Discount Geoworld Ice Age Excavation Kit - Cave Bear Skeleton

Customer Ratings:

We've had both Geoworld and 4M excavation kits, and both have their pros and cons. The geokits are definitely easier to excavate, so I recommend them over the 3M kits for kids with a shorter attention span or younger kids. The Geoworld kits are basically colored chalk with bones embedded in them; the 4M kits are a harder substance, so more effort is needed to get the parts out.

My kids (8 and 9) both agreed that the Geoworld models are more realistic and they liked them better. We did have a hard time putting the Geoworld models together so that they would stay together (especially the cave bear.) Once together it seems the 4M models stay together a little better, however neither are for anything but display, and don't like to be handled.

All in all, I would recommend either brand for a fun afternoon project (takes about an hour with clean-up.) Also, these kits are pretty messy newspaper or craft paper under everything is helpful. Also note that the 4M kits are made of a gritty substance that can be abrasive to tabletops, so definitely use something under them if you're working on a nice table.

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This is a nifty kit that let's you dig the bones out of a plaster-like matrix and snap them together without glue. This model reinforces the idea that this is really all we actually know about these extinct creatures-their bones.

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It's okay. Messy fun for kids. Doesn't stay together, but a little bit of glue fixes that. Now we need the mammoth.

Honest reviews on Geoworld Ice Age Excavation Kit - Cave Bear Skeleton

My son, who just turned 7, loved this digging kit. Personally, I wouldn't think it would be all that exciting, but as soon as he opened his gift he wanted to "start digging."

As mentioned in Heather Doane's excellent review, the ABS plastic bones are in some sort of chalk-like matrix that is quite easy to dig the bones out of. We've had a couple of "gemstone mining" kits that were much harder and really made my 10-year-old work over a few days. The blue chalk matrix in this Geoworld kit is probably well-suited to younger kids or anyone with limited patience.

I didn't explicitly time the activity, but it probably took 40 minutes to free up all the plastic bones.

After excavation but before assembly, we had to clean the "chalk" out of various holes. The tools they give you don't seem adequate for the job, but we found that an un-bent paperclip and a similar piece of stiff wire worked well.

My son dug out the bones by himself, but needed help assembling them. Even I couldn't squeeze hard enough to get some of the pegs fully seated in the receiving holes, but it didn't matter -it stays together and looks fine. Overall I felt that it went together pretty well (with my help).

BTW, we found that the pelvis could be put on more than one way, so check the instructions and the box carefully if yours comes out in a radically different pose. Also, the skull assembles around the ball on the neck -it doesn't look like it would work to try to snap the ball joint into the completed skull.

A plastic base is included, which worked well for our model.

My son is very pleased with the result and says it's really cool!