long as you have science, logic, friendship, and sparkly outfits on your side, you can basically achieve anything you want.

Watch Project MC2, rated TV-G, on Netflix.

Genius super-scientist Anne is an 11-year-old who loves figuring out how things work, and she has used what she has learned to build three androids, PAL, EYES, and HAND. She, her mechanical buddies, and her human friends — assistants Nick and Shania — get into all kinds of misadventures, but they are always able to find a solution through science. Not only does this Amazon Prime series offer interesting ties to science and technology, but it also simply has a great storyline for your kids to get wrapped up in. You might be enrolling your little ones in robotics classes and clubs soon enough, thanks to this show!

Watch Annedroids, rated TV-Y, on Amazon Prime Video.

Luna is a 6-year-old girl who loves all things related to science and discovery. Along with her little brother, Jupiter, and their pet ferret, Clive, they learn something new every episode. Be it about the northern lights, ancient pyramids of the past, the explosion of Mount Vesuvius, what makes you able to float in the Dead Sea, or creating a compost bin at home, there is no subject that Luna is unwilling to learn about. Fair warning to parents: The theme song will be in your head all day.

Watch Earth to Luna, rated TV-Y, on Amazon Prime Video.

Sean and Sydney are two ordinary kids. .. whose new friend Jet just happens to be an alien. The three team up to explore the solar system and learn about earth science, astronomy, and friendship along the way. Real-life astronomer Dr. Amy Mainzer even appears to explain the true science from within each episode, so you know your little ones are getting all the good science-backed info. Featuring subjects ranging from space junk to the history of the Apollo 11 mission, Ready Jet Go! is an animated, adventurous, and fun series that kids will love from start to finish (or should we say take-off to landing).

Watch Ready Jet Go!, rated TV-Y, on PBS Kids.

Your child is never too young for you to introduce them to natural historian and international human treasure David Attenborough and his remarkable documentary style. Gorgeous and exciting footage of the natural world highlights the balance of our incredible planet and all who live here. With episodes shot with stunning visuals across the globe, Our Planet is divided by biome — jungles, forests, fresh water, deserts, etc. — for your little ones (and you) to be captivated and mesmerized by the amazing beauty, landscapes, and animals that Earth is home to.

Watch Our Planet, rated TV-PG, on Netflix.

You simply cannot have a list of great science shows and not include Bill Nye: the OG science guy. His goofy antics and accessible lessons are just as fun for kids now as they were when the series first aired nearly 30 years ago. From tectonic plate earthquake simulations to color-changing chemical reactions, Bill’s experiments and explanations are both thorough and fun to watch. .. yes, even for parents! Soon enough, your kiddos will be reciting the Bill Nye the Science Guy theme song, because let’s be honest, who doesn’t get that tune stuck in their head after watching?

Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy, rated TV-Y, on Amazon Prime Video.

Art and science collide as hosts Charlie, Kirby, and Patrick travel around the United States to learn about different kinds of trees and just how fascinating nature is. They travel to see Christmas tree farms, the D.C. cherry blossom festival, California’s giant sequoia redwoods, the Florida Everglades, and even an underwater forest — a kelp forest, that is. All the while, back at Headquarters, quirky team member Casey explains science and history with paper cutouts. If you’ve got a budding nature lover, this is the show for them.

Watch Nature Boom Time!, rated TV-G, on National Geographic Kids.

In this documentary series geared toward young scientists, audiences will learn about our galaxy through images taken from the Hubble Space Telescope, and they’ll see how all of the information scientists have learned about outer space affects life here on Earth. Made by National Geographic, this kids show delves into topics including the Milky Way and faraway stars — and even the possibility of aliens being out there in space — all with dazzling space shots of swirling galaxies with bright colors and twinkling stars for all to enjoy and wonder about.

Watch Spaced Out, rated TV-G, on National Geographic Kids.

Observing a wide array of animals — including foxes, cheetahs, polar bears, puffins, whales, butterflies, and more — in their natural habitats, Emma and her brother explore the different ways that these creatures navigate various life milestones, both big and small. From fox cubs having their first outing and humpback whale calves getting some lunch, to a penguin’s first trip out to sea and a young wildebeest migrating with the herd for the first time, If I Were An Animal is full of wholesome, educational looks at a wide array of animals as they journey into the world and experience firsts.

Watch If I Were An Animal, rated TV-G, on Netflix.

