The Periodic Playground™
Where every element is a character, every family a story.
A story-driven science collection that turns the periodic table into a cast of loud, quiet, sparkly, shy, and wildly reactive friends. Children meet the elements the way chemists wish they had ~ as personalities, not points on a grid.
More Than the Periodic Table
This collection helps children understand the elements as living characters with jobs, personalities, and places in the world. The periodic table stops being a poster on a wall and starts being a neighborhood children can walk through.
As children meet each element inside a story, they begin to see the invisible scaffolding of their own lives ~ the air they breathe, the water they drink, the metal in their bike, the salt on their dinner ~ and science becomes a way of noticing.
What This Collection Does
Most children meet the periodic table as a wall of symbols that chemistry class warns them they’ll eventually have to memorize. The Periodic Playground was built for a wildly different beginning ~ one where every element is a character, every family has a personality, and learning chemistry feels more like meeting a cast than memorizing a chart.
Children begin to see chemistry as a story about relationships ~ which elements like to react, which ones stay calm, and why atoms behave the way they do.
Parents and caregivers gain an on-ramp to early STEM that doesn’t require a chemistry degree ~ and that turns every kitchen, every garden, and every thunderstorm into a science moment.
Classrooms discover chemistry taught through narrative ~ where understanding precedes memorization and curiosity lasts longer than a test.
Inside the Playground
Each book brings one element to life as a character with a name, a job, and a favorite way of showing up in the world. Within each of the ten family series, children meet the elements together ~ as neighbors, teammates, and characters who share a personality. Three of the main families also have Synthetics sub-mini-series for the lab-born members of the group.
Over time, the periodic table stops feeling like a grid of facts and starts feeling like a group of friends children would recognize in a crowd.
Ten Families, 118 Elements
EACH FAMILY OPENS A NEW DOORWAY INTO MATTER
Series ONE
Alkali Metals
The splashy, reactive crew ~ soft metals that flame and fizz the moment water shows up. 6 books.
Series TWO
Alkaline Earth Metals
The strong-bones brigade ~ metals that build skeletons, ring bells, and hold the world upright. 6 books.
Series THREE
Transition Metals
The everyday workhorses ~ iron, copper, silver, gold, and 25 more. 29 main + 9 synthetic = 38 books.
Series FOUR
Post-Transition Metals
The bendy metal mission ~ foil, cans, solder, and the pliable everyday. 7 main + 4 synthetic = 11 books.
Series FIVE
Metalloids
The in-between wonder ~ neither metal nor non-metal. Silicon leads the shape-shifters. 7 books.
Series SIX
Reactive Nonmetals
The life-spark labs ~ hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and the builders of every living thing. 7 books.
Series SEVEN
Halogens
The salty-savvy solution ~ salt-makers, disinfectants, and tooth-guardians. 5 main + 1 synthetic = 6 books.
Series EIGHT
Noble Gases
The quiet superpower ~ gases that float, glow, fill light bulbs, and stay calm. 7 books.
Series NINE
Lanthanides
The rare-earth rendezvous ~ magnets, phone screens, and the unsung heroes of modern life. 15 books.
Series TEN
Actinides
The powerful energy pact ~ uranium, plutonium, and the elements that light cities and split atoms. 15 books.
Start the Journey
Every book opens one more element into your child’s world. Start with the Alkali Crew and watch them see the universe a little differently.
How The Magic Works
The Science Behind the Stories
01
Meet The Element
Each element becomes a character with a name, a face, and a job. Oxy. Ferro. Carbo. These aren’t symbols on a chart ~ they are entry points into real scientific literacy.
02
Watch It Work
Stories show the element doing its real job in the world ~ filling a lung, lighting a match, rusting a fence, shining a coin. Children see how the tiny builds the everyday, one element at a time.
03
Spot It In Real Life
When the elements show up in real life, children finally have friends for them. They can say “that’s Oxy’s job” or “that’s Ferro doing his thing,” and suddenly science becomes a language they already speak.
Extend The Learning
Additional materials designed to support and deepen understanding beyond the story.
Every book in the series comes with companion resources designed to deepen understanding and spark conversation.
Printable Activity Packs
Hands-on activities that reinforce learning through drawing, writing, and creative play.— one per book.
Reflection Prompts
Thoughtful prompts that help children connect each story to their own experiences and emotions.
Parent & Educator Guides
Conversation starters and context for adults to guide children through each story's themes.
Free Companion Worksheets
Character cards, Quotes, & Coloring Sheets that help the lesson land and last. hese are included in the Paid for Activityy Packs.
When It Starts To Click
As children engage with the stories, they start noticing elements in the world around them. The copper pipes, the aluminum can, the oxygen they breathe. Matter becomes meaningful. And somewhere along the way, chemistry becomes a language children realize they already speak.
For Parents & Educators
“When a child points at a loaf of bread and says ‘there’s carbon in here,’ the periodic table has stopped being homework and started being the world. And the world, suddenly, is a more wondrous place to live.”
~ MAISEL McLAULA
This collection was built for the adults who believe chemistry should start with wonder, not warning. The ones who want their children to look at the world and see how it’s made. Each story is grounded in accurate chemistry, shaped by character and story, and told with the joy of someone who has watched a child realize that everything ~ everything ~ is made of friends they just haven’t met yet.
Start Here. It's Free.
Begin with the first book in the collection and discover how neuroscience becomes a language children actually want to speak. No cost. No commitment. Just a story that might change the way your child sees themselves.
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