Introducing Star Trek to your kid(s)

[trekkier]

I've at a 2 year old daughter, and naturally I'm planning on introducing her to the world of Star Trek...eventually.

I got her a plush Enterprise last year, and she plays with some of my old playmates toys (and calls them all "Kirk" lol.

Any of you with kids want to share your success or...not so success stories?

 

[Kilana2]

I don't have kids, but my fellow Trekkie @StefanM does. He is currently not online, but he might share some stories. I know that he reads Trek books with his children.

 

[USS Firefly]

My 3 month old son is watching DS9 with my wife an I.
But i don't understand it, it's the best trek show but he felt asleep.

 

[Kilana2]

My 3 month old son is watching DS9 with my wife an I.
But i don't understand it, it's the best trek show but he felt asleep.

I guess he's just too young......

 

[BillJ]

Any of you with kids want to share your success or...not so success stories?

My daughter, who is now 25, is a fan of TNG. A huge fan. My 21 year-old son likes the Abrams films, and my 11 year old will only watch TOS (and The Orville).

 

[StefanM]

I don't have kids, but my fellow Trekkie @StefanM does. He is currently not online, but he might share some stories. I know that he reads Trek books with his children.

Yes, right
My son is 12, my daughter 8. My wife and I are Star Trek Fans, so it's part of our life, and our children grow up with it.
Do you know "Trekdinners" in America? Every month, Star Trek fans meet in locations like restaurants. There are many of the in Germany. I even met my wife there.
Last weekend, we had the christmas Trekdinner with the "Klingolaus", the klingon Santa Claus. So my daughter had an little poem for him. In the summer, we have "Grilltrek", a barbecue Trekdinner ("grillen" = barbecue in german), where we all bring our children.
So, Star Trek is something, they grow up with.

Years ago, I played the Star Trek Costumizable Card Game, so I still have lots of cards. My son saw them and wanted to learn the game (good way to learn english ). Now he's more playing Magic the Gathering.

Like Little Drummer Girl already said: I'm reading the Star Trek Novels for them. 20 minutes reading for each, before they go to bed.
With Julian, I started the Destiny trilogy, then Typhon Pact, Corps of Engineers, now Double Helix. And this summer, I started reading the Academy books for Sarah (around her eighth birthday).

Both have seen a few episodes, when they were on TV, but not really much.
Early this year, Julian watched Discovery, then the 13 movies, now he started DS9, where he just finished the first season.

 

[Kilana2]

There used to be a Trek Dinner in Bamberg, but I don't know if it still exist.

@StefanM: ah, the name of your kids are already Trek-like. I'm thinking of Sarah Sisko and Julian Bashir. Is it intentional or sheer coincidence? I guess René Jacques Robert Francois wasn't an option and Elim would sound off .

 

[valkyrie013]

Huh, this brings up an Idea that I hope some of the authors here could pass on to Trek Lit honcho's..
Any Young Adult Star Trek novels out there? I don't know if there is a Starfleet Academy book series curently being written. Most of the rest of the books are PG so there good for the kids to read already, but having a main protagonist being late teen, either in the academy or trying to get in to it. Or a kid on a starship, and his trials and tribulaitons.

as for introducing, Just watch the shows yourself, and your son/daughter will be wondering what your watching, and try watching with you. Just don't push it on them to hard, they'll back off.

 

[Kilana2]

Huh, this brings up an Idea that I hope some of the authors here could pass on to Trek Lit honcho's..
Any Young Adult Star Trek novels out there? I don't know if there is a Starfleet Academy book series curently being written. Most of the rest of the books are PG so there good for the kids to read already, but having a main protagonist being late teen, either in the academy or trying to get in to it. Or a kid on a starship, and his trials and tribulaitons.

as for introducing, Just watch the shows yourself, and your son/daughter will be wondering what your watching, and try watching with you. Just don't push it on them to hard, they'll back off.

I guess StefanM's kids are old enough for Double Helix. But Section 31 - Control would be too savage IMO. The German fans still have to wait until next year before it'll be published. But you raise a good question as to sex and violence. So I guess no New Frontier for kids (except the Academy Adventures of course).

 

[Smellmet]

This is a relevant thread for me. I've got a 3 year old daughter, she's not ready for Trek (among my other faves like Star Wars, Back to the Future, Indy etc) yet, but I think I'm gonna get the TOS remastered box set at some point and make that the starting point. I was around 5 when I started watching, and I think the bright colours, campy style mixed with the moral compass of the stories will sit well with a child that age. The dated sets and FX won't matter as much either I think.

 

[StefanM]

@StefanM: ah, the name of your kids are already Trek-like. I'm thinking of Sarah Sisko and Julian Bashir. Is it intentional or sheer coincidence? I guess René Jacques Robert Francois wasn't an option and Elim would sound off .

