Best Zometool - Pioneer Kit Deals

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I've always been fascinated by geometric shapes and

symmetry, so the Zome System was right up my alley.

I bought it for a big kid--me!

I also recommend getting the book "Zome Geometry",

which provides exercises, directions, and "challenges"

to really get you experimenting and thinking

analytically. Apparently Amazon only offers the

Pioneer Kit, and I noticed many reviewers suggesting

the purchase of multiple kits. Hopefully, Amazon (Toys

R Us) will start offering some of the larger kits;

beyond the Pioneer kit (121 pieces), you can also find

the 242-piece Adventurer kit, all the way up to the

1308-piece Advanced Math Kit (which also includes

advanced "green" struts for constructing truly fantastic

shapes).

[[UPDATE : Amazon now offers the larger "Explorer" Kit as well!]]

Zome allows you to build an endless variety of figures:

pyramids, cubes, prisms, dodecahedrons (12-sided ball),

and far beyond--whatever your imagination comes up with,

while giving you the chance to learn geometry in a

"hands-on" way.

I highly recommend this "toy" for kids, teachers, or

anyone fascinated with geometric figures.

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This is the kind of toy you steal from your kids. It's incredibly absorbing. I've seen chemists make fantastically elaborate models with this stuff. More interesting than Lego. You'll want to get more than one set to make bigger models.

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We got this kit for our son, the Lego freak! He's HOOKED ON ZOME!!! We can't wait to get additional kits and build even bigger and cooler things. I highly recommend this for anyone and everyone -solo or family fun. ALL THUMBS UP!

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I grew up playing with LEGOs and Erector set, and Zome are just as cool. Think of them as a scientific update to Tinkertoy. I first bought Zomes (this set) last Christmas for my 7 year old daughter. I saw them in a science store and thought they looked like fun. Before wrapping them up I decided give them a quick try and was instantly hooked. I stopped playing four hours later. My daughter loves them, too. We play with them regularly and do not grow tired of this toy.

Warning: I had to buy more pieces because there were not enough parts for really complicated models, and for octahedrons you need an expansion set. This kit is a good starting point.

Your imagination is only limited by the number of parts you have. Zome is fun for anyone who likes You can build very intricate designs, or you can build simple things. I have great fun creating molecular models, imitating crystal structures, placing [buckey] balls inside of balls inside of balls, and fractal-type three-dimensional designs. My daughter usually builds houses and other structures, and lots of stars. We have well over a thousand parts now and frequently build objects that encompass the living room.

For more information I recommend you check out . This is also the best place to get more parts as you can buy specific pieces by the pound, 'naked' kits (without the packaging, saves money), glow-in-the-dark kits, DVD's and books full of building projects, and special pieces only available from their site.

The sticks are fairly resilient and will last for years as long as you are gentle removing them from the spheres. The spheres will last forever, and you can get other colored spheres if you want to build molecular models.

Zome is a great product, and anyone over the age of six or so can play.

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Once again in this kit ZomeTool fails to provide an adequate number of pieces to build all the models in the enclosed booklets. This is a real problem for all who purchase anything less than the most expensive $119 Kit, which itself requires additional $40 kits to be able to make more than one model at a time. The partial kits (DNA, Buckyball, Bubble, etc) sold by ZomeTool are the rough equivalent of selling a set of Lincoln Logs with only 7 logs, half a door and 3 roof tiles: not a complete cabin. This is true of all the smaller kits. To be Educational for K-12, a toy has to have enough pieces. These simply don't and the Seller should be ashamed, in my opinion. The affordable kits are simply incomplete, and the larger Kits are too expensive. After all, we're talking about injection-molded plastic here, folks, not gold-plated platiniridium or GaAs wafers. Disappointing . . . . .

Reviews of Learning Resources Geometry Template - K-8

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List Price: $7.32
Sale Price: $5.49
Today's Bonus: 25% Off

My five-year-old and eight-year-old grandsons love this template. Not only have they quickly learned to draw designs using plane figures, but they've also found out how to make solid figures. It gives me a great opportunity to teach them the names of the figures.

The plastic is thick enough that it is not easily broken.

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This template has a very good variety of shapes that can be used to draw 2-D and 3-D figures. The best I've found!

