Young Paleontologist Mine

My kids loved this. Especially my 6 year old son. He spent 2 days scraping and picking away to expose the crystals and was so excited each time he found a new one. We thought we were shorted 2, after we had broken the mass up into little chunks but I poked back through the rubble and found 2 more. They were small but still nice. We just ordered another set because he enjoyed this one so much. Anything that helps keep him off the electronics and engaged is a winner for me! Highly recommend! The stones I closed are all nice quality and sizes. We were able to identify them using the book that came with it, which gave nice descriptions and background I formation about the stones, including the place of origin.

Purchased two kits for Christmas for our granddaughters, ages 7 and 5. Their mother just called and wanted to know if she could get one for her birthday. Both girls are thrilled with their discoveries۝ I was worried it would be too messy, but mom said it۪s not bad at all. They۪ve been digging since they got home from school today. Neither girl has lost interest and won۪t stop till they۪re all uncovered.

My 5-year old son likes rock hunting and Minecraft, so I bought this for his birthday. Like the other reviewers have said, you'll need a hammer and maybe a screwdriver to use as a chisel -- the enclosed tools aren't strong enough to get the rocks out. So, my expectations upon buying it were in line with reality because I read the reviews first. My son loved this and we had a lot of fun digging the rocks out and cleaning them up. We've since re-buried them in some old play-doh to revive the mining aspect when the mood strikes.

This was a HUGE success for my 6-year old. he spent HOURS chipping away at this on Xmas Day. He asked if we could have a garage sale next summer so he can sell his gems and "make zillions of dollars."We got 11 out of the set.And it is super messy, so be ready.

Excellent kit. WAY BETTER THAN THE GEODE ONE. The geode one was meh. The rocks were all the same.My 3 yo & husband had fun "digging" together. For my son he had to focus, work together, share tools, use fine motor skills and then had fun matching the rocks to their picture.Plus, it bought mommy an hour of time off to enjoy watching them and a hot cup of tea :)