Here in Maine weve had more rainy days than bright days recently. That suggests weve been wearing our rainboots a lot. Yesterday, as I was trying to encourage my children to use their rainboots instead of sneakers my four-year-old asked “whats rubber?” To which I replied that its a waterproof product used in boots to keep our feet dry. That, obviously, triggered her to ask where it originates from. I discussed to her that it originates from trees sort of like maple syrup comes from trees. And now she wants us to grow a rubber tree. That triggered another line of questioning about why we cant grow rubber trees in Maine..

On an associated note, heres a short TED-Ed lesson on how the rubber glove was created.

Maddie Moate has a video for you if you have a kid in your life who is likewise curious about where rubber comes from. In Where Does Rubber Come From? Madddie visits a forest in Thailand to find out how rubber trees are tapped and how the sap is utilized to make items like rubber boots..