Best Deals for Learning Resources Geometry Template - K-8

My daughter needed this for school. I couldn't find it in store in our area so purchased through Amazon. Perfect for what she needs.

Reviews of LeapPad: Leap 2 Reading - "Arthur and the Lost Diary" Interactive

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My 6 1/2 year old daughter loves Leap Pad but be aware that when you jump to the blue level, the entire pages are no longer read aloud (which was quite a disappointment to her). The pen will read the words 1 by 1, but not the whole page. The pages are fairly long and filled with text, yet the questions are almost too easy. Early readers may tire ofr reading independently. It would have been nice if the Leap Pad could have read the pages. There are limited activities compared to the orange (lower) level.

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Reviews of Sight Words In A Flash - Set 2; Grades 1-2; no. EP-2316

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List Price: $11.99
Sale Price: $10.86
Today's Bonus: 9% Off

I wanted a lot of sight words so I could continue with my kids for a long time with it. Most sets maybe have one or two sets with 30 or so words. This is a great set and each box has a lot to work with. They are already hole punched so you can put them on a ring which is really handy. The only drawback is I wish they used one side to put the sight word in a sentence. That would have been much more helpful than the writing side which I don't really get at all. Overall a great set to buy.

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Discount Anatex Transportation Combo

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I was not sure how this product would hold up to daily abuse from children in our dealership play area, but after a couple of months it still looks good. All th moveable parts have stayed attached so we do not have to deal with small toys scattered about every day. So far, we are very pleased and the kids seem to enjoy playing with it.

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Best Budget BuckyTM Skeleton (4th Quality) CH10D4 Deals

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List Price: $175.95
Sale Price: $112.70
Today's Bonus: 36% Off

This is the best skeleton for Halloween decorating. Very realistic. However a little heavy. Really a great product.

I took my buckey and rubbed on some gell stain and then wiped it off before it dried. It had a great effect making it look

old and a scary. You can even cover it with stockings and liquid latex tare the stockings spread on some latex and

after it dries spread on a gell stain. It will make it look like a real corpse.

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4th quality Bucky's are just that 4th quality.

Broken ribs, in pieces, etc.

So, a little pricey but acceptable for my Halloween purposes.....dancing skeleton ghosts!

Best Deals for Budget BuckyTM Skeleton (4th Quality) CH10D4

Although I expected the product, being 4th quality, to have minor defects, there were numerous defects, including a defective fitting of a thigh bone into the pelvic bone. It was an effort simply to position the skeleton in a sitting position on a bench.

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As many of the other reviews point out, this is not a high-quality item, but then again it's not advertised as such. I received exactly what I ordered a fourth quality not-for-educational use plastic life-sized skeleton. It arrived with a broken collar bone and a few screws loose or missing, but I was able to tighten the loose screws without a problem. While moving the skeleton, it's easy for all the hardware to loosen, so you have to be diligent about tightening the screws to make sure bones don't fall off. The plastic is OK, albeit discolored and has some sharp edges from the mold, but it held together mostly. The only real problem I had was one of the leg bone screwholes was too close to the edge of the hipbone and the plastic on the hipbone broke, leaving me with a fractured hip.

My purpose was to use this item as a prop in my photography, and it was perfect for that purpose. Carrying the item was not easy as it's pretty heavy (as others have said) and gets heavier the longer you carry it. Also, the edges of the bones are pretty sharp and dig into your flesh. But, depending on what you're intentions are, it's a good buy for the money. I would've loved to have had a real medical-use skeleton, but I couldn't justify spending the money when it was only going to be a photo prop.

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I wanted an inexpensive yet quality skeleton for a Halloween project. After reading some of the reviews I was sceptical about purchasing one of these 4th quality skeletons. Much to my surprise, it exceeded my expectations. It is indeed 4th quality in that there are broken ribs and color imperfections throughout. There were unfinished edges from the molds the plastic bones were cast from. It was packaged well and all of the hardware was present with some minor assembly. Nothing like the reviews posted. If you want top quality, say for anatomical study, pay top price. If you are looking for something as a decoration or stage prop, this is it.

Reviews of Baby Bear Counters (102 ct.)

