Metamorphic caterpillars! Fungus farming ants! Digital bees? Oh my! -- how can these all be bugs? In this episode, Avery talks about bugs in computer code and how she built a pollination video game with a Raspberry Pi. Izaiah updates us about the worms in the compost pile on his farm. And our friends at Valle de Niños in San Francisco take us on a tour of the life cycle of caterpillars. (Entomolgist Chris Wheeler also gets some words in edge-wise1)

What IS a CRITTER? Andrew & Polly ask some friends around the world about the different critters that live in their neighborhoods.

Ear Snacks is a free interactive experience centered around children’s voices & ideas. To support the work we’re doing for your kids (and all kids), become a supporter on Patreon or through Apple Podcasts Premium Subscription feature. Thanks for listening!

Need more snacks? Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or TikTok!

An interview with a mermaid scientist!!!

This Earth Week remix episode of Ear Snacks features the bright light of science communicator and mermaid, Danni Washington. Check out her amazing book, Bold Women in Science, and her podcast for kids, Genius Generation.

Thanks again to our friends Arlo, Molly, Poppy, Opal, Sam, and Thiri (and their parents) for sharing what they know about lights! And thank you to all our listeners for your beautiful inner lights and for using them to help others see something new.

Please consider supporting our work this holiday season at patreon.com/earsnacks (and receive a cameo-style personalized video!) To learn more or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org – thanks for listening!

Happy Earth Week! What has 3 trillion trees and one kid named after a birch tree?

Andrew & Polly's family tree has (at least!) 3 tree experts who give us just the tiniest glimpse into the wonder of all things arboreal. Thanks to Bay Area-based Plant Stars and Oakland Aesthetics for sharing what they love!

To learn more or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org - and thanks for listening!

What do you see during an eclipse? What does it feel like? What does it sound like?

In 2017, we asked kids and families living in the path of totality to record their experience of the Great American Eclipse. If you're getting ready for the total solar eclipse on April 8th, 2024 that will stretch from Texas to Maine, check this out!

More awesome eclipse- and science-related listening goodness, including…

• Our episode about Shadows where Mat Kaplan from Planetary Radio explains how eclipses are space shadows!
• Our first Eclipse episode in 2017 featuring more great science and history stories about eclipses from our Kids Listen friends Mick Sullivan at The Past & The Curious and Molly Bloom at Brains On!
• There’s also a brand new Eclipse MUSICAL out now by Alphabet Rockers
• You can hear their song Syzygy and more mind-expanding bops on our Spotify Playlist: Science Class Soundtrack!

Ear Snacks is a podcast about art, music, science and culture centered around kids voices and ideas – if you know a kid with things to say, let us know! To learn more or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org 

Are we still going to be podcasting during the next total solar eclipse in 2045?

🙂

Why ARE there so many songs about rainbows? Because there's SO MUCH TO SAY about them!

Happy Holi! Andrew & Polly act as the prism for some awesome tangential concepts connected to ROY G BIV. Jazz piansit Charu Suri shares the connection between raga (Sanskrit for "color" or "dye") and the aura of music, as well as her love of the mischievously vibrant paint-throwing Festival of Colors, Holi!

And Nina Silver takes us on a guided unpacking of flood myths and rainbows as symbols of hope in a sonically rich imagining of Noah's Ark at the Skirball Cultural Center.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Rainbow Shoppe by Andrew & Polly (feat. Lucy Kalantari)
• Bourbon Street Stroll (Raga Hemant) by Charu Suri from Rags & Ragas
• Aaj Rang Hai (Today There is Color) by Charu Suri from The Book of Ragas (Vol. 2)
• additional underscore by Andrew & Polly

You can hear more colorful bops on our Spotify Playlist: Songs About Rainbows 🌈

Many thanks to Charu, Nina, and our friends Adrian, Stella Rose, Townes, and Tenny (and their parents & siblings) for sharing what they know about rainbows! If you know a kid who has something to say (spoiler alert: they all do!), to learn more or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org

WHAT IS PIE? What about pi? Can I have 3.1415 pieces, please?

Pre-heat your International Pi Day festivities! Andrew & Polly get granular with Molly Birnbaum from America’s Test Kitchen Kids who does all kinds of fascinating kitchen experiments and games on her new kids podcast, Mystery Recipe. Find more at ATKkids.com/mysteryrecipe and earsnacks.org — we hope family time can be filled with fun and learning and good food!

Do you ever make things in your house? Do you ever use YARN?

