Introducing Star Trek to your kid(s)

[johnnybear]

I've tried but my kids listen to their mother and she dislikes the show! She told me once that as a kid she remembered Spock and McCoy in the series but never Shatner!!! Nowadays all she ever does is criticise my interest or devotion to the show!
JB

 

[marlboro]

I've tried but my kids listen to their mother and she dislikes the show! She told me once that as a kid she remembered Spock and McCoy in the series but never Shatner!!! Nowadays all she ever does is criticise my interest or devotion to the show!
JB

Outrageous. Simply outrageous. I think it may be time for you to consult a lawyer.

 

[StefanM]

Also a way to introduce Star Trek to kids:
https://www.georgetakei.com/star-tr...2&tse_id=INF_66a28900fdc611e8b433ab68d22425b2
[Trek books for kids]

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

"Oh, my," indeed.

 

[Damian]

You could always try to introduce them by the animated serious. It's still a serious show but done at a level kids can understand. I know it seems a bit obvious, but sometimes that's the best way to go.

However, I'm sad to say, my daughter just never got into it. She's 13 now. About 10 years ago I tried the animated series with her but she never seemed to get into it. Ditto for other shows. I guess she takes after her mom who is NOT a Star Trek fan. Though I think she kind of liked Beyond (but will never, ever admit it). Usually I can tell by her expression whether she was into a film or not and she didn't have that look of disgust she usually has at Star Trek films.

Star Trek (2009) had her for a few minutes at the beginning. When Kirk sacrificed himself and he had that moment with his wife I saw her wiping a tear a way. But then it was lost. She complained it gave her headache (I can sympathize, all the booms, bangs, and esp. the relentless lens flares gave me a pretty bad headache by the time it was over--at home it's not as bad but in the theater it was unforgiving---thank you JJ for toning it down in STID).

 

[Damian]

I've tried but my kids listen to their mother and she dislikes the show! She told me once that as a kid she remembered Spock and McCoy in the series but never Shatner!!! Nowadays all she ever does is criticise my interest or devotion to the show!
JB

I can sympathize. My wife never liked it. But she feels that way about most sci-fi so it's not limited to Star Trek. She doesn't criticize me as much over it, and she will feed my habit by buying me Star Trek movies, shows and books, but she has about zero interest in it.

 

[johnnybear]

Yep, same here! She knows that my interest is not to be trifled with and needs satiating at times but she will not indulge herself!
JB

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Sounds rather like my dad. Then again, while we can agree on baseball, football doesn't do anything for me ("such a fuss over a lousy 25 cents")

 

[Bad Thoughts]

My son is 12 years, and after spending his youth preferring that other franchise, he is now a big Trekkie.

What did I do? Nothing special. I watched episodes. I got him things he wanted. I played games with him (tabletop and video).

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

"That other franchise"? What other franchise? B5? SW? Game of Thrones? The Smurfs? My Little Pony?

 

[Galileo7]

Elementary school age with all 22 episodes of TAS and then afterwards any of the other live-action ST series or movies.
http://epguides.com/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries/

 

[Lord Garth]

I don't have any kids but my brother showed my five-year-old niece TAS.

 

[johnnybear]

I tried watching TAS with my son last year and he seemed to enjoy it! He started asking questions about the Klingons and their pink attire! And before that I put on a few episodes of TOS on Netflix and we saw most of AOY one night before his mother came home and then we switched it off and he sort of didn't want to know after that! When I've asked him about Trek he says it's boring, not like Star Wars which is cool!
JB

 

[Damian]

I tried watching TAS with my son last year and he seemed to enjoy it! He started asking questions about the Klingons and their pink attire! And before that I put on a few episodes of TOS on Netflix and we saw most of AOY one night before his mother come home and then we switched it off and he sort of didn't want to know after that! When I've asked him about Trek he says it's boring, not like Star Wars which is cool!
JB

Woe! I think it's time to write him out of the will. NO SOUP FOR YOU!

 

[The Old Mixer]

he says it's boring, not like Star Wars which is cool!

That was me until my mid-teens.

 

[johnnybear]

Yeah the original three Star Wars movies were excellent! But then again so IS TOS!!! And my son won't really give it a try! Probably because his mother knocks it so much and yet he is a sci-fi fan!!!
JB

 

[Lord Garth]

Yeah the original three Star Wars movies were excellent! But then again so IS TOS!!! And my son won't really give it a try! Probably because his mother knocks it so much and yet he is a sci-fi fan!!!
JB

Once he hits his pre-teens, he'll rebel against what his mother says, almost reflexively. Then is your chance to move in! Be the cool dad and he'll be all about TOS when the time is right. Strategy.

 

[johnnybear]

I do hope so, Garth!
JB

 

[Commishsleer]

I have four kids and like the responsible parent that I am, I said that I will love the child that loves Star Trek the best the most.

The 2 younger ones fell for this for a while but the youngest finally realised that I will love them no matter what and doesn't even pretend to like it any more.
The 14-year old did like the monsters of TOS for a while and the animated series when he was younger. Big fan of the Mugatu and the Gorn. Now he doesn't even want my love and is too "cool' for TOS or anything I like. At least he prefers it over the "overrated" Star Wars or Harry Potter.

Maybe start off with the "Animated Series" It worked on one of my children. For a while.

 

[Damian]

A friend of mine had asked where she should start with Star Trek. I actually recommended TNG, but I advised her to maybe start with season 3. TNG is not all that serialized, esp. at the first couple of seasons so it's not really necessary to watch from the start (plus it's probably best to avoid episodes like "Code Of Honor"...at least until you've gotten more into the show). But Season 3 of TNG might not be a bad place to start for a novice.

The original series will always be the best, but sometimes you need to set a foundation first. It's not always a good idea to start with the best. The original series is a bit dated in it's look so younger people might shy away from it if it's their first exposure. But if you build up to that, I think that could be a different story.