In this follow-up episode on the integumentary system, we explore the amazing ways our skin keeps us safe, healthy, and balanced every single day. Last week, we learned what the skin is made of — this week, we focus on what it does for us and why we truly couldn’t live without it.

Sloane continues doubting if skin is really that important… and ends up discovering it’s one of the most essential systems in the entire body!

In this episode, kids learn how the skin:

• Acts like a protective wall, keeping germs out
• Helps prevent dehydration by keeping our body’s water inside
• Uses sweat to cool us down when we’re hot
• Works with hair and the hypodermis to keep us warm
• Uses blood vessels to control body temperature through vasodilation and vasoconstriction
• Sends messages to the brain through nerves to help keep us safe

We talk about how all these parts — skin, hair, glands, fat, and nerves — work together to protect us and regulate our temperature, making the integumentary system absolutely essential for life.

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Sloane thinks skin is no big deal — until she finds out it’s actually an entire body system!

In this episode, Audra and Sloane explore the integumentary system — the body’s amazing outer layer of protection. Together, they discover that skin isn’t just skin — it’s the largest organ in our body and part of a team that includes hair, nails, and glands. From sweat to earwax to milk (wait… what?!), this episode uncovers the gross, cool, and important jobs your skin does every day. 

What Kids Will Learn

• The integumentary system is made up of the skin, hair, nails, and glands.
• The skin is the body’s largest organ, made of three layers — the epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis.
• Hair follicles are like tiny flowerpots where hair grows.
• Glands in the skin make and release important stuff — like oil, sweat, earwax, and even milk in mammals!
• The word “secrete” means to make and release something.
• A dermatologist is a doctor who takes care of your skin.

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If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

This week’s listener question comes from Dom, from Pennsylvania, who asked: “How many times do you have to get hit to have a concussion in football?”

That’s a really good question — and one that every kid (and parent!) who plays sports should understand!

In this episode, we talk about:
⚡ What a concussion is and why doctors call it a “mild traumatic brain injury.”
🏈 How our brains get hurt — from hits, hard stops, and even whiplash.
💫 What symptoms can happen when the brain gets injured.
🦺 And how to keep your brain safe by wearing helmets, playing smart, and resting when you need to.

Because remember — you only get one brain, and it’s in charge of everything!
So let’s learn how to take good care of it together.

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If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

It’s Halloween week — and Sloane has an idea! 👻
This time, she convinces Mom to share some of her “scary” stories from the ER. Don’t worry — these stories aren’t too scary, but they’re definitely interesting, a little gross, and packed with lessons to keep kids safe. 💀 From fishhooks to helmets to beads (and even blood!), this episode has it all.

You’ll hear:
🪝 A fishing trip gone wrong — and what happens when a fishhook ends up in someone’s cheek.
🚴‍♀️ A bike ride that turned into a real-life lesson about helmets.
💎 A bead-in-the-nose story that might sound familiar to some parents...
🩸 And finally, a not-so-spooky vampire-style story about blood transfusions and how donating blood can save lives!

This Halloween, we’re mixing a few chills with a whole lot of learning. Perfect for car rides, classrooms, or cozy listening while you carve pumpkins! 🎃 Lesson Takeaways:

• Always listen to safety rules — they’re there for a reason!
• Helmets aren’t optional (even for grown-ups!)
• Keep small things out of noses, ears, and eyes!
• Donating blood can be life-saving — and your body makes more!

👩‍⚕️ Hosted by Audra (a real ER PA!) and her 8-year-old daughter Sloane
🎧 Available wherever you listen to podcasts

💡 Enjoying What’s Happening Inside Me?
If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

• Send in your own question for a future episode
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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

My brother told me I had to do an episode on burps and farts… so here it is!

Let’s be honest — everyone does it. But have you ever wondered why? In this episode, Sloane and I dive into the science behind burping and tooting. We’ll talk about what’s really going on inside when gas builds up, why it’s totally normal, and how our amazing body systems all work together to make it happen. We’ll learn about:

• What happens when you swallow air (and where it goes!)
• The tiny bacteria living inside you that make gas
• Foods that make us extra gassy (yes, beans made the list)
• And the fancy doctor words for burps and farts — eructation and flatulence!

It’s science. It’s silly. It’s slightly stinky. And your kids are going to LOVE it.

Perfect for: Curious kids (ages 4–12), parents, teachers, and anyone who secretly finds burps and farts hilarious — so, basically, everyone.

Listen now on What’s Happening Inside Me? — wherever you get your podcasts!

💡 Enjoying What’s Happening Inside Me?
If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

• Send in your own question for a future episode
• Grab free learning resources
• Stay up to date on new releases

Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

Ever wondered what your belly button actually does? (Spoiler alert: not much!) But don’t worry — that tiny spot on your tummy used to be one of the most important parts of your body when you were a baby growing inside your mom!

In this episode, Audra — a former teacher, emergency room PA, and mom of four curious kids — takes listeners back to before they were even born to explain how the umbilical cord and placenta helped them eat, breathe, and grow long before their actual birth day. 

