Science Kit Review and Giveaway from Toys and Games Online

Hello all! My name is Donna, and my crew and I are looking forward to helping out here at Sara's Toy Box with reviews and fun -- I have four little girls who are all curious and creative ladies.

Recently we had the pleasure to review the Space Exploration Kit ($31.40) from Thames and Kosmos that was sent to us from Toys and Games Online


As a homeschooling family we're always on the look out for interesting, fun and easily accessible science kits that are also reasonably priced! The prices at Toys and Games Online for this science kit were similar to what I'd found elsewhere.

We are already familiar with the brand Thames and Kosmos and their science kits because we ordered their Chem 2000 kit for our oldest daughter's chemistry lab this year. She's starting 6th grade and she needed some serious science – that science kit is going to work out GREAT for her and for her sisters as they get older. I can tell already that it's well worth it.

The Space Exploration Kit is recommended for kids aged 8 and up.

We had to do this review over the course of a few days because there are just SO many things to do in this kit. There's still more we need to cover, but we're going to have to wait until it gets dark earlier so we can see some stars before bedtime!

Today you'll get to meet my twin daughters ... they are goofy 8 year olds who aspire to be on Mythbusters when they grow up ... Rachel and Mara -- this was their favorite constellation they learned about ... Gemini, the twins.



We began our cool science kit by reading some directions. They're rather easy to follow but there are a number experiments that require adult supervision. And, if left to their own devices my girls might not actually learn WHY something happens; it's all the better if I'm there to get them to listen to an explanation as well.

We put together a simple telescope and tried it out – learned about how the lenses work …



Then we put together a pretty nifty model of the solar system that now hangs in the girls' room below the ceiling that already had glow in the dark stars all over it … We talked about the phases of the moon and watched it changed in by putting together a little flip book.



A few days later we got some free time to open up the kit again, this time we got to learn about rockets, which I couldn't get a good picture of – that little thing really took off! The girls also loved being able to go check the time on the sundial and learn about some constellations – we've hung the pictures of them in their window and they're hoping when they can have a nice starry night they can find some constellations all on their own!



Want to go back to school with your own space exploration kit? Sara's Toy Box is giving away a $40 gift card to Toys and Games Online. To enter, go to their website and pick which awesome educational games or educational toys you'd get for the little scholar in your life. Then come back here and tell us what you would pick and why; add some contact info in your comment and we'll choose a winner next week! If posting your contact info makes you uncomfortable, you can also enter by sending us an email or a message on Facebook.

Our friend Emma: Scientific Super Sleuth

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Dr. Thompson. He's a scientist who has come up with a line of science kits for children ages 9 to 12. The science kits let children learn about what real-life scientists do by asking them to solve mysteries. The young scientists are given links to a secret web site, so they can check their results along the way and learn if they've solved the mystery correctly. It sounded like a great idea. I love to encourage science, but Arielle and Linnea are just too young. I asked our friend Emma and her mom to help us out. They wrote the following review:



The other day Secret Science Team member, Emma, got a kit from Ectropy. It seems they needed a super sleuth like Emma to do a little case work for them.

Emma carefully opened the box. It contained all the evidence and the supplies needed to solve the mystery -- find out who was behind a devious plot to steal, duplicate and sell pirated video games!



Emma and her two assistants took this case rather seriously -- they followed the directions and recorded their findings in the chart that was provided -- they even carefully returned the samples to their little baggies hoping to "be scientists" again.



When she began the project, Emma thought that she'd do one or two of the experiments/observations....





but then couldn't resist doing another,



and then another,



and then another,



until she had completed the whole kit and found her results --



we went to the website provided and confirmed that she was correct! Oh the joy!



Scientist Emma wants to share this with some science loving friends of hers -- it was a lot of fun.

Emma is 10 years old and in the 5th grade, her assistants are 8 years old and in the 2nd grade. They would likely have been able to do most of this experiment on their own, but they lack a certain *carefulness* that is required. I reminded them often about not contaminating their samples.

The Secret Science Team Missions cost $34.99. All of the products Ectropy offers are designed and selected to meet National Science Education Standards. This makes them great for home school families. The Secret Science Team line is specially developed for grades 4 -7 to encourage scientific exploration, analytical reasoning, and literature. Ectropy also offers science consulting, experiment design, and science kit building services to help home school families meet NSE standards.