"..but they understand so little of it that's it's indistinguishable from magic to them."
Yes, I know exactly how they feel. there was a time when I thought I understood it
"how do we get kids interested in the real article"
How about making connections between sci-fi and the real thing? Carl Sagan and many other scientists were, I believe, strongly inspired by sci-fi in their early years. Kids love a good story. It might excite them if they can see how these wonderful ideas might be realized through science - how many of these things can be real, if they try to make it so.
Then again, experiments may grab the attention of many kids. To predict an outcome, then to see that predicted outcome realized, as though by magic. Then to explain how it works - how isn't magic but science.
