The Slow Mo Guys "Magnets at 187,000FPS": science, properly slowed down
Genuinely mesmerising slow motion with just enough physics to make it stick.
Gav and Dan smash powerful magnets together and film it at a speed the human eye simply can't process normally. It's the Slow Mo Guys at their best: a simple premise, gorgeous high-speed camera work, and just enough explanation to make the "why" as interesting as the "wow". Good, steady, curiosity-led viewing for a science-minded child.
At a glance
Will it actually calm them down?
Decent on Rainy days, absorbing enough to lift a flat mood a littleScores measure how reliably this video moves a child toward a settled, regulated state. In the Piko app, kids tell us their weather and we do the matching automatically.
Which kids will love it?
Why it works
The format is straightforward: something collides, the camera captures it at 187,000 frames per second, and the result is slowed down to reveal detail invisible at normal speed. Our review flags sudden sounds around the impacts themselves, worth knowing if your child startles easily, but otherwise the pacing (4.5 second average shot) is comfortably unhurried for a science channel.
What lifts it above pure spectacle is the explanation: Gav and Dan talk through what's actually happening to the magnets on impact, so there's real physics content sitting inside the wow-factor. It rewards a curious child who likes knowing how things work, not just watching them happen.
It sits squarely in the middle of our regulation scale, neither actively calming nor actively hyping. That's an honest reflection of the content: absorbing and interesting, without being either soothing or riling anyone up.
When to reach for it
- The curious scientist. Real physics explanation alongside the spectacle, good for a child who always asks why.
- A steady, absorbing watch. Not calming exactly, but even-keeled, a solid choice when energy is already moderate.
- Screen time that sparks a question. Good conversation starter about magnetism, cameras, or slow motion itself.
Sensory & SEN notes
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Questions parents ask
Will the impact sounds startle my child?
Possibly. Our review flags sudden sounds around the magnet collisions as the main sensory feature, worth a heads up for a child who's sound-sensitive, though nothing in the video is designed to be alarming.
Is this actually educational, or just spectacle?
Genuinely both. Gav and Dan explain what's happening to the magnets on impact, so there's real physics content, not just slow-motion visuals for their own sake.
What age suits this best?
Our scoring points to older children, roughly 8 to 11, who appreciate the high production value and can follow the explanation. Very young children may find the impact sounds a bit much.
Is it calming or energising?
Neither strongly, it's a genuinely neutral watch on our regulation scale. Absorbing and interesting rather than soothing or hyping.
40+ checks per video, with a final pass from the review desk · Scored 17 July 2026 · We do not host videos; playback is via YouTube's official embed.