Unwind the knotty world of knitting, coziness, and monster design with our friends Lilah, Gertie, Dot, and Andy Ferguson a.k.a. musician & puppeteer, Red Yarn! Andy shares a paper bag craft, using pantomime to create new puppetry characters, and how crafting can contribute to protest movements.

Our pal Angela Diveglia shares about her time working with Bread and Puppet Theater and the giant protest puppets they've used in civic engagement since the 60's.

Many thanks to Andy Ferguson for sharing his artistry and Red Yarn's song, Town Hall Meeting. You can find more of his music and puppetry at redyarnproductions.com. Thanks to librarian Angela Diveglia for hopping on the phone with old college friends to talk about her super-inspiring work (and muscles!) with Bread and Puppet Theater Company. If you're in Vermont, look 'em up!

Vocabulary & Ideas in this episode include:

• Twizzle
• Pantomime
• Collaborate
• Protest puppetry

To learn more or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org

Do all hearts beat the same? We don’t know…unless we listen to them.

With the help of four well-informed hummingbirds and renowned muralist Ruben Rojas, Andrew & Polly explore what they know about hearts – biological and metaphorical! Our friends Maya, Anders, Jackson, and Emmet share about how their hearts feel when they give and receive Valentines. And Polly shares about the little robot in her chest (her pacemaker-defibrillator) and the way it keeps her heart dancing to a steady beat.

Many thanks to artist, muralist, designer, entrepreneur and podcaster Ruben Rojas for talking with us. His podcast explores the emotional journeys of artists, athletes and other creators seeking to Live Through Love. You can find more of Reuben’s work at rubenrojas.com – or if you walk around, you might just find it on GIANT WALLS.

And thanks to Fyütch + Aura V for sharing their new single, I AM LOVE, I AM LIGHT, available wherever you get your affirmational bops!

Vocabulary & Ideas in this episode include:

• Stethoscope
• Animal heart rates
• Aorta! Atrium! Ventricle!
• Arrhythmia
• Pacemaker-defibrillator
• Mural
• Electro-pounce

Thanks to EVERYPLATE for sponsoring Ear Sncaks. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and enter code 49earsnacks for $1.49 per meal + $1 steaks for life. Subscription must be active to qualify and redeem $1 steak.

Need more snacks? Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or TikTok!

To learn more or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org

Guest host extraordinaire Carly Ciarrocchi introduces you to the GRAMMY®-nominated artists for Best Children's Music Album in 2024:

• DJ Willy Wow! for HIP-HOPE FOR KIDS!
• 123 Andrés for WE GROW TOGETHER: PRESCHOOL SONGS
• Andrew & Polly for AHHHHH!
• Uncle Jumbo for TASTE THE SKY
• Pierce Freelon and Nnenna Freelon for ANCESTARS

Congratulations to all the nominees for the 66th GRAMMY Awards! We hope you'll follow these artists and support their work!

• @djwillywow
• @123conandres
• @andrewandpolly
• @hellounclehumbo
• @piercefreelon
• @nnennafreelon

There is so much amazing music being made for families right now, and it's hard work - do your part and share what you love!

To learn more about Ear Snacks or to be on the show, visit earsnacks.org - and thanks for listening!

Ding ding! Andrew & Polly explore a world of bell sounds and sensations guided by blind author Andrew Leland and percussionist Abby Savell. Kora, Nora, Hazel, Max, Fortney and Berlin think about the use of bells in mindfulness and meditation, around the necks of cats and cows, and the language of fairies.

Topics include the physics of sound, the spectrum of blindness, the British punk band Wire, and a vast array of bells including: Almglocken, Bell Trees, Bicycle Bells, Camel Bells, Cat Bells, Chimes, Church Bells, Cow Bells, Door Bells, Elephant Bells, Hand Bells, Microtonal Bells, Orchestral Bells, Sleigh Bells, Ship Bells, Telephone Bells, Tubular Bells and more!

Many thanks to North American mammal and author Andrew Leland whose book helped us share about visual impairment, parenting with a disability, the spectrum of blindness and disabilities, and the importance of language regarding inclusion. The Country of the Blind is available wherever you get your books. Thanks to Abby Savell of L.A. Percussion Rentals for generously touring us around her cornucopia of over 1300+ percussion instruments available to rent for live and studio music productions in Southern California.

This episode features "The Finest Drops" from A Bell is a Cup by Wire and original underscore by GRAMMY-nominated musicians, Andrew & Polly.

Thanks to EVERYPLATE for sponsoring Ear Sncaks. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and enter code 49earsnacks for $1.49 per meal + $1 steaks for life. Subscription must be active to qualify and redeem $1 steak.