Learning Guide Archives - The Children's Hour

How does your brain control everything you do? The Kids Crew and Katie Stone talk with scientists Ingrid Lane and Nick Aase from the Mind Research Network to uncover the secrets of how our brains work. From neurons and emotions to memory and movement, listeners learn what makes every brain unique and why our minds never stop growing.

This time on The Children’s Hour, we’re celebrating Thanksgiving in a musical special dedicated to gratitude, family, and appreciation of each another and the Earth. We’re finding the joy in every moment, in this Thanksgiving musical Children’s Hour.

Discover what makes a healthy breakfast with the Kids Crew and nutritionist Patty Keene, plus explore how kids worldwide start their mornings.

This time on The Children's Hour we're leaping into learning about lemurs with Faye Goodwin, an educator at the Duke Lemur Center. Find out how humans are related to these adorable primates, and discover why they only live in the wild in one place in the world.

In Composers, we explore how songs are created by people from long ago and today. We meet Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, and learn how their lives shaped their sounds. We also hear from Sesame Street, and legendary Broadway composer Bill Sherman about writing catchy tunes with meaning. Listeners discover that anyone can start with a small idea and build a powerful piece of music.

It’s Halloween time on The Children’s Hour! In this episode, we celebrate pumpkins, jack-o’-lanterns, costumes, and trick-or-treating. Our Kids Crew shares their own traditions, from trunk-or-treat clothing drives to festive parades in northern New Mexico. We’ll find out why some houses put teal pumpkins outside their doors, and learn how this helps kids with food allergies have a safe and fun hol...

Trees have birthdays too, and scientists find out when they are by studying tree rings. This episode comes with a learning guide.

The Kids Crew discover the animals living right outside our doors. From prairie dogs, coyotes, and roadrunners in New Mexico to monkeys in Thailand, stray dogs in India, koalas in Australia, and wildlife in Brazil, we learn how animals adapt to city life. With expert guest Cooper Freeman and research from junior producer Thaniel Lentz, we explore the challenges and joys of living alongside wild cr...

This time on Children’s Hour get blown away with us as we learn all about balloons. We begin with the history of hot air balloons, and we end up in the air on a real balloon. Then we explore latex balloon art and clothing with the team at Airigami. Plus, find out what happens when helium balloons get released into nature. And, that mysterious object you might see floating around in the middle of t...

We explore renewable energy with experts in solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro power. The Kids Crew ask big questions about how renewable energy works, why it’s cleaner than fossil fuels, and what the future of energy could look like. With guests Rebecca “Puck” Stair, Jim DesJardins, and Dr. Sherri Kelly, we learn how kids can be part of building a cleaner, brighter tomorrow.

In this episode of The Children’s Hour, Grammy-winning oud player Rahim AlHaj shares his story of leaving Iraq as a refugee and finding a new home in New Mexico. Listeners will discover the oud, a 5,000-year-old string instrument, and learn about the challenges and strengths that refugees bring to their communities. The Kids Crew also talk about Malala Yousafzai and what it means to welcome strang...

On this episode of The Children’s Hour, junior producer and intern Thaniel Lentz takes us through the incredible history and science of animation. From early tools like the zoetrope and flipbooks to famous characters like Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse, we learn how still pictures came to life.

On this episode of The Children’s Hour, we travel to Mars with planetary volcanologist Dr. Larry Crumpler. He shares the secrets of the Red Planet — from its rusty surface and giant volcanoes to its two tiny moons and ancient signs of water. We learn how rovers explore, search for life, and even make oxygen, plus what it might take to send humans there. This is a fascinating journey to a world bot...

This time on The Children’s Hour, we hear from kids who participated in summertime outdoor learning programs with Environmental Education of New Mexico about the importance of being outside to learn new things.

This time on The Children’s Hour, our Kids Crew explores the ancient rock carvings known as petroglyphs. We visit Mesa Prieta in northern New Mexico and talk with archaeologists and educators who help protect over 60,000 carvings. Then we meet a Pueblo preservation officer and a national park ranger who explain why these images are still so important today. This episode is a journey into the past...

This time on The Children's Hour we learn how everyone can contribute to active scientific research by participating in Community Science with groups like BEMP: the Bosque Ecosystem Monitoring Program. This episode comes with a free Learn-Along Guide!

Learn all about sloths with author Georgeanne Irvine from the San Diego Zoo, and biologist Sam Trull from the Sloth Institute in Manuel Antonio Costa Rica. Find out how we can all help protect sloths. This episode comes with a digital Learn Along guide that meets and cites US national education standards.

Learn about fossils in a Kids Crew field trip to a secret fossil quarry in the mountains outside of Albuquerque, as well as in a chat with New Mexico Natural History Museum educator Mike Sanchez. Will we become fossilized too? Fossils teach us about the Ice Age and climate change at the La Brea Tar pits in the heart of Los Angeles. This episode comes with a Learn-Along guide and is mixed with grea...

This week on The Children’s Hour we’ll explore New Zealand through stories and songs, and in conversation with our friends, Kiwi musicians Lucy Hiku from Itty Bitty Beats, and Claudia Robin Gunn.

For more than forty years, the Negro Baseball Leagues provided opportunities for Black American athletes to play professionally. We learn about these leagues with author, historian, and son of a NBL umpire, Byron Motley. This episode comes with a Learn-Along guide!

This time on The Children's Hour we explore the most inexpensive energy source in the world: solar power, in a show recorded live at the Solar Fiesta in Albuquerque New Mexico. Comes with a signature Learn-Along Guide!

The kids crew talk with New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham about what her job entails, how to lead during a pandemic, and how governors can help solve the climate crisis.

ICKY: A Radio Musical is a pandemic inspired theatrical performance with a Learn-Along guide. Way back in the days before the end of The Big Sick, students everywhere were forced to stare at computer screens featuring live video feeds of their classmates. This was happening in bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens across the country and the world ...