Dazzling STEM Excavation

My daughter wanted a kit for everyone in the family for her birthday so I bought two of these and two nat geo kits. Turned out to be a good combination with a good variety of stones.

Seriously a great purchase! I have three girls and each of them worked for over 9 minutes each on her kit. My quiet, reserved 8.5 year old was the most enthusiastic and diligent, examining each discovery with the included magnifying plastic glass, looking up the stones in the booklet, and recoding the information on the included collection display (parent assistance is definitely necessary for this part bc there are tabs that need to be inserted on the collection card).

This is the best gem mining dig I have gotten yet. The Smithsonian gem dig was horrible with very very small gems. This kit on the other hand has very very nice sized gems. Somehow I had accidentally ordered 2 sets and I did not want to send it back. It was perfect. My son and I each got out own brick to excavate. It was so much fun. He got impatient with how long it wa staking and I keep trying to tell him that's how it goes but finally he got me impatient as well lol. So I grabbed two flat head screwdrivers and went to town. Mine ended up with 1 gems, his 8.

My kids ages 3-12 all really enjoyed this kit. They took turns "mining", and were thrilled with all of the crystals they found. The plaster was really messy, so it would be great to do this outside, or just cover your area and be ready to clean up after (and change clothes- we all had plaster powder all over us). Despite the mess, this was a fun and educational project. It went well with learning about rocks and minerals. All of my kids enjoyed it, and we found well more than 8 crystals.

Anyone looking for an activity that'll keep your little ones independently occupied (without the constant "Mommy/Daddy"...) NEEDS to have this in the toy closet. It's definitely an outdoor activity, since the plaster makes dust. And it's obviously a one time use, at least an hour of play, who can beat it? The tool that comes with it has a serrated edge on one side (like a dull butter knife) and a little mallet on the other side. He used it like a saw. Seriously, he's doing it now and has been at it long enough for me to empty dishes, load dishes :)