Follow as Ada and her two best friends, Iggy and Rosie, ask big questions and work together to discover the truth about anything and everything — from using the scientific method to making exploding volcanoes to helping bring gardens back to life. Adapted to become a television series in 2021 from a children's picture book of the same name (written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts), Ada Twist, Scientist encourages children — and especially young girls — to develop an interest in STEAM-related subjects.

Watch Ada Twist, Scientist, rated TV-Y, on Netflix.

With the aid of scientist mentors, a group of girls design their own investigations, with inquiries that delve into topics ranging from the environment and engineering to nutrition and technology. Winning an Emmy award in 2019 for its fourth season, PBS’s SciGirls currently has five seasons out for viewers to enjoy and soak up all of the impressive ways these young girls explore science, technology, engineering, and math fields. Their educational prowess and creative endeavors — including making stunning music and animation displays through code — are sure to impress even the smallest of viewers.

Watch SciGirls, rated TV-G, on PBS.

There are mysteries all around us, but if you have a school-aged child, there’s a good chance you already know about Mystery Doug since many teachers incorporate the YouTube series into their curriculum, and with good reason! Each short episode answers a specific question, which can range from “why do whales sing?” to “how were Lego bricks invented?” to “Why do some people get carsick” and many more. At the end of each new episode, viewers can vote on the question they want answered next. It’s a great series for curious kids to learn about mysteries big and small, and encourage them to find new mysteries of their own.

Stream Mystery Doug on YouTube.

🎶As your body grows bigger/ Your mind grows flowers/ It’s great to learn: 🎶 ‘cuz knowledge is power!

An oldie but a goodie, Schoolhouse Rock has been teaching kids about grammar, math, history, and science for nearly 50 years. On Disney+, each category is divided into a season, and Seasons 4 and 5 are all about science, from “Interplanet Janet” singing about the solar system to computers, gravity, electricity, and more. (And, of course, we highly encourage you to check out the other subjects as well: when it comes to songs this series is all killer, no filler.)

Stream Schoolhouse Rock on Disney+.

Nature documentaries often focus on the heavy hitters of the animal kingdom. Whales, lions, elephants, grizzly bears. But as Yoda taught us, size matters not! Truly powerful and impressive creatures can come in all sizes, which we think is an important message for small children to understand. This series focuses on the unsung heroes of nature, exploring the “superpowers” and challenges of the world’s smallest critters, who are often (though not always) also the cutest. (I mean, have you ever looked at the eye to head size ratio of a mouse? Absolutely adorable!)

Stream Tiny Creatures, rated TV-PG, on Netflix.

Happy viewing, little scientists. Today TV, tomorrow a Nobel Prize in Physics!

This article was originally published on March 7, 2021

Poop in children's literature | Papmambuk

A small children's book about a mole caused a heated discussion among visitors to online bookstores. More precisely, not a discussion - this word is poorly suited to describe what is happening on the forums - but literally "screams of the soul."

One young psychologist even admitted that when he picks up this children's book, he immediately feels a "smell". Like in the toilet. And on this basis, the psychologist considered the book bad. You can't deny him a developed imagination. But smells can haunt us for a variety of reasons. And, for example, the popular television series ER and House M.D. should have awakened in such a sensitive person a whole cacophony of imaginary smells, no more pleasant than a book about a small mole. I think if you sniff at the classic works of Dickens or Hugo, especially in some fragments, it will also not seem a little.

But the main complaint was not the imaginary bad smell, but the very “meanness of the topic”. Just think about what books began to write! And then - about what wonderful, kind and sweet books and cartoons were in "our" Soviet time: "Blue Puppy", "Blue Wagon", "Blue Arrow", "Blue Country" and "What a Blue Sky". (Oh, mommy... Is it all right that everything is so blue? But we have an adult edition, right?)

Attempts to return to that happy era are becoming more active and tangible. Some time ago I was invited to a Moscow library to read to children. Then the librarians took me to drink tea and, among other things, they ask if I can make a list of books for them that children should be forbidden to read. And it was long before the adoption of the law "on the protection of children from harmful information." In general, the talk about the so-called "ethical filters" in relation to children's literature and children's books comes up all the time. And I think now is the time to discuss this issue.

Hardly anyone will argue with the fact that a children's book is a piece of art. And with the fact that the function of art, in particular, includes a constant change in the boundaries of the "cultural" in the direction of their expansion. Art in its own language begins to speak on topics that we may be embarrassed to talk about in everyday life or that have not yet fallen into the focus of science (for example, psychology).

And, as a rule, these topics are quite important.

