The description mentions light bulbs, buzzers, and circuit boards--ignore that, as none of these items have anything to do with this kit.
My 6 year old, who had no previous interest in volcanoes, has really enjoyed this kit over the past week. We are also reading the Magic School Bus chapter book "Voyage to the Volcano" and the two items go very well together. We home-school, so I'm supplementing this kit with extra activities from my own ideas and other non-fiction books and websites in order to create a fun "extra credit" science unit.
She's excited, we're both learning, and I was OK with the price of this item. So far it's got 5 stars. It loses half a star because of false advertising. It really bothers me when products like this have embellished marketing pictures/descriptions. The differences between the picture and the actual contents are subtle, but it still bothers me. The paintbrush is not longer than the paint box, the pipette is shaped differently than pictured, the volcano form is shipped in a flattened state and is thus not the same shape as pictured, and the second test tube (pictured inside the volcano form) is the same size as the test tube pictured in the rack--much smaller than the "crater" of the volcano form.
It loses another half star for the little details that aren't quite right. The pipette doesn't work at all. The red food dye provided is powdered but instructions refer to "drops of food coloring". The provided paints are ineffective for painting the volcano form. The goggles are unnecessary. The instructions provided do not produce a very impressive "eruption".
The product is very durable and we really like the poster and activity guide. When we're done with the kit I'll pack it back up and keep it for when the other kids are ready for it (the consumables are easy and cheap to replace). For a 6 year old, it's good exposure to many volcano-related topics, but fully understanding most of the details is beyond her interest at this time (when she's a bit older, the details may be more interesting, but the activities would likely be too boring). We are both excited to try more Magic School Bus kits/books. I estimate that this time through we'll get about 5 hours of use from this kit, 75% of it with one-on-one adult supervision.
I am inspired to try the acids and bases kit, since the volcano eruption activities (which account for 4 of the 12 activities) are more chemistry than volcanology.
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I purchased this item for my 5-year old grandson who is VERY into volcanoes. He couldn't wait to make the lava flow.
Alas, we were able to get just a small amount of lava to come up over the top of the test tube. Only a drop or two actually came down the side of the volcano.
We tried three different times, following the instructions to the letter.
Maybe my baking soda or vinegar were 'old'?
Anyway, my grandson still enjoyed the gift and looked really cute with his safety goggles :)
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*This kit does not contain everything for the experiments.* Most science kits do not include common kitchen items, like vinegar or baking soda, which you do need for the experiments. My kids, 3-11, all enjoyed this kit. They've learned about different types of volcanos, lava, chemical reactions, the scientific method, and the value of taking accurate notes and readings. This kit puts the kid in charge of the experiment, letting them mix and try new things to their heart's content, which is wonderful and enhances learning. Today, for example, my kids learned, through trial and error, how to get the best reaction out of baking soda, water, soap, and vinegar. We'll be able to reuse most of the parts of this kit in the future, too.
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My 8 YO loves MSB and volcanos loved the poster, came with paints and lots of activiites. A great Xmas gift she keeps using!
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My 6 y/o son is currently fascinated with Volcanoes at school and it has become his #1 preferred school project subjects. I had purchased several kids Books and Magazines for him on Volcanoes but never an actual kit. Considering he enjoyed the Magic School Bus Volcano episode I figured this would be perfect for his first Volcano kit. Unfortunately this kit did not really live up to his expectations and he would get frustrated with this kit, although I do understand this kit has small print geared more towards adults for teaching children. I have not been able to work with him lately due to some business travel. My wife took up the chore of helping with the adult part but even then my wife had explained to me that this kit is about average on the adult friendly part and really below average on the child friendly part. This may seem confusing, but then that is the point since this kit is advertised as being geared towards 5 10 y/o children. So from re-reading the product description and taking in my wife's description of the actual product it does seem to me that they tried to get the best of both the adult and kids world here but came up short. I then ordered a simpler erupting volcano from another toy maker which my son enjoyed very much. Simplicity wins out again when trying to make a toy educational.
