Imagine This

Zaki and Micha want to know, how deep is the ocean? Fraser asks, why doesn’t the sun light up the bottom of the ocean? And Hudson and Reuben are wondering, why does the ocean look blue?

Yarrr! Climb aboard matey, Dr Nij and the kids are in search of treasure at the bottom of the sea…. But how deep does the ocean go?

Dive deep in our Scallywag Submersible with marine cartographer Dr Marji Puotinen. Together we’ll discover the many zones of the ocean and visit the deepest, darkest part of all – the Mariana Trench! Will we find our treasure or something else lurking below?

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Ben and Ingrid want to know, how is paint made? Grace asks, what is paint made of? And Yuki is wondering, how do colours get into paint?

We love to paint and get messy with all the colours of the rainbow! You can mix blue and yellow to make green, red and blue to make purple… but how did we get all these colours in the first place? Let’s visit our friend Jocelyn Evans. She’s a paintings conservator at the National Gallery of Australia – that’s like a doctor for paintings!

Disappear inside of a work of art with Nij and the kids to follow the history of paint and how people made all the colours of the rainbow!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Tom and Mackenzie want to know, how do our ears work? And Harry asks, how are sounds made and how does it get to our ears?

Nij and the kids are rocking out at band practice and it’s getting pretty noisy! How are we making all this sound? And how is it getting inside our ears? Lucky Dr Viji Easwar has joined the band to help us ride the soundwaves and find out how hearing actually works! Surf’s up!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Cash, Ben, Jonathan and Harriet all want to know, how is metal made? And Henry asks, why does metal feel colder than other stuff?

Hear ye, hear ye! Knight Nij is about to make his debut at the medieval fair until disaster strikes… His steel sword broke in half! He can’t fight dragons like this… We’re off to visit blacksmith and metallurgist Dr Matthew Humbert to see if he can help fix Nij’s sword and teach us how metal is made… Things are about to get hotter than a dragon’s mouth!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Bridie wants to know, how does food turns into poo? Sam asks, how is poo made? Nathan and Lachlan want to know why do we poo? And Ollie is wondering, why do tummies grumble?

Nij and the kids are at an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet! We’re having waffles and hot chips… Fruit salad and sushi bowls! Until a giant crashes the queue… Fi fi fo fum the buffet is closed... Now get in my tum!

With the help of research dietitian Dr Georgina Williams, we’re getting swallowed by a giant to follow the digestive journey of food into poo! Things are about to get messy….

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

To celebrate Science Week we're unearthing a special episode of Gardening Australia Junior!

The theme of this year's Science Week is 'Seeds of Science: Nurturing knowledge for all'. They're not just talking about planting seeds in the ground. It’s about planting seeds of curiosity too! Every great scientific discovery starts with wondering about the world around us... Why is the sky blue? Why do apples fall from trees? What’s hiding underneath our feet?

Join Costa, Nij and the Gardening Australia Junior crew in learning all about the secret lives of worms.

We're having so much fun listening back through your all-time favourite Imagine This episodes! This one sure was illuminating!

The Sun is hot and bright, it helps plants grow and keeps us warm. But did you know, the Sun is also a star? How come there are so many tiny, twinkling stars at night and just one sun lighting up the world in the day time? Let's blast off into outer space with Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith for a closer look at our closest star.

If you have a request or want to ask a new question... Drop us a line at [email protected]

Keep questioning!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

We're digging through the archives and picking all your old faves. This one was no garden-variety adventure...

If plants come from seeds but seeds come from plants then how do you get a seed to start off with? Nij and the kids meet ecologist Professor Angela Moles for a bushwalk to find some answers...

If you have a request or want to ask a new question... Drop us a line at [email protected]

Keep questioning!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

We're looking back at some of your all-time favourite Imagine This episodes. Nij is the guest scientist and the kids take the lead in this colourful adventure to learn all about the science of rainbows...

We can see them after a sun shower... or the spray of the sprinkler... we can even sing them! But why can't we ever catch them? Nij shares the ingredients to make a rainbow in this special episode of Imagine This...

If you have a request or want to ask a new question... Drop us a line at [email protected]

Keep questioning!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

The Imaginarium has been inundated with requests for some of your favourite episodes! Let's dive in...

Up here on land, we breathe air into our lungs but how do fish breathe underwater? Is there air in the sea? Do fish have lungs like us? Let’s head to the beach with Dr Nij to meet marine biologist Tooni Mahto and find out how fish and other sea creatures live underwater.

If you have a request or want to ask a new question... Drop us a line at [email protected]

Keep questioning!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

We've been spring cleaning the Imaginarium and have come across some old favourites! This golden oldie's a gas... literally!