On the one hand, “poop” is an area of ​​low (that which is “below the waist”) and taboo. On the other hand, "potty training", i.e. instilling in a child a certain attitude towards the fulfillment of his physiological needs is the most important stage of "humanization", socialization. Poop is something around which a lot of things happen in the life of a small child - both suffering and “victories”. They are, as they say, "given to him in sensations", and these sensations are often hypertrophied. The first strict prohibitions are also associated with poop - prohibitions on manipulation, for example. And adults behave, in the opinion of the child, rather complicated: either they are keenly interested in the contents of the pot, or they show that it is indecent and even disgusting. And everything is complicated with the naming of poop: the first euphemisms that a child learns are associated with this area: “do”, “go big”, “do ah”.

In other words, it is here that the child encounters the first severe social restrictions. Everything that happens around the poop, bears the shadow of a neurosis. Conversely, very often childhood neuroses manifest themselves in "toilet problems." Constipation, for example, is a common syndrome associated with didactogenic neurosis. I had a boy in the first grade who, having first entered another first grade, stopped pooping himself. He began to learn to write - and stopped pooping. I could not withstand the stress that fell upon him, and as a result I had to parachute him into my "psycho-saving" territory. By the way, he turned out to be a very good boy, only he went to school early.

I once read something that struck me: the well-known psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim, who worked with autistic children, noted that these children very often have problems with stool. They suffer from chronic constipation. And as a result, they have problems with eating. Therefore, the first thing that the curative educators at the Bettelheim clinic taught children was to “poop carelessly” (Bruno Bettelheim “The Empty Fortress”, 2004). This is, of course, an extreme example. But in ordinary life, we often come across the so-called “toilet humor”, which is typical for older preschoolers and younger schoolchildren (not to mention teenagers). It, too, can be seen as a spontaneous way to balance neurotic tension. It is no coincidence that children who are treated harshly by their parents are more prone to such humor. We don't like this humor. (I definitely don't like it.) He seems to us not at all funny, rude, offensive, vulgar (which, of course, he is). And we understandably tend to ban it - at least in the public sphere, in our presence.

But if we understand the reasons behind these phenomena, maybe it is more expedient not to eradicate something, but to try to create a socially acceptable counterbalance? For example, to give children the opportunity to laugh about it with the help of a literary word and a witty picture?
Incidentally, the barrier preventing the penetration of the "toilet word" into literature was broken by the great enlightener of the 16th century Francois Rabelais. If you remember, his Gargantua pisses so profusely that there is a flood. Well, this Gargantua does a lot of other “non-intelligent” things, followed by his son Pantagruel. The man of the New Age, who had only recently emerged from the Middle Ages, read about it with pleasure and laughed out loud. After all, it was such a triumph of healthy physicality, such a feeling of personal freedom!

We are also trying to emerge from that supposedly “sky-blue” Soviet moralism, which sometimes borders on hypocrisy.
But we are not doing well so far. Here appeared a small translated book about a small mole, and we are already in a slump. We are embarrassed, and the smells are strange. And all because the book is lonely. That it was out of context in our Russian latitudes.

In the West, in whose literature there are much fewer taboos and complex topics began to be mastered much earlier, this little book is not at all “lonely”. In the States, for example, special literature is produced for reading in the toilet. (Everyone knows that many people read in the closet. And enterprising publishers decided to meet this "secret" need.) But these books are for adults. As for children, in books, on the one hand, they talk about poop as a natural phenomenon, as something that is typical for all living beings, and on the other hand, they have a “serious” conversation about how and why to use pot.

Poop as a universal phenomenon is the subject of a yet untranslated book by Nicola Davis and artist Neil Leighton. It is called that - "Poo" ("Turd"). The subtitle reads: "A Natural History of the Indecent." I must admit that this book shocked me, on the one hand, with the encyclopedic nature of the information, and on the other, with its witty presentation and subtle humor. It begins like this:
“Adults are embarrassed by this.
Horses ignore this.
Dogs love to smell it.
And babies do it in their diapers.
They call “it” differently: poop, feces, excrement, pellets, manure. But no matter what they are called, we meet them everywhere. And that's what animals do in exactly the same way humans do." And then it turns out that different living beings have excrement of different sizes and different colors, different consistency and with different smells. That it depends on the size of the animal and what it eats. That poop is the end product of the act of digestion, and you can learn a lot about digestion from them. In particular, fossilized poop can be used to find out what primitive animals ate, and this method is used in paleontology.

