Blast off with the astronauts of the Space Shuttle on a real mission and experience what it's like to work and live in outer space. Learn all about the space program by visiting the launch pad, the rockets, astronaut training, and Mission Control. You'll discover what scientists are learning about our universe and see the world's largest radio telescope.

This video will take your child on an epic space adventure where they will learn all about the science and preparation behind shuttle launches.  It is packed with fascinating facts about how to become an astronaut and what it takes to train for the big launch.  The narration is performed by a child and may help your child relate better to the experience.  Complete details are given about where the space station is located in the United States, the animals that inhabit the area, the size of the landing strip and all the important buildings, and how many people around the world are involved in making the launches to outer space possible.  As the video transitions to different topics where new concepts are introduced, colorful titles flash on the screen to help associate each concept with the right word.  This will help to expand your child's vocabulary. 

As your child watches this video they will likely be filled with wonder.  You may discover that it is time to take your child on a family field trip to the nearest space related museum, or space station (if you are lucky to be near one).  The concepts discussed in this video will stir up lots of questions and provide you with the opportunity to indulge your child's curiosity.  You may even find that you too have learned a lot from this story.

When I watched this video with friend's son John, we were both captivated.  His eyes were glued to the screen.  He kept asking lots questions about what was going to happen next, and I told him to wait a few more minutes because the narrator was going to explain what was happening.  This video was a great learning experience for both of us, and he has watched it many times since that first day.

--Kendall

Filmmaker William VanDerKloot was watching kids' videos with his children. He was disappointed with what he saw... and what he didn't. With a few notable exceptions, most children's videos were poorly done and overly simplistic. "It seemed as if very little effort was put into the research or production of those products," said VanDerKloot. "Many looked like amateur home videos."

Then he got an idea.... A Peabody award-winning director/producer, VanDerKloot decided to produce one himself. The first subject came to him while driving past the Atlanta airport in a car full of children. As they drove down I-75, a giant plane took off overhead. Immediately VanDerKloot was bombarded with questions from the kids, "What kind of plane is that?" How fast is it going?" "How many passengers are in it?" The Big Plane Trip, the first video in The Big Adventure Series®, was born.

But VanDerKloot did not want to make a simplistic video "just for kids." Each subsequent video in the series, is constructed with various levels of information so that an entire family, from the youngest to the oldest, can enjoy and learn something new with every viewing. "There is something that happens when you become a parent," says VanDerKloot. "You begin to look at the world through the eyes of a child. Suddenly the normal becomes the extraordinary and you see things in a whole new way."

The Big Adventure Series® shows how things work with a child's sense of wonder. And who better to critique an adventure-in-progress than kids themselves. The team at Little Mammoth holds a number of screenings for children's groups while videos are in their rough edit stage. Utilizing the input, the videos are modified. The results are productions that have received national acclaim from the critics, and most importantly, from families and children.

This hard work has paid off. The BIG Adventure Series®, which is now sixteen titles strong, has received dozens of awards and citations from such organizations as Parent's Choice, Kids First!, Video Librarian, CINE, and International Monitor Awards.