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List Price: $12.99
Sale Price: $11.40
Today's Bonus: 12% Off

I purchased these for homeschooling along with some pattern cards. I was anxious to get them in and when they arrived I was kind of disappointed that these are only Baby Bears, not a mix of three different sizes with Mama Bear and Papa Bear. The pattern cards require bears of three different sizes so I guess I'll have to order a different set. Be aware that if you are wanting the assorted size bears, this product only contains the smallest size bears. I would have purchased a different set if the description for this item had noted that.

The bears themselves are very cute and durable looking. Even though they are not what I wanted, I know my kids are going to go nuts over them.

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My kids love these. We use them with subtration, addition and patterning. Great for homeschoolers! We use these daily with their homework.

Best Deals for Baby Bear Counters (102 ct.)

Before I had my son I used to teach special ed and preschool. I used these counters at all my schools. I think all teachers do. They are just the greatest. So when i found them on amazon i had to buy them for my soon to be three year old. who likes to count and separate them by color. He absolutely loves them. When I tell him we have to put them away he has a fit. Great buy for your money also!

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We used these for Kindergarten & 1st grade counters. The bears work perfectly & the kids love them. The colors are very vibrant and they are not too small. Thanks

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We were using flash cards, but my 4 year old wasn't showing interest. We started using the bears and they hold his attention since they make counting seem like a game.

Best Magnetic Poetry Educational Products - Magnetic Poetry Metal Easel Deals

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Love magnetic poetry and this is great to display everyone around you their thoughts

We are writing a story at work....it is hysterical...team building!!!

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I have not bothered with the "poetry" letters and use the board (it is a bit like an easel) on my desk for messages and notes held by magnets. For this purpose it works well. The metal is sufficiently thick and solid that it supports itself it is not flimsy ; it will not bend in normal use. Very nice; I am well pleased.

Reviews of Geoworld Jurassic Coelophysis Hunters Science Kit

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This is a new dino for me. I have never seen or heard of him before. This model is small and very colorful His features are well designed and it is easy to see how he remained alive so long. His tiny mouth is open revealing a lot of sharp teeth. He probably was the vultures of his era.(cleaning up left overs). He is a favorite dino of my grandsons.

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Review of Uncle Milton Wild Walls Dolphin Voyage Room Decor

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List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $18.74
Today's Bonus: 38% Off

My 9 year old loved this the minute it arrived. She insisted on putting the decals up herself. They easily peel and stick multiply times not like some decals that one wrong move and it's all twisted up around itself. After lots of moving and rearranging she finally got them where she wanted them.

I helped her put the activator up and she uses it nightly. There are 3 settings but she loves the 2nd one that has ocean noise and lights. This is the perfect all in one for a night light and white noise machine and you get the added benefit of the fish.

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This is a really cool add to my tween's room, but I had to read the instructions to really "get" it.

The first aspect of the kit is the easiest to explain. The dolphins and other animals themselves are decals you stick on the wall. I do not know why I thought at first it would be a light that showed the animals, but it is actually better with just the decals. This means that the "toy" can be interactive even without the light. I strongly suggest putting the light where you would like it, and then making sure the light illuminates all of the animals. Our light was hung quite low because my daughter has a futon and she wanted to be able to turn it on during bed. You do not NEED to illuminate all of the animals for it to look really cool, but I felt it looked better if it lit up all of the animals. The decals themselves were good quality, and went up really easily.

The other aspect of the kit is the light and sound activator. It does not NEED to be hung on the wall, so if you just want to put the decals up, and use the light and sound activator as something they keep in the bed, you can. We hung it at futon level so my daughter could turn it off an on when in bed. You can also remove it easily, if you child wants to do so. We liked the level we hung it at, and it made for a good light show. The light spread out nicely and was bright enough for a soft nightlight.

There are 4 settings to the sound/light activator. The first, to me, is a little scary for a younger child. I do not know that my tween ever leaves it on that setting at night, as there are animal noises that it makes. She DOES like to play this in her room when she is studying, and it is actually quite fun.

The second sound setting only makes ocean noises, not any animal noises. This is perfect for going to sleep and I find it quite soothing. It does turn off after 20 minutes, which is the perfect amount of time for us. The 20 minute setting is NOT adjustable (it can only be on for 20 minutes unless turned off manually earlier than that).