That "good" poop is an indicator of health. And doctors know this.
That in the animal world, excrement, among other things, plays the role of a special language, and the understanding of this language is associated with exciting pages of animal life.
That poop is involved in the circulation of substances. That some creatures find shelter in the excrement of others. That there are creatures that eat the excrement of others and thus act as natural orderlies, and that for this reason a monument was erected to the scarab beetle in one of the small Australian towns.
That people do not always show disgust for poop. They use the excrement of some animals as fertilizer, and manure, for example, as fuel and even as material for building dwellings. (True, this is already a story with ethnography.)

It seems to me that such a book helps a lot in life. You read it - and such kinship with everything around you embraces! Delight in the intelligent design of life in general. Even the law on the protection of children from information (and other similar laws) becomes easier to relate to. You think: after all, once people even built houses out of shit - and nothing. But we still live in a different time.
This book - "Poo" - is, of course, addressed to teenagers. By and large, it also teaches to speak the right language about the complex and taboo. And this is the most important skill. Sometimes salutary.

And here is a book for babies. Probably, you can translate its name like this: "What do you have in your pants?" .
We are talking about a little curious mouse (about a baby mouse), who sticks his nose everywhere and, in particular, is interested in what his “peers of the same age” “keep” in their pants. Each of them - a hare, a lamb, a puppy, a foal - without any hesitation demonstrates to the mouse the contents of his diaper, which is stuffed with poop. Naturally, everyone has their poop. (We have already met with a similar “motive” in the story of a little mole. And poop, or excrement, as we already understood from the previous book, is one of the traces left by all animals without exception. Therefore, in the description of their differences, one can see, so say, the scientific and educational component of the baby book.) Then all the friends of the mouse demand that he show what he himself hides in the diaper. The little mouse does not resist, takes off the diaper and ... It turns out that the little mouse has nothing in the diaper. “Because,” the mouse tells the children’s assembly, “I go to the potty!” Everyone is so amazed by this circumstance that on the last spread we see a large company sitting together on pots.
I don't know about you, but I feel something like catharsis: what a triumph of progress! And what solidarity in introducing kids to civilization!
Alas, this book, having wandered around our publishing houses, was never printed. Publishers were embarrassed by the playful moment in it: opening diaper valves. Like, what are we going to encourage children to climb into other people's pants? Well. .. Although, I must say, toddler readers would hardly be embarrassed by this circumstance. After all, this is how parents behave towards them: come on, show me what you have in your diaper? Is not it? And it is no coincidence that the pictures depict not children, but animals, i.e. given a certain condition of the situation.

The third book, also not yet translated, that I want to talk about is the story of Walter farting the dog . Terribly touching. Downright poignant.
Betty and Billy adopt a dog from a shelter. They promise each other that they will love her. But the dog, according to adults, smells terrible. The kids have to admit it: Walter farts all the time. He would like not to fart, but he can't help it. He is prescribed a diet, he tries to eat little - nothing helps. Adults do not want to put up with his existence: this dog should not be in the house! Children cry, "Walter, you have to stop farting." Clever Walter understands everything. He decides to endure, no matter the cost. He endures half the day and the whole evening, and half the night.
Thieves are breaking into the house. They immediately decide that Walter can't bite them - he can't even bark, he's such a jerk. But Walter isn't a jerk at all. It's just that all his strength went into not farting. And now, when the thieves have already pulled out all the most valuable and were about to leave, he can not stand it. And since he endured for a long, very long time, he does not just fart. What it produces is more like a real gas attack. Thieves lose all caution, they throw bags, pinch their noses and grab their throats with their hands, then jump out the window with a terrible noise - and fall into the hands of the police. And what about Walter? He still farts. But he saved precious things that thieves wanted to steal. And adults are filled with gratitude to him. They decide: Walter should stay in the house. We'll have to adapt to it, learn to live with it.
You can think that this is a book about a poor dog, or you can think that this is a metaphor for old age or illness. And that our squeamishness is not always good for us. Therefore, maybe we should not indulge ourselves if, for example, we begin to smell when we look at a picture of a mole with a poop on its head.
I think so.

Marina Aromshtam

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Information for publishers

Why do children like poop jokes so much?

The main reason kids find inappropriate jokes especially funny is simple: they piss off their parents.

“Children first learn that words have meaning, and then they learn that certain words have special power,” says Lawrence Cohen, Ph.D. and author of Games That Nurture. Body functions, Cohen says, are of particular interest to children, which extends to words that refer to them. Going to the toilet is accompanied by an unusual sensory effect, coupled with privacy and secrecy, which children become aware of through the parental reaction to talking about it.

