Geologist Treasure STEM Mine

My family had a blast smashing geodes! Some were better than others, but that۪s to be expected in nature. We loved it!

Great kit. This is the second National Geographic kit we've purchased. This kit is excellent quality and quantity for the price. My 7 year old love breaking them open. We did as the instructions said for the first one and used a chisel all the way around, but it took a long time and my son couldn't do it on his own. A geode in an old sock and a hammer did the job much more quickly. Highly recommend this kit!

I was looking for a great gift for the science teacher and knew the whole mug thing wasn۪t going to hit the mark for someone who had been teaching for decades. I am sure her cabinets are full! - So I spent some time searching on to find an appropriate and special gift, but all I really knew about her was she had made science understandable and interesting for the teens in the small private school which was no small feat science my daughter hated science in the past.After perusing the offerings for about 30 minutes, I settled on the geodes kit from National Geographic. Here is what I thought it had going for it:1. It was science related with a reputable name behind it.2. It was a quick-and-easy-to-explain activity if she wanted to do it with older or younger kids or grandkids.3. It was a hands on experience and a physical gift at the same time.4. It was pretty. As a lady, I knew I liked pretty, sparkly rocks (usually in jewelry form though) - so I was hoping she would too.5. It was in my price range.After giving the gift, we discovered the teacher had a special interest in rocks. So it was a good match. It is nice to feel like you purchased a gift that is well received and won۪t be collecting dust. She has already made plans to open some of the geodes during a class this year. Thus far it is a raging success.During my research, I discovered that scoring an equator around circumference and using a hammer/chisel to open produced a better outcome than just using a hammer. The hammer alone seemed to produce smaller sections and some crumbled. I would also suggest using some type of holding mechanism, if possible, like a vice with foam padding around the geode. I noticed that many of the people in the videos were afraid to hold it in place while they were striking it to open.Once they are opened in class I will update the review with any feedback I get.

My 5 yr old Grandson loved this! It came with safety glasses and good instructions. The geodes inside were a nice size.. This was SO MUCH FUN! My Grandson's eyes lit up when he saw the geodes and the goggles. The geodes where beautiful and so fun to crack open. The crystals inside where BEAUTIFUL!!. The best part was figuring out what geode we actually have by looking up the types inside the informational book they send with the package. If your little one likes science I would 100% recommended these fun geodes We are going to order this set again from National Geographic - great product and great company to deal with. The delivery arrived earlier than expected!

I've been buying some geodes the last couple of weeks to see what I could crack open. I find geology very fascinating, and have some more precious natural stones and thought this is a fun, cheaper alternative. When the items first came in and I saw the stones I was very sceptical about what I just bought. There were 4 quite small stones 4 small to medium sized stones and 2 fairly large stones. So I cracked the small stones open first using a hammer and chisel and was very surprised about how stunning the insides turned out to be. I figured the small stones wouldn't be much and I got a bad bag, but it turns out they were just as good as the larger stones in crystals and I did not get a bad stone out of the ten. Excellent buy and the book is a good short read and makes the finds much more interesting.