New PBS Show 'Elinor Wonders Why' Teaches Kids STEM Fundamentals

The best children’s programming encourages kids to learn more about their world, from Fred Rogers’s legendary visit to the Crayola factory to the travels o Carmen Sandiego to Sesame Street‘s laudable efforts to help kids understand current events.

In this tradition comes Elinor Wonders Why, a new PBS Kids series created by two scientist dads that encourages’ curiosity and scientific exploration in kids. An exclusive clip from the series shows how the show will encourage kids to explore and learn: anthropomorphic animals singing simple but damn catchy songs.

The clip, titled “Fall’s Here,” shows Elinor (a bunny rabbit), Ari (a bat), and Olive (an elephant) raking some leaves for Ari’s dad when a question strikes them: what happens to all the leaves in the forest that go un-raked?

“We need more observation!” Elinor exclaims.

“I’ll tell my dad!” Ari yells.

“I’ll bring the magnifying glass and notebook!” Olive adds.

Reunited in the woods, the trio starts singing a song that outlines their questions about what happens to the leaves in the forest and why the forest isn’t full of leaves. These are good questions, simple enough that your kid might have already wondered them but with answers that lead to interesting scientific concepts like decomposition that kids aged three to five — the target audience for the show — probably haven’t heard about before.

The first season of the show will have 40 half-hour episodes, each comprised of two animated stories, a boatload of content for parents and their inquisitive kids to look forward to.

Elinor Wonders Why premieres on PBS on Labor Day, September 7, and will also be found on the PBS KIDS channel and PBS KIDS digital platforms.