ISO of "how does this work?" recs (preschoolers)

[fivi2]

Sorry if my title makes no sense. My girls (3.5 ish) are at the age where they ask me how things work all.the.time. (how does the light turn on when I do the switch, how did they make our car, our house, that building, etc, etc). Problem is, I frequently have no idea how these things are made :)

Any resources (books, television, dvds, etc) for explaining things (a wide variety of things lol) in a very basic way? I did check my library today and didn't find much that looked promising, but we were in a hurry.
TIA!

[egoldber]

Well, there are several "The Way Things Work" type books (one even by that title I believe), but we generally just consult Professor Google. ;)

ETA: We also like shows like How It's Made, Unwrapped, Mythbusters, etc.

[fivi2]

Oops I totally forgot about How It's made! Thanks for that and the other ideas!

[egoldber]

There's also a series called Popular Mechanics for Kids, but it is geared more for elementary age. They may be a good age for Magic Schoolbus though.

[fivi2]

There's also a series called Popular Mechanics for Kids, but it is geared more for elementary age. They may be a good age for Magic Schoolbus though.

I tried some of the Popular Mechanics and they were bored (I tried a while back, but I think I need to give it another year or so). I have Beakman's World on my Netflix list. We do have a couple Magic Schoolbus dvds they like, but the books seem to be very busy. I need to check for other Magic Schoolbus dvds.

What I want is just a basic start-to-finish outline of making things. With photos. But with simple images on each page - not the crammed in with lots of tiny pictures and cartoons and thought bubbles that so many seem to have (like Magic Schoolbus). I found one at the library from the Changes series - from plant to blue jeans. It seems to be the right idea and level of difficulty, but the topic isn't one of our biggies... And they don't seem to have a ton of others.

But thank you for all the ideas! The girls are definitely more into the science/mechanical aspect of things than I ever was. I blame dh - the civil engineer. My girls have been told all about sewage pipes and wastewater treatment plants - they'd love a book walking them through it. Me, I was into dragons and castles :)

[egoldber]

Our library has a whole section of books like this. They range from very complex to very simple (picture book style). Ask the librarian. :)

[fivi2]

Our library has a whole section of books like this. They range from very complex to very simple (picture book style). Ask the librarian. :)

Yeah, the library I went to today is fairly new and has a limited selection (and not my favorite children's librarian). I will make a trip to a better library this weekend!

[kristac]

We have a Time Life series- "Library of First Questions and Answers".