Ask away! Inside Klokhuis Vragendag at NEMO Where children ask scientists their biggest questions

Why do farts smell? Is everyone’s blood red? And why does toothpaste soothe mosquito bites These are not questions I don’t think about very often, until children are standing right in front of me asking them. Last Saturday, children from across the Netherlands got the chance to ask scientists all their burning questions during an event organized by the Dutch Children’s TV program Klokhuis and the science museum NEMO.

A Saturday full of science

I got on the train to Amsterdam bright and early on Saturday morning, packed and ready to get some kids excited about science. Alongside around thirty other scientists, I spent the day at NEMO, answering questions that had been submitted by children aged 5 to 13. It was a blast to use everything in my arsenal to explain different topics, but it was also genuinely challenging. As scientists, we usually speak to other experts in the field, or at least other scientists, but this time my audience started almost entirely from scratch. With just 15 minutes for each conversation, it almost felt like speed-dating.

Fortunately, we received all the questions in advance, which gave me time to prepare. Some were far outside my day-to-day work, so I spent a few evenings diving into Wikipedia pages, scientific articles, and YouTube videos. Others I more or less knew the answer to, such as why we get vaccinations at different ages. But how do you make changes in childhood vaccination schedules interesting for a seven-year-old? Wearing the lab coat I had doodled on throughout my bachelor’s program, I got ready to answer whatever questions came my way.

Microscopes, rollercoasters, and 3D-printed brains

Because we had time to prepare, I was also able to bring props with me to support my answers. When I was the same age as the children standing in front of me, I begged my parents for a second-hand microscope using a PowerPoint presentation. Now, I could use that same sixty-year-old microscope to show tissue slides. For other questions, I used pictures and animations on my laptop, with immune cells that were eating bacteria and a moving diaphragm to explain hiccups.

Other scientists had also made every effort to impress. One colleague had foraged stinging nettles to show the stinging hairs under the microscope. Another had 3D-printed a model of a brain to talk about psychobiology. But maybe the most eye-catching table featured multiple physics demonstrations, including a marble rollercoaster and a homemade battery.

Curiosity and follow-up questions

What struck me most was the children’s unfiltered excitement. They rarely accepted simple answers, often filling the full 15 minutes with follow-up questions. This pushed me to explain ideas more clearly and creatively. For instance, I compared rust’s color to red blood cells to explain why oxidized iron makes blood appear red. To a girl who loved gymnastics, I described vaccines as practice sessions where the immune system prepares for a real threat. I’m convinced that this way of explaining ideas will sharpen my skills as a scientist in the long run.

By the end of the day, fourteen children had stopped by with their parents. If they went home a little wiser and a lot more curious than before, that feels like a Saturday well spent.

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This blog is written by Robbin Kramer