Curiosity Quest Show Educational DVDs a TOS Crew Review

This entry is part 4 of 27 in the series 2014 Homeschool Reviews

Does your child constantly ask you, “How do they make that?” or some similar question. If so you may want to check out Curiosity Quest‘s DVD Combo Packs.
Curiosity Quest DVDs are videos of the show Curiosity Quest where host Joel Green travels around the country to solve the questions his viewers send in. How do they make this and that. How is such and such done and the like.

The Combo packs we received are DVDs that each contain 3 episodes of the show for your viewing entertainments.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew got review the DVD Combo Pack – Produce which included shows on growing mushrooms, growing oranges, and growing and harvesting cranberries. And also the DVD Combo Pack – Swimmers of the Sea which included shows on the life and habitat of salmon, penguins and a sea turtle hospital.

The episodes on the Curiosity Quest videos are each about 30 minutes long and follow show host Joel Green as he sets out to answer a question that has landed in his inbox.

Joel (your host) meets up with businesses all over the country involved in all manner of industry and they take him on a tour of their various plants explaining the process and letting Joel have a little taste of the hands on work.

There are little educational bursts too where you’re told a little fascinating tidbit about whatever the show is on. Joel also does some on the beat interviewing asking random people questions about how they think the topic is produced, grown, and other facts.

Each of these DVD combo packs is $24.95 and geared towards kids ages 7 to 14 although I personally think it’s great for all ages. That age range will probably get the most educational benefit from it even though my husband and I learned quite a bit along with our daughter.

Watching Curiosity Quest

While it is soooo easy to sit down and watch all these entertaining shows in one fell swoop we did space it out. Preferring to savor one each evening we watched them together as a family.

On the Produce video we got to see…

Mushrooms: This was probably the most fascinating video for me on this disc. I wasn’t totally clueless about mushrooms needed the dark fertile soil to grow but I had no idea how they were farmed for selling in the grocery store. It’s one of those, “I wonder how…” This was an eye opening episode and after watching it I was actually able to explain to a friend of mine why her mushroom bed may not be producing. She had attempted to start a mushroom bed a few years ago and didn’t know why nothing had grown.

Oranges: Okay I admit. I th0ught the oranges show might be boring. But au contraire. It was refreshing to see the lengths they go through to make sure the oranges were clean and how they filter out the oranges so you get only the best in the grocery store. From picking to processing I’m always amazed at the equipment used to process things and what incredible minds engineered them.

Cranberries: Did you ever think that cranberries grew in water blogs all year long? I did. I had no idea that they grow on dry land and then the bogs are flooded. During this video my husband confessed to working on a cranberry farm for a small stint and some of the antics that can go on there. The ending where they talk about all the products that are made from the cranberries in the farm’s store gives you lots of ideas.

On Swimmers of the Sea we learned about various fish and fowl

Salmon: We eat a lot of salmon here in the Pacific Northwest so knowing where they come from, the different varieties and how they’re raised is kind of a nice touch. The instincts God has given His creatures are amazing. And salmon are really fascinating. Did you know they will travel around the world to come home and spawn where they were born? So neat! And watching how high they can jump. I really wanted to just reach through screen and grab one…for dinner. Sorry.

Penguins: Who doesn’t love penguins? We learned a lot about one variety of penguins that doesn’t need the cold to survive. Seeing the penguins snuggle up to their keepers was so cute. And watching how their caretakers take such good care of them was interesting. Detailed food prep, cozy homes, daily scrubbing of poop and more!

Turtles: On the turtle show we actually visited a turtle hospital and learned a lot about their care and about their protection. We learned that it is against the law to touch turtles. That turtles can weigh hundreds of pounds. How to tell girl turtles from boy turtles (and it’s not what you think). And what turtles like to eat. This was pretty cool and now who doesn’t want to go and work in the turtle hospital in Florida?

Curiosity Quest was pure viewing entertainment for us. We love shows like this. We learn and it’s interesting. These videos provide great family viewing and we’re looking to get more. We tended to watch them in the evenings while preparing dinner or afterwards. My daughter sometimes watches them in her down time.

Each show was interesting, entertaining, informative, and family friendly.

Joel is a goofy character which my daughter and husband really liked. His antics and different reactions to things makes the shows interesting for children and fun to watch. The breaks where kids (and adults) on the street were asked to provide answers for basic facts of the show being watched were a great time to test our own knowledge. There are also fact breaks where you will learn a little more about the topic being covered.

I like to have videos like this in our family library so I’ll be looking to get more. The Sweet Peanut has been pulling the two we have off the shelf to watch on her own. I’ll say these videos were a big hit for her.

Turn these videos into a little homeschool lesson by giving your kids color pages with fact tidbits on the animals and food in the shows.

You can also connect with Curiosity Quest at these places
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CuriosityQuest
Twitter: https://twitter.com/curiosityquest
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCijkbeDwySOsg-pZjOeWsgg
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