“Children are always experimenting with their power, and the ability to make an adult laugh or feel uncomfortable means a lot to a child,” Cohen comments.

But that's not all: toilet humor can also be a powerful tool.

People often use humor as a means of dealing with anxiety. Babies who are afraid of being separated from their parents laugh at playing peek-a-boo. Older children may joke about more complex things that make them uncomfortable, such as sex or death. But for children from three to, say, six years old, toilet accidents are always on the list of the most exciting events for them.

“It seems to me that adults take for granted their ability to get to the toilet on time, while children don’t,” says Laura Markham, author of Parenting Without Whining, Punishment, or Screaming, or How to Make Your Children Obedient. Even if they are already potty trained, they can still urinate and are afraid of it.

Humor allows children to take control of their fear.

“If you can make a joke in a stressful situation for you, it helps a lot to lighten the mood,” says Doris Bergen, Ph.D. and professor of educational psychology at the University of Miami, who has devoted most of her career to studying children's games and developing a sense of humor. "It's also socially acceptable."

This is a universal method of compensation: comedians joke about what bothers them. They get ahead of discomfort and embarrassment by seizing control of them before they can do the same.

Children do the same without realizing it.

To understand why your child is so obsessed with toilet humor, it may be worth first understanding their relationship with humor itself.

In his book 1905 "Wit and its relation to the unconscious" Sigmund Freud described three stages of humor, which were confirmed and tied to specific age categories by Dr. Bergen's research. The first stage, "play", falls on the age of two to three years, then comes the stage of "grimacing" from four to six, and then the stage of "jokes" begins, which lasts from six to seven years and until old age.

"Antics" includes comic exaggerations and absurdity, which, in principle, can be attributed to toilet humor. Also, Dr. Bergen points out that four years is the age when children begin to use humor to "for example, be able to say shocking or 'inappropriate' things that cause laughter."

The ability to recognize and understand jokes improves as the child develops. However, notes Dr. Bergen, "a 'good' sense of humor can be used to express a wide variety of experiences, including strong negative emotions that a child cannot express directly. "

Therefore, Dr. Cohen recommends reading between the lines and understanding what needs and concerns your child is trying to convey under the guise of jokes. Does he need to feel his power? Or does he just want to laugh? Below is a game that aims to solve both of these problems.

Here's the gist of it: you let your child say the word "turd" as much as he wants, but you forbid him to say the word "bog." Of course, sooner or later the child will not resist the temptation to say this word, and then you can jokingly answer: “Oh no! How could you say that terrible word?" When the child gets tired of saying the forbidden word, you can tell him a secret: “Actually, “quagmire” is not a bad word. A really bad word is (insert any harmless word that sounds weird here).”

In this way, the child will gain a sense of power by being able to do something forbidden and get a strong reaction from you, as well as laugh at how you pretend to swear at him, Dr. Cohen argues.

It takes patience and persistence to reduce toilet talk, says Dr. Markham. Parents should understand that such behavior corresponds to the age of the child, and not be nervous, but at the same time teach him the rules of behavior in society.

“You have to teach a toddler not to drink from a dog bowl, and you have to teach a six-year-old not to make obscene noises at the dinner table,” she says, adding that in particular, attention should be paid to the fact that toilet humor should not be used to to make fun of other people.

The doctor offers a relaxed approach to business. For example, you might say, "I know this sounds funny to you, but we're not talking about the toilet at the table."

Maya Coleman, a clinical psychologist working with kindergarten children, offers another method that works effectively with her own daughter and her young patients. She calls it Poop Talk Time.

Here's how it works: for five minutes a day, you can do anything. Children can say whatever they want, no matter how nasty or vulgar, and parents should support them with laughter and join in the game. If the joke was funny, laugh. If a child calls you "poop face," you can pretend to be shocked and say, "What? And I thought I was a delicate flower." The effect of such a game is to reduce the emotional burden on "bad" words.

“Your child may be hiding uncomfortable experiences,” says Dr. Coleman. “And when you give them a chance to laugh, you help them relieve tension, and children will be less likely to use those words at other times.”

Most importantly, when toilet humor pops up in socially inappropriate situations, parents have a place to redirect it. "I tell my daughter, 'Oops, let's save that for our Poop Talk Time,'" says Dr. Coleman. - We mark inappropriate words and put them on the right shelf.

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