Families stuck at home will find a breath of fresh air, as PBS KIDS blooms with new episodes and engaging learning opportunities in honor of Earth Day (April 22). Kids can explore some of the most amazing wonders of the natural world from their own homes, from creature-powered adventures in the Amazon with Wild Kratts to a whirlwind of natural landmarks across the U.S, with Nature Cats, fun-filled escapades in Alaska with Molly of Denali and more, with episodes debuting April 20 to May 29.
Wild Kratts: Amazin’ Amazon Adventure – Premieres April 20 with re-airings through April 26, including Earth Day, April 22, and streams on PBS KIDS digital platforms.
In this new hour-long special, Aviva experiences an invention slump and the Wild Kratts team is determined to help! They take her down the mysterious Amazon River in search of inspiration from the amazing creatures that live there. But Aviva must reclaim her invention prowess fast, because Zach, Donita, Gourmand and Paisley are seeking to mine the area’s biodiversity for their own nefarious schemes.
To extend the Amazon-themed adventure, two new Wild Kratts activities, My Creature Adventure and Adventure Passport, are now available on the PBS KIDS for Parents website.
Nature Cat: Natural Wonders Week – New episodes premiere May 11 to May 15 and stream on PBS KIDS digital platforms.
Fans can join Nature Cat, Squeeks, Daisy and Hal as they explore national wonders such as The Grand Canyon, Old Faithful, The Great Salt Lake … and … Niagara Falls? (Water! Why does it have to be water?) In this week of themed episodes, kids will learn about photosynthesis, geysers, volcanic activity, even the impressive hunting and survival skills of the praying mantis – and more.
Air Dates:
5/11 Great Salt Lake/Praying Mantis Hunters
5/12 Tally Ho, A Volcano!/No Rest for the Squeeky
5/13 Niagara Falls/Nature Plant
5/14 The Grand Mystery of the Grand Canyon/The Strongest Show on Earth
5/15 Under Pressure/Rainy Day
Molly of Denali – New episodes premiere May 25 to May 29 and stream on PBS KIDS digital platforms.
Young explorers will join Molly, Tooey and Trini on a week of exciting outdoor adventures throughout Alaska! New explorations and lessons will include using reasoning and observation skills to track turkeys through the mud as well as learning how honoring your elders and working together can lead to wonderful things – like a very special cloudberry pie! – and how quick thinking and noticing changes in your environment can keep a wayward canoe trip on track. Each episode emphasizes informational text-based learning and Alaskan Native values, so there will be plenty of fun and educational moments for families to share!
Air Dates:
5/25 Froggy of Denali/Molly Mabray and the Mystery Stones
5/26 Reading the Mud/Unsinkable Molly Mabray
5/27 Busy Beavers/The Night Watchers
5/28 Picking Cloudberries/Puzzled
5/29 Rocky Rescue/Canoe Journey
In addition, a line-up of new Earth Day-themed Cyberchase episodes will debut April 17-19. Kids can tag along with the Cybersquad as they learn about bat pollination, water conservation, underground ecosystems, and protecting forests – all with a mathematical twist!
New episodes:
Missing Bats in Sensible Flats (Topics: pollinators; maps; using map coordinates to determine a location; directionality; spatial sense; data collection, representation & interpretation using a chart; using tally marks; counting 1-100)
Water Woes (Topics: watersheds; maps; directionality; spatial awareness; data collection, representation & interpretation using a map)
Soil Turmoil (Topics: soil; data collection, representation & interpretation using tables; counting 1-20; sampling data; non-standard linear measurement)
Hacker Hugs a Tree (Topics: deforestation; data collection, representation & interpretation using pictographs; counting 1-100; skip counting)
To extend the learning for kids, parents and teachers at home, engaging free resources for each of the new April episodes will be available on PBS Learning Media, including discussion questions, vocabulary, worksheets and hands-on activities. The site also features lots of additional amazing Cyberchase STEM-powered things for parents and kids to do at home, like making rock candy, exploring numbers and operations with Mission Magenite, completing a series of shape, number and color patterns to Crack Hacker’s Safe – and a ton more.
Parents and caregivers can also sign up for the free new Cyberchase: Mobile Adventures in STEM pilot program, available in English and Spanish, designed to help them engage with their children through easy and awesome hands-on environmental and math activities using their smartphones. Families join the six-week program by texting “eco” to 30644 and get a new set of activities via text every week.
And, fans of the series can play some great STEM games, which will begin rolling out on the Cyberchase site beginning this April, including:
Bugs in the System (April 9) – Play with data and make a graph by catching bugs.
Buzz & Delete Save the Day (April 16) – Help everyone’s favorite bumbling henchbots, Buzz and Delete, save their hometown, Botopolis.
Can You Fill It? (April 23) – Play a measurement game by picking pots with the fewest pours.
Cyber Pattern Player (April 30) – Make cool cyber-tunes in this musical math game.