Today we're talking about something that all of us do. They can be loud or soft, sometimes smelly and almost always funny. We're talking about fluffs, toots, air biscuits - yes, farts! - and why they come out of our bums. Join Professor Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh as we shrink to fit inside his gas-smelling capsule to follow the journey of gas in our bodies.

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Evie wants to know, "How is soil made?"

Soil is everywhere but where does it come from? And why does it get treated like dirt?

Nij and the kids team up with Dr Samantha Grover from the Soil-Atmosphere-Anthroposphere Lab at RMIT University. Together they'll journey deep underground to learn all about the connections between soil, the environment, and people!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Jamie wants to know, "What makes food spicy?" and Jacob asks, "Where does spice come from, how is it made and why does milk help?"

Let's follow the flavours that tickle our tastebuds with sensory scientist Professor Heather Smyth. Nij and the kids will learn all about how taste works and why spiciness packs such a punch!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Frankie and Timothy would like to know, "How do cars work?"

Levi wants to know "How do different types of cars get power?"

Arija is curious "How do engines makes cars move?

Connor and Rory want to know, "How does a hybrid car work?"

And Sam wants to know, "How do vehicles go?"

Let's catch a ride with Professor Shawn Kook from the UNSW Engine Research Lab to learn about different types of engines, how they make wheels spin and cars move!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

Today's question was sent in by a LOT of you! Lizzie, Reuben, Archie, Mack and Ruth would like to know 'How do babies grow in a mummy's tummy?', Luana wants to know "Why do babies have blood on them when they're born?" and Grayson and Mackenzie want to know, 'How are babies really made?"

Follow Nij and the kids along with Professor Tu'uhevaha Kaitu'u-Lino as we imagine ourselves inside a uterus to see how babies grow inside the body...

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

We often think of yawning as something that happens when we're tired but the answer is much more mysterious. Nij and the kids meet Dr Kathleen Maddison at the Centre for Sleep Science for an adventure that starts all the way back in caveman times!

For more great kids podcasts, download the free ABC listen app (Australia). There you’ll find more kids news podcasts, educational children’s stories and storytelling, podcasts from your favourite characters like Bluey and Hey Duggee and plenty more of the best kids podcasts like Imagine This, Dino Dome and News Time. For all ages from 0–4-year-olds, 5–8-year-olds, 8–10-year-olds, tweens and teens. And you can watch our kids shows on ABC iview and on the ABC Kids and ABC Big Kids channels of YouTube kids.

We all know it’s important to use sunscreen in the hot Australian sun, but what exactly is sunscreen? And how does it work? Nij and the kids are joined by dermatologist Professor Pablo Fernández-Peñas for a slippery, summery and sparkling journey.

The grass is wet, but there’s been no rain, and the skies are clear... What explains the dampness covering everything on a cool morning? It's called dew!

Meteorologist and ABC weather presenter Nate Byrne joins Nij and the kids to explain what exactly dew is, and where it comes from.

Nij is out of fridge magnets and discovers they can't be replaced by just any piece of metal. What gives magnets their power to pull and push, and how do they stick to things? Nij and the kids get the answer from physicist Dr Cathy Foley, who explains how magnets work and why they're so special.

To celebrate Science Week, we're heading back to space with Dr Kirsten Banks to learn about something very powerful and mysterious.... Black holes!

We recommend listening to How are stars made? first before listening to this bonus episode.

Twinkle twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are…. No, really – what are stars made of and how did they get all the way up there in the sky? Let’s find out more with astrophysicist, Dr Kirsten Banks! Get ready to blast off in 5, 4, 3, 2 1!

If you don’t drink water, urine trouble! It’s a wee-lly important thing to stay healthy. So how do our bodies turn this clear water into yellow pee? Nij and the kids meet Dr Sradha Kotwal to follow the journey through our bodies from water to wee!

We see glass every day, we see right through it! It’s in our windows and our fridges, our cars and our devices… But how do you make all this hard, clear stuff? Pack your bags, we’re off to Ancient Egypt to find the answers!

Some days we can feel happy and other times we can feel sad or frustrated, or downright angry! Where do all these different feelings come from and why do we feel them? Nij and the kids meet Dr Pete Koval at the F.E.E.L. lab to learn more…

We use phones a lot – to call our friends, message our grandparents, play games, follow maps… But what happens when our phones stop working? When the page doesn’t load or the call drops out? Nij and the kids meet Dr Shaghik Atakaramians to learn about this mysterious ‘reception’ and why it sometimes gets ‘lost’.

Every year we get older… we have birthday parties and eat cake but what is happening in our bodies? Why do we get taller and grow more teeth? And why do we eventually stop growing? Nij and the kids meet Dr Lindsay Wu to follow the microscopic lives of our cells and how we grow as we get older