Kids will learn:
🩸 How oxygen and nutrients travel from mom to baby
🎈 What the placenta and umbilical cord do
👶 Why the belly button is actually a scar
🤯 How your blood and your mom’s blood never actually mix!

This “Questions from Listeners” episode is perfect for curious minds who love learning how their bodies work — even before they were born!

💡 Want to hear your question on the show?
Submit it anytime at WHIMpodcast.com —

#WHIMpodcast #whatshappeninginsideme #kidslearn #kidseducation #kidslovelearning #educationalpodcast #funforkids #curiouskids #sciencelesson #kidpodcast #familyeducation #podcastforkids #kidhost #kidsaskwhy

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If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

What’s smaller than small and busier than busy? It’s the cell—the tiny building block of every living thing! In this episode, Audra and her 8-year-old cohost Sloane explore what cells are, where we find them, and why they’re so important. Using fun examples (and a few Lego bricks), they zoom in layer by layer—from body systems to organs to tissues—all the way down to the microscopic world inside every cell. Along the way, they meet three superstar organelles:

• 🧠 Nucleus – the control center that holds DNA, the instructions for building you
• ⚡ Mitochondria – the “powerhouse” that turns food and oxygen into energy (ATP!)
• 🏭 Ribosome – the protein factory that makes all the proteins which help your body grow, heal, and work properly

By the end, kids will understand how every breath, bite, and heartbeat depends on the work of trillions of cells—all working together like a team of tiny builders inside us.

💡 Enjoying What’s Happening Inside Me?
If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

• Send in your own question for a future episode
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• Stay up to date on new releases

Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

✨ Questions from Listeners: Why Do I Get Hiccups? 
Submit your own question at WHIMpodcast.com/contact-us

✨ Laura sent in a fantastic question for today’s Questions from Listeners episode:
👉 Why do I get hiccups, and what are they?

If you’ve ever had hiccups, you know how annoying they can be. But what’s actually going on inside your body when they happen?

In this episode, we’ll:
✅ Discuss how your body breathes with the help of your diaphragm and intercostal muscles
✅ Learn why nothing sucks in science (and how air really gets into your lungs)
✅ Discover how a spasm in your diaphragm and closing of your vocal cords creates that “hic!” sound
✅ Talk about some common hiccup triggers (like eating too fast or spicy foods)
✅ Share a wild fun fact about the longest ever case of hiccups

Hiccups might be annoying, but they’re also a fascinating window into how your body works!

Have a question you’d like me to answer on the podcast? You can send it in anytime through our website—your question might be featured in a future episode!

🎧 Tune in now to explore the science of hiccups

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If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

Click HERE to visit our site and get activity pages to support today's learning!

Welcome to What’s Happening Inside Me? In this episode, we will go on a journey to discover how our bones heal when they break.

Last week, we kicked off the season with a special guest, Lea, one of Sloane’s school friends with a broken arm. Now, we’re diving into one of the body’s coolest secrets: how do bones repair themselves after a fracture?

In this episode, you’ll learn:
🦴 The difference between a fracture and a broken bone
🔨 The 4 steps of bone healing
💪 Why rest, casts, and time are so important for strong healing

We’ll break it down step by step in a way that’s fun, silly, and easy to understand — but still packed with real science! 

 This episode is perfect for kids ages 4–12, but parents and teachers will love it too. Whether you’re listening at home, on a drive, or in the classroom, you’ll walk away with a whole new appreciation for your bones.

✨ Don’t forget — each episode comes with free coloring pages and activities to keep the learning going! Grab yours HERE 
💡 And if you’re enjoying the show, please leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and review so more families can discover the fun of learning together!

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If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨

Click HERE to get FREE activity sheets to go along with today's episode.

🦴✨ We all know we have bones—but did you know they’re some of the busiest parts of your body? In this episode, Sloane brings her friend Lea (who just broke her arm!) to ask what bones actually do. Spoiler: they do way more than just sit there! 

Join us as we discover how bones…
🔹 Protect our soft organs like armor
🔹 Give our body structure (so we’re not a squishy pile!)
🔹 Work with muscles to help us move
🔹 Store minerals (like calcium) and energy
🔹 Act like blood factories, making millions of new blood cells every second!

By the end, you’ll see your skeleton in a whole new way! 👩‍👧

 Hosted by Audra (a PA in emergency medicine) and her 8-year-old daughter Sloane
🎧 What’s Happening Inside Me? is the podcast where kids (and their grownups) learn the amazing science of our bodies—together.

👉 Don’t forget to join us next week when we talk about broken bones and how they heal!

🌐 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com for FREE activities and extras that go with each episode.
⭐ If you’re enjoying the show, please leave us a good rating and share it with friends—it really helps more families find us!

💡 Enjoying What’s Happening Inside Me?
If you loved this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review—it helps more curious kids and families discover the show! 🌟 👉 Visit us at WHIMpodcast.com to:

• Send in your own question for a future episode
• Grab free learning resources
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Thanks for listening, learning, and exploring what’s happening inside YOU! 🩺✨