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The Mythbusters Change Their Tune: DO Try This at Home!

At the beginning of every episode of The Discovery Channel's popular show Mythbusters, hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman caution viewers, "Don't try anything you are about to see at home."

"Awwwwww, no fair!" my 9-year-old laments. "Why do they get to do all the fun stuff?"

Someone must have heard him -- and plenty of others like him -- because Discovery recently introduced a line of Mythbusters science kits so engaging you can practically hear Savage and Hyneman shouting, "Go ahead! Try this at home!"

Your kids won't be swimming through syrup, trying to pop popcorn with explosives, or repelling down a tall building using a rope made of toilet paper, as the Mythbusters have on TV, but they will be letting their curiosity guide them (and using the scientific method) to confirm or bust some common myths.

Savage and Hyneman -- both honorary lifetime members of the National Science Teachers Association -- often hear from science teachers around the country about the "fevered and vigorous discussions" that take place in their classes on the mornings after a new Mythbusters episode airs, Savage says. "The kids get really involved in it," he adds, "and the natural extension of that is a curriculum based on the stuff people see on Mythbusters as a way of exploring the scientific method and exploring their curiosity. I believe the kits grew out of that."

Savage hopes the science kits will help kids learn to trust their intuitions. "You ask a kid to perform an operation and ask them to then analyze what happens," he says, "and I notice with my kids, they're often quite afraid to give what would seem to be an obvious answer because they fear it's going to be wrong." On the show, the Mythbusters make it clear they aren't afraid to be wrong. Savage hopes kids develop that same appreciation for risk taking through both the television program and the hands-on experiments and extension ideas in the Mythbusters science kits.

"I think the more you play around with the physical properties of the world," he says, "the more confidence you get in trusting your intuition to say, 'OK, I blew up the balloon until it popped, therefore there's a threshold for the amount of pressure the balloon can hold.' That would seem obvious but actually quantifying it in that way makes it quite useful to then analyze other things around that phenomenon."

So far the Mythbusters line of science kits includes Power of Air Pressure, Forces of Flight, and Weird World of Water, each exuding the same appeal as the hugely popular Mythbusters TV show.

"Most science shows up until ours have been what I would call demonstration shows," says Savage. "They explain a concept and then they demonstrate it for you in several ways until hopefully you get it. Our show is completely different. We don't often understand ... the concepts we're dealing with so we come up with experiments that help illuminate them for us. That process of us trying to satisfy our curiosity ... really resonates with kids because there's something very kid-like about it."

That's certainly one reason we find these Mythbusters kits so appealing. Here are a few more:

Easy-to-Perform Experiments: The experiments are all relatively simple to perform, even though the scientific concepts behind them can be applied to complex situations. Nearly everything you need to complete the experiments is included in the kits, from balsa wood and PVC pipe to plastic bottles, paper clips and more. (Only a few experiments require you to gather anything from around your home and they're everyday items such as baking soda, an old CD and glue.)

Kid-friendly Tone: The instructions and explanations are written with the same zany humor you're used to on the Mythbusters television show, and even though the explanations are labeled, "WARNING: science content!", the science is presented in easy-to-understand, kid-friendly, this-is-so-cool terms that's actually fun to read.

Fun Factor: Many of the experiments involve expanding gases, flying objects and contraptions that shoot things across the room. The tools your kids put together to perform the experiments are fun to play with even after the myths have been confirmed (or busted), which encourages kids to goof around and explore the variables and possibilities. After my son built the "marshmallow shooter" from the Myth of the Sorcerer's Breath in the Power of Air Pressure kit, he played with it for hours. He tried using different objects as ammunition, closing off and opening various holes to test direction and air pressure, and using different air sources to propel his ammo. He's been playing with it ever since.

Extension Activities: These kits go beyond offering simple experiments with equally simple explanations to include loads of suggestions for follow-up activities. The potato floated in salt water in the Weird World of Water kit's Myth of the Man Who Could Walk on Water, but will it float in sugar water? If so, will it float longer in sugar water or salt water? Fun Zone activities take things even further with instructions for making your own vomit (oatmeal, water and food coloring), playing target and speed games using the contraptions you built to perform experiments, creating a hot air balloon and more.

Age Appropriateness: The recommended age range of 9 and up means a 9-year-old can complete the experiments with little or no supervision. Some of the activities require more than one pair of hands, but two 9-year-olds easily can perform them together. (Older kids will be engaged as well and can take the experiments and follow-up activities even further.) "The more independence kids have to learn about things themselves," says Savage, who always encourages his 10-year-old twins to make their own discoveries, "the better they're going to be at it."

So go ahead, check out the Mythbusters kits today. Now you really can "Try this at home!"

For more hands-on Mythbusters fun, get the Mythbusters book Don't Try This at Home, too.

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