|
|
|
|
|
|
HomeToysLearning & EducationSmithsonian Crystal Growing with Color-Change Base |
|
|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 5 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Super Cool Crystals! Apr 01, 2010
By Robo Fun
This product is really amazing. You can either grow crystals in whatever colors you like by mixing the included dyes or grow clear crystals and watch them appear to change colors when they sit on the electronic base (it has a light inside that changes colors so the crystals appear to). The kit comes with this really cool poster that has information about crystals and pictures of them. I did this kit with my son and he seemed to really enjoy it. The only downside is that it takes about a week for the crystals to grow so you have to be patient.
9 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 An exercise in futility - parents bewarned Aug 27, 2011
By Brian Fuchs
The instruction manual is the downfall of this product.
It is so poorly written and inconsistent, with contradicting instructions, that the educational benefit is completely lost. What it really needs is a decent quality DVD that teaches about crystals and shows how to do the projects step by step.
This product is NOT something you just do in a day. Grandparents - if you are thinking of buying this for the grand kids, be aware that you are creating a ton of work for their parents.
Some of these projects are very complicated - it's not always just mixing a solution and dropping a rock in it. In some cases, you need to wait many days for a certain crystal to grow, and then you need to use that crystal as part of another step that takes many days.
For the geodes, you need to first cast the hollow spheres out of plaster of Paris. Although the plaster is included, it is a separate step that will take an hour.
Read the instructions several times before doing any one project - there are some important steps that appear hidden.
And as I mentioned, there is some contradictory information. For each project, you will be dissolving crystalline chemicals in boiling water. The instructions tell you to set aside about 1/8 teaspoon of the dry chemical for "seeding" the crystal growth. This step is omitted in one important project. If you do not do this, nothing will grow on the rocks. But included in the kit is an addendum sheet that is an alternate way to perform the same experiment - painting the rocks with a glow in the dark paint first. THAT addendum tells you to seed the rocks.
The kit comes with a bag of rocks on which you will grow crystals. The rocks are not large - l" square. Yet several projects in the manual tells you to use a flat rock large enough to cover the bottom of your "growing chamber". To do this, you need a flat rock that is about 6" square - nothing nearly that big is included. They knew that rocks supplied with the kit would be vastly different from kit to kit - these are real rocks after all. All they needed to do was supply some drawings showing the parent how things might or should look. As it is, you're left constantly wondering if you did things correctly.
One final thing - at the end of each project, when you are done growing crystals, you are left with a bucket of solution. The instructions tell you to save this if you want to grow more. What they DON'T tell you is how dispose of the stuff if you don't want to save it. I mean - is this stuff toxic? If I pour it down the sink or toilet, will I have crystals forming in my sewer lines? Is it safe to pour in the gutter? Any help would have been nice...
NOTE: If you are an educator, and will be using it in a controlled classroom environment, then this is a GREAT product. Teachers can save the solution to re-use, and can re-use the crystals as seeds. Great inexpensive supplement to a science class. You will just need to invest in some glass storage jars, since they are not included in this kit.
But for a home project? Not recommended.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Great educational science toy Mar 30, 2012
By Javajane
We bought this kit at a second hand store but it was still sealed. We have had good luck with all the crystals we have done - 4 different ones. We wanted to do one today but discovered one of the packets is missing. I wish the company provided refills of the certain solutions/crystals so you don't have to buy a whole kit again....my sons loves this toy and has played with it consistently for the past 6 months. Today he is disappointed but hopefully he will want to move on to another one that we have all the supplies for. Yes, I agree the instructions are not perfect but it is a good experience for kids to work through and find the mistakes IMHO.
Absolutely waste of time and effort Mar 28, 2012
By PY
"pywl"
Some part of the instructions are incorrect, crystals don't come out anything close to what you see on the printed box and my son was ABSOLUTELY disappointed after waiting for a few days to see the "exciting" claim!!!
3 of 5 found the following review helpful:
No Crystals Mar 24, 2010
By Monica B. Steinmetz
We did everything the directions said, but these crystals did not grow. Total dissapointment, would never buy any products from this company.
|
| | |
|
* Estimated shipping rate for US 48 states. Final rate calculated at checkout. |
|
|
|
