I'm notorious for making the kids put away gifts for later. You know, when you put it out of sight, hopefully out of mind, until they reach a point of such boredom, it's time to re-gift it to themselves!
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For Christmas, my kids each received a gift from a friend - a Do-It-Yourself Science Kit, suited to each age - and these were one of those things I suggested would be good to hold for later. Bailey's kit experimented with colour and Josh's, with germs. I swear that almost every single day since Christmas they've nagged me to use those kits and my reply has always been: "wait until a rainy PA day [or summer day], you'll be glad I made you wait".
Today started with some pretty heavy rain. Not afraid of little rain, they tore outside to be with friends while there was a lull in the downpour. But what a bunch of disappointed faces when they couldn't play outside anymore by 11 am, because it was coming down too heavily again! That's when we decided today was finally a great day to crack open the first of those coveted kits: "My First Science Kit" by Scientific Explorer.
The box promises you will "explore the science of color" and "grow gobs of colored crystals". Sounds so exciting when you're almost 6!
Essentially, using harmless food-dye coloured water they mixed colours in a variety of ways according to the "experiments" outlined in the booklet. With plastic test tubes (that featured screw-on tops!) , kid-safe pipettes and plastic mixing trays and cups, it was easy to let them go and not worry. Nothing was going to break, and nothing would be stained forever...well, likely wouldn't be stained forever... so they just got to have fun with it and learn without realizing it in a way that inspired their curiosity and had them looking for answers to their own questions.
The kit offered 9 different experiment activities that involved everything from the fun of mixing the colour (baking soda/colour tablets in water made it fizz), visual experiments, physical experiments (included crystals in kit for a souvenir of the fun) and more - all in age appropriate ways. The kids had a lot of fun with it as was evidenced by their laughter and excited "look at mine" exchanges.
So, in addition to being kid-approved, I'd have to give it a thumbs up from this parent, too. When I did my homework on the item and the company (after we'd already spent the afternoon having fun with it), I discovered I'm not the first parent to give it a thumbs up! This item has earned recognition from some well-known parent review organizations - cool!
At first impression, I thought the contents were a bit cheesy but I warmed up shortly after - the tools are disposables (I still don't like that part but I'm sure the set is designed to be disposable -shudder) and at first read, the experiments seemed too simple for the age of kids they suggested (4-8 yrs). I will be honest that I don't foresee this kit offering your child more than one afternoon's entertainment, but I also don't expect that it was designed for more.
The kit included everything except minor things like liquid soap and a cotton swab to do all the experiments. It also included 12 of the colour tabs (4 each of 3 primary colours), with a suggestion to cut the tabs in half to make them last longer! (a company that doesn't want to gouge you making you buy expensive refills? huh?!) There were plenty of colour tabs to do every experiment in the book at least once. In our group were a 6 & 7 year old girl and a 9 & 10 year old boy - and we still had plenty for everyone to have fun and exhaust their "scientific" questions.
When I asked the kids to rate this activity, here's how their responses averaged out:
Play value = 4 out of 5 stars - good fun
Time commitment = 4 out of 5 stars - can walk away without negative consequence
Lived up to expectations = 4 out of 5 stars! - no surprises, but no complaints
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars!
And, best of all.....they were glad I made them wait to use it! I love being right!
Until next time: Inspire...imagine...invent!
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