Kids Do Science


Radio Physics on KDNK

Click the Radio Physics link on the left to learn more about our collaboration with KDNK Radio and high school physics students from Rifle to Aspen.

The Barbecues are co-hosted with the Aspen Science Center

2022 Summer Kids' Barbecue and Physics Talk Schedule

We are so sorry to say that the 2022 Kid's BBQ's have been tentatively CANCELED. If you have any questions,  please contact the Aspen Science Center.

At the Aspen Center for Physics: 6th and Gillespie Streets
5:00-6:00 pm Food and Experiments
6:00-6:30 pm Physics Talk
    Shane Larson gave a children's talk in 2014 involving his lying on a bed of nails to demonstrate a physics principle. Watch the video here.

    We're often asked if a child is too young or too old for our Wednesday afternoon picnics held on our campus. Kids of all ages show up. Sometimes four-year-olds are the ones asking the challenging questions at the physics talk that follows the picnics and sometimes the four-year-olds are still floating boats down the ditch and not attending the talk. High school kids may not be shooting off the rockets before the talk, which starts at 6 pm, but they can enjoy a hamburger and should feel engaged in the science once the talk begins. Maybe a short chat with a physicist after the talk will turn a young girl's dreams toward the stars or a young man's thoughts toward quarks.

    The Aspen Science Center initiated these picnic/talks and continues to produce the fun and the food every week. We appreciate their partnership in creating a fun family venue where our physicists can educate and inspire tomorrow's scientists.


"I assisted in giving a lecture on "The Physics of Climbing" as part of the Aspen Science Center family picnic at the Physics Center...Not only did I think this a wonderful initiative. I wish that things like this had been available to me when I was a child, but I was also delighted that several of the children came up to me afterwards to ask me about what a physicist actually does, and how they might pursue it as an eventual career. They were also very keen to hear about the LHC experiment at CERN where I work. In my opinion, initiatives such as these, which aim to get young children interested in science from an early age, represent the best possible hope for the future of science."