The third setting is just lights. This is nice if your child does not like sound, and just wants an extra light.

The final setting is off. If you are like me, it may take you until you read the instructions to know that you need to hold the button for 2 seconds to turn it off.

We have had it installed for a couple of weeks, and the batteries are still good. We love the fact that it does not need to (and cannot be) plugged in, as all of my daughter's outlets are blocked or being used. This uses batteries, which are included when you purchase it.

Overall, my 10 year old daughter likes this product, and I expect to get much enjoyment from it in years to come!

Cheap VTech - Brilliant Creations Beginner Laptop

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I just purchased this as a Christmas present...so as of yet my daughter has not used it. However, I have checked it out and I didn't find anything wrong with the quality. It is pixelated as I would imagine any product at this price would be. However, I didn't find it distracting and in referenence to the earlier review I didn't feel it was dangerous. If you have any concerns...you can watch the sample video, it shows how it is pixelated. I didn't have any grand expectation that this was going to be close to my own personal laptop. This is a toy with several learning features. My daughter is 2; this is a 4-7 toy. I purchased it over others because it looks like a laptop, it has a color LCD and it has features that I thought my daughter, at 2, would be able to use with some assistance. I also like that this is a computer my daughter can potentially use for years to come, as there are many learning games with varying degrees of difficulty.

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A great introduction to a computer. Maybe my son will leave mine alone.

Got it for my son's 4th birthday. At first the auto scrolling drove me nuts. My son had a hard time deciding on an answer and pushing the button before it switched to the next option. But he got faster and it is improving his fine motor skills a lot.

He has hit a glitch occasionally when he goes into an activity. If he's supposed to hit enter and hits a different key, sometimes the enter key won't work. He then has to exit the activity and go back in again. It's not a big deal and he's been able to navigate it without much trouble.

As far as the volume, I too am not pleased with it. We only take it out during his little brother's nap time so it's not too irksome. A trick that I have done with other loud toys is to fill the speaker holes with glue, Elmer's works just fine.

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This is a great entertainment and educational tool for the children. This is the second one I bought, one for my daughter when she was young and this one for my niece. Just wish it came with a bigger screen but for the price, what do you expect?

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My 2 year old loves playing on HER laptop. She is kind of rough with it, and this product has lasted through the abuse of being jumped on, the keys beat, and being knocked off of chairs multiple times without any issues in the gameplay or broken keys.

It would be way more fun for a slightly older child that could figure out how to play all the games it offers. My child just likes hitting buttons and seeing what happens. I love the color display, as I thought it was black and white when purchased. I would definitely recommend this product to parents of toddlers and preschoolers.

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I don't know what people expect from a $30 kid learning laptop, but this thing has been awesome for my 20 month old. Of course, she just likes pushing buttons and making it say letter names at this age, but it's interesting enough to keep her off our desktop, which was the primary goal. I'm sure she'll be able to actually use the learning games when she's a little older.

I, too, see no problems with the pixelation. Works great, has been pretty impervious to little hands banging it around so far, and isn't overly annoying, all of which make a pretty good kid toy.

Hasbro Playskool T.J. Bearytales - Night of a Bear-zillion Stars Reviews

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My husband and I got this for our granddaughters for their birthday. Their mother had purchased the TJ bearytales bear

several years ago for our oldest grandchild and he had outgrown it. Our daughter's girls love TJ bearytales bear so much that

we decided to purchase more books and cassettes for them to listen to and they loved this story.

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The Amazing Squishy Brain Reviews

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A great little model for kids. Put together pieces of the brain inside the skull. Some pieces may seem flimsy, but no more so than a model car, if you have put them together before. educational and fun.

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Alfred 44-0441 Masters of Technic, Level 1 Reviews

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List Price: $14.88
Sale Price: $11.02
Today's Bonus: 26% Off

It's a really great book for people who are just beginning piano for the first time or if you're returning to the piano after a while from not playing it. It's great because it uses well known classical songs as a teaching device. It's also nice because the exercises range from short few measures to length of a page. Another great aspect is that it doesn't focus on one type of learning. You learn anything from control to fingering. It really is a great teaching device either for a class or even if you just want to brush up on some piano.