No, there was no Star Trek related reason for their names. Julian Bashir certainly comes to mind, but no, he wasn't the reason. Although our son really likes the doctor And no, I never thought of Sara Sisko, until you mentiond it.

BUT: On our Trekdinner, one couple really named their kids for their favourite charakters. Their daughter JADZIA just turned 18 this year. Yes, they could really give her that name :O And their son's name is Benjamin, a very common name in Germany.

 

[Kilana2]

I'd like to have twins with the names Emony and Ezri - but that ship has sailed long time ago.

Curzon Müller would be funny....

 

[Riker'sMailbox]

My kids are 4 and 7. My 7 year old thinks Star Trek is lame. Apparently, Harry Potter and unicorns and dance are all the rage with her and her friends.

My 4 year old lives for Star Wars, so maybe he will be into Star Trek someday. My husband has never seen an episode of Star Trek or any of the movies, so it will be all on me.

 

[Danny99]

My almost two year old waves at the ships when they go to warp. He sat through an ENT rewatch me and pieces of TNG and DS9 when it is just the two of us.

 

[Vger23]

I have a 4 year old and a 7 year old. They both love TOS (favorites by their own choice are Arena, Corbomite, and Tribbles). 7 year old is starting to watch some TNG with me, but you need to pick carefully. Some can be rather boring for a kid that age.

Also: my 7 year old has seen all the TOS movies. He loves TMP and TSFS. The 4year old has only seen TMP and asks for it rather frequently.

 

[Smellmet]

I have a 4 year old and a 7 year old. They both love TOS (favorites by their own choice are Arena, Corbomite, and Tribbles). 7 year old is starting to watch some TNG with me, but you need to pick carefully. Some can be rather boring for a kid that age.

Also: my 7 year old has seen all the TOS movies. He loves TMP and TSFS. The 4year old has only seen TMP and asks for it rather frequently.

Interesting - that's the movie I'd be most nervous about introducing Trek to my daughter with, I skipped it with my wife and went straight to TWOK. I guess it works if they've seen a decent amount of TOS (which is my plan) as it re-introduces the characters to the viewer a few years later. It worked for me as a 5 year old in 1979 I guess.

 

[Relayer1]

I sat crosslegged in front of the TV with my son in my lap the morning after we got him home from hospital. Mrs Relayer was exhausted in bed and I showed him....Star Wars.

He was introduced to Trek through me watching it as he grew up - he, quite correctly, identified DS9 as being the best show (but he's a big Shatner Nimoy fan too).

I also taken him over the years to see the Kelvin movies, but I was hesitant to mention that lest it be deemed child abuse.

All this can't have had too bad an effect on him anyway - he's now studying for his masters degree in astrophysics !

 

[1001001]

Mom and Dad are Trekkies....

Daughter is a Trekkie

Son is a Trekkie

No problem!

 

[Lapis Exilis]

I'm a second generation fan myself - TOS reruns were around on and off in my childhood, and then I sort of discovered it myself when I was 12 and went hardcore Trekkie. I've been working on my kids. They know I love it but find it a bit inexplicable. The 7 year old has not shown a lot of interest, but I'm starting to catch the attention of my 12-year old, which leads me to believe that's a key age where the intellectual and philosophical ideas are intriguing for a kid. I think the slow drip method that lays groundwork works best and then they can decide if they want to get into it (sort of my same approach to religion!) I try to show them ones that are both colorful and thought-provoking. Both of them love DS9 "Take Me Out to the Holosuite". Got the older kid after we had a talk about AI and the coming of the robot revolution. Showed her TNG "Measure of a Man" and she thought that was pretty cool. Other ones that have caught some interest are TOS "Amok Time" and "Who Mourns for Adonis" (kids in 6th grade do ancient civilizations in history class). I try to keep an ear out for issues that she's dealing with that are reflected in Trek and then get her to watch the relevant episode. Both of them love math so I showed them the recent Discovery trailer with Tilly proclaiming that math is cool.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

When TOS was in first run, I watched a Canadian-made animated series, Rocket Robin Hood. A neighbor kid watched Star Trek, but my mother didn't think it appropriate for me. (Ironic, given that Rocket Robin Hood is now considered a rather violent series.)

When I was a little bit older, I watched the Dozier-produced Batman. Then Get Smart reruns (I vaguely remember seeing the "Lost Season" of Get Smart (and in particular, I remember the chemical doubletalk/artificial sweetener gag from "Is This Trip Necessary," from seeing it in first run).

I didn't see Star Trek reruns until I was in about 5th grade, and a classmate was into it. I caught the end of "A Taste of Armageddon", and the beginning of "Space Seed," and (so far as I know) the first episodes I saw all the way through were "The Devil in the Dark" and "Operation: Annihilate."

Even at that age, I found "The Man Trap" to be nightmare-fodder, and if it were my first episode, it would have also been my last. On the other hand, from the very first time I saw it, I've always loved "The Corbomite Maneuver."