Japace Earth Science Kits for Kids Age 4-6-8-12, Birthstone Gemstone Dig Kit, Break Open 2 Geodes, Crystal Growing Kit, Rock Collection Geology Kit for Kids, Gem Mining Kit Gifts for Boys and Girls

Great kit to occupy kids with an activity for a couple of hours. Be mindful of the mess this makes - the gypsum or the chalk that the geodes are in is very messy - so protect your floors/table etc.

The media could not be loaded. We started the Earth Science Kit; Birthstone dig kit-Break open Geodes-Crystal growing kit, that my daughter got for her 6th birthday. She loves all earth and animal sciences and I’ve been searching for stem kits that she can mostly do independently, with adult watch and help as needed and for all teaching moments. I would say it’s perfect for 5/6 years+ if you’re looking for the stem side of it! Younger is much fine too, with lots of help.The birthstone dig kit was pretty hard for my daughter, even with lots of water, so we ended up sticking the hard clay dirt containing all the stones in a container of water and it definitely started to help. The plastic included tools are a nice gesture but is hard and takes a lot of time, even submerging with water. She (and I) tried digging with just pouring some water for about 45mins with just a few rocks peeping out of the top. Then put it in the tub of water for about 15 minutes and we got one rock out! But then we tossed the water and put all the tools in the container and put the lid on it for another day to do some more. That was a great teaching moment saying that even geologists sometimes have to finish their work for the day and do their project some more another day!After cleaning up her dig, my daughter loved getting to check out what birthstone she found today with the included booklet and finding out she found her uncle’s birthstone, a February amethyst!For the price and all that it is, this is a great earth science stem kit for as young as 5+ (younger with lots of help) and up for a mini budding geologist!Cons:The included goggles truly are not worth it. They’re really big (and my daughter has a big face/head), and it broke and super thin plastic that would not protect kids eyes at all. We ended up just using sunglasses.The included tools, a hammer/knife, pick, brush, and magnifying glass, are plastic and aren’t very strong. Definitely doesn’t work with it dry. I would suggest submerging the hard clay dirt containing the stones in a container of water for about 20 mins before you start trying to dig the rocks out. For the geodes I would suggest adult help with a real hammer. The brush and magnifying glass is just fine for what it is.Other than that, no cons! My daughter loves it so I love it!

This is such a wonderful, complete kit that was so much fun for my son and I to do together.It was so neat to see his excitement when he located a different birthstone. He was especially happy to find his birthstone, Sapphire.The booklet included is not only education but has neat facts and information. I learned a lot about these stones too.It is messy and we had started inside but shortly afterwards beelined outside since I didn't relinquish the thought of cleaning up all the clay. It gets all over the place!I did have a cup of water nearby to soften the clay. Messier but even more fun (my son thought it was funny to try and get as much wet clay on me as possible!)It was funny how seriously my son took this too. He would frequently tap the clay with a hammer, nod his head and say "yep! There's a stone there!" He is 3 for reference. And he was determined to free the stones from the clay on his own. He actually got very good at using the provided tools, especially the plastic chisel and hammer.Some of the birthstones were very decently sized. There is a tiny corked glass bottle holding the 'diamond' which I thought was neat.We also grew a blue crystal which had instructions and the ingredients included. There is a pink crystal you can grow too but my son chose the blue. It took a few days and then took a more defined crystal shape. Very cool to watch it develop.And finally we cracked the geodes. My husband used a little too much strength and instead of splitting in half, they both exploded into pieces. They are beautiful inside! I'll include photos.This kit is 100% worth the price. Everything is high quality, there is a lot to discover and the time spent was memorable as well as valuable.

I got this for my son’s birthday, and he was so excited to find his birthstone. The gems were obviously fake colored glass. My son was very disappointed. This is a waste of money.

Loved the items in it, but the guide wasn't inside so had to keep coming to Amazon page for instructions and the 2 cups for growing crystals were cracked.