As you might know I dig on the science and I secretly hope that my kids will be intrigued by the world around them as they grow up to the point where they really want to investigate and try things out. Today I was turned to a fantastic site called Howtoons aimed at kids ages 8-12 (though, I think it could easily span a greater age range) that is designed to do precisely what I hope for - getting kids hooked on hacking the world around them. It's presented in a really cool format - a bunch of cartoons. Each cartoon has a story but within that story is a set of plans or a lesson on how to do something cool. The first couple cartoons alone get kids making mobius strips and stilts! I put a little video presentation of Howtoons up on a new part of the site I'm working on - check it out.
On the same note, but from a more computer oriented vein, comes Hackety-Hack - a cool little tool that will help kids learn to program (using Ruby). Even if kids don't want to end up being programmers I think learning a bit about it would be beneficial in this day and age as they will get a better feel for how computers work in general and they learn to think about things a from a more logical standpoint at times. The guy who made Hackety Hack, who goes by the moniker of "Why" writes all of his stuff from a pretty accessible level and he has a pretty good sense of humor - such as his Poignant Guide To Ruby which is suitable for pretty much any age.
So go on show your kids these cool sites and let them start to discover the world in some new and fun ways. Shannon will be seeing Howtoons tonight.