Neil deGrasse Tyson tells kids they should jump in puddles
At Active for Life we understand that life is movement. Perhaps not coincidentally, it also happens to be a central theme in science.
Enter Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. The famed astrophysicist — who serves as the Director of New York’s Hayden Planetarium and who last year hosted the 13-part television series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey — recently had some awesome advice for a first grader: don’t let grown-ups squash your curiosity.
While speaking at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass last November, Tyson invited 6-year-old Kaitlynn Goulette to ask him a question while he was delivering a lecture.
“How can first graders help the Earth?” Kaitlynn inquired.
Tyson’s response? Keep banging on those kitchen pots, keep stomping in those muddy puddles.
“You are making a splash crater,” Tyson explained. “These are experiments. Just tell your parents they’re experiments and you want to become a scientist and they won’t stop you from doing anything you want.”
In other words, let your kids be the natural little explorers they were born to be.
You can watch the complete exchange below. It’s very sweet and inspiring, and Tyson even has a little fun at the end by rolling around on the gym floor.
You could just wash them like normal (do you take your kid’s clothes to the dry cleaners, or a regular priced laundromat?) and put up with any stains until they grow out of them. (I know, it’s SO PAINFUL.)
Hey Neil – I so wish I could attach a picture cause I took one post puddle discovery! It was my 3 year old daughters 1st encounter with a puddle. It was her 1st time out in the yard with siblings without the interference of adults. It was just minutes before siblings brought her to the door to show us her covered in puddle mud water all over her clothes and face. It was such a moment it had to be captured on film – 1993.
Yeah Neil! Can we send you the laundry bill? It’s bad enough with Peppa Pig, whithout you “wading” in!