Remember back in school and the teacher would roll in the audio/visual cart and you knew you were going to spend the next hour watching an educational film? I loved those days! Especially when they were about science. I was quite sure I was going to be an astronaut. Obviously that didn’t go as planned.

Now students can get nerdy just about anytime they want thanks to the seemingly endless supply of science videos for kids on YouTube. Most of these are better than the ones I remember from my 5th grade days. But not all. 

My daughter, like most kids her age, loves science and right now physics fascinates her. Probably because of Angry Birds. Unfortunately, science lessons in the elementary grades are sometimes a little thin and if you’ve got a gifted kid who’s not in school yet – you’re probably struggling to keep up. We satisfy her inner geeky girl with some favorite YouTube science channels on physics.

Science Videos on Physics

Minute Physics
This is a popular YouTube channel and for good reason. Henry Reich earned physics and math degrees from Grinnell College in 2009 and a master’s in theoretical physics from the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Now he churns out about one 3-4 minute weekly video explaining the mysteries of physics.

The info in the below video totally works. Thanks, Henry.

Physics Girl
A graduate of MIT, Dianna Cowern can explain physics so that fifth graders can understand. Seriously. She won the 2014 Flame Challenge put on by Alan Alda and the Center for Communicating Science. Below is her winning entry describing color to 11-year-olds.

Yep, I like having my daughter watch another girl explain science. With ice cream.

Sixty Symbols
Brady Haran is a journalist from Australian now in Nottingham, United Kingdom. While working for the BBC he started posting videos to YouTube of scientists describing their work. Now he’s working on his many YouTube channels full-time. Sixty Symbols videos are usually about 8-15 minutes long and feature scientists describing their research.

These videos are probably better for kids, and adults, with a little longer attention span.

Veritasium
Veritasium is a play on Veritas, meaning truth in Latin, and -ium, which the name of many elements end in. Hence, Dr. Derek Muller has created an element of truth. I like it.

Dr. Muller knows what he’s doing. He has a PhD in physics education research from the University of Sydney with a thesis, Designing Effective Multimedia for Physics Education. He even gave a TedTalk on creating effective educational science videos.

These are just physics videos but you’ll find plenty of physics included on this channel.

SciShow Physics
Ok, so technically this isn’t a YouTube channel but a playlist on the SciShow channel. Don’t get me wrong, you can get absolutely lost in all the science-y goodness on this channel but we’re just talking physics here.

The good folks at SciShow have kindly created this playlist. Thanks, guys!

This is just a drop in the bucket –
share in the comments where you find your favorite science videos!