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Best Pan for Gold Science Kit Deals

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My kids and I recently had an opportunity to try out a few different versions of these kids science kits, and this one was tons of fun. This Pan for Gold kit is well suited for kids who like spending time doing hands-on projects. My daughter is the kind that can easily spend an hour sitting, carefully looking though things. She loves "projects" so this was just perfect for her. My son has a shorter attention span, so the Real Bug Digging Kit was better suited for him. He knew exactly how many things he was looking for, and had fun finding them. This kit, you never know how much or little gold you will find, and my daughter loved the hunt.

Almost everything you will need is included in this kit. They provide a pan for "panning" the gold, the sand to search through, tweezers, a mini magnifying glass and a little vial/container in which you store your treasure. There are included booklets that explain how to pan for the gold, and also some education materials on the history of panning for gold. There is even a large chunk of fools gold included, which will appeal to younger gold prospectors out there using this kit. About the only thing you will need in addition to the kit is some water and a bucket or tray in which to swish/pour the water into from the pan. We used a large cake pan, and switched out the water a few times as it got cloudy. There are 2 packets of sand included in the kit, with one packet having slightly more and larger gold nuggets than the other. This is the kit you start with, to get the idea of how panning works.

This kits is a terrific idea for a kids gift. It's a great way to make sure you're not buying someone something they already have, or are likely getting from anyone else. This kit was very age appropriate for my 11 year old daughter. I could see kids from about 8-9 years old, up to 11-12 enjoying this set. Any younger and they may not have the patience to enjoy the panning process. My daughter spent about 2 hours working on it before she felt she had found everything there was to find.

A sample of this product was provided by the manufacturer for an unbiased and honest review. My daughter had a lot of fun working with this kit, and I would high recommend this to anyone who's looking for a unique kids Christmas or Birthday gift!

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It just so happens that my family has been gold panning a lot lately -real gold panning at the rivers and streams in the wild. I was interested to see how Dr. Cool's Gold Panning Kit would mimic real gold panning.

Impressive. The kit comes with a gold pan that's about the same size as one of our small gold pans. We will be adding it to our collection of pans and using it on our future gold panning excursions. That's how authentic the gold pan is.

There's one small bag of beginner sand and another small bag of prospector sand. You'll need to provide the large plastic tub of water.

Instructions are quite accurate. Gold panning takes lots of practice, easier said than done; but the basic idea is to agitate the pan so the gold moves down to the bottom and the sand moves up. Wash by letting it float over the pan's ridges, repeat.

My son did all the panning. He said the prospector sand has more pyrite than the beginner sand. The nuggets were big enough to pick out with plastic tweezers (included). Other than the pyrite, that was probably the least authentic part of the gold panning. Generally, we get flakes, not nuggets, and they're not usually big enough to pick up with tweezers. The kit comes with a vial to store the pyrite, the same type we use for real gold flakes.

I panned the sand after my son was done. I didn't find gold, but there was black sand and more pyrite. Pyrite, black sand, and gold are often found together, especially black sand. No black sand, no gold. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those little bags of sand have specks of real gold!

Even though the children were initially reluctant to pan for gold ("it's just pyrite"), they did enjoy this kit. It feels just like gold panning, except we were in our own backyard. My son was more successful than he is with real gold panning, and that did make his day.

In case you're wondering, pyrite only looks like gold when it's reflects the sun. Otherwise, it looks more like silver.

Happy panning!

This product was provided for review by Discover with Dr. Cool.

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I bought this kit for my 10-year-old son, and he had a blast with it. He practiced his gold panning over and over, and now he thinks he's ready to go prospecting! The Adventure Guide booklet that came with the kit was really informative--lots of historical info about gold and gold mining. We both learned a lot. Plus there was also an Activity Book that had really fun games and puzzles. All in all, I felt I got a lot for my money. Not just a one-time experience.

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This kit is mediocre at best. The size of the Pyrite nuggets in the kit I received were considerably smaller and less in number than that shown on the box. In short, they were very hard to find the only few that were there. I do not recommend this.

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This kit requires you to fill up your own large basin with water and add a small packet of sand/gold dust to it. It wasn't much fun for me or my son. His interest in it lasted only a short while and I'd rather spend that amount of money on something that he'll enjoy longer.