Learning Resources Gemology! Crystal Lab,STEM Toys, Early Science, Science Kit for Kids, Fun Gifts for Kids, 20 Pieces, Ages 4+

A good little STARTER set to experiment making your own synthetic crystals.There is one BIG proviso:You have to supply all the ingredients yourself.You will need table salt, vegetable oil, food colouring, soil, epsom salts and of course, water. Some of these are household items, others are things which you would need to buy separately, making this set considerably more costly.Our little one attempted some of the experiments in the set, we didn't have all the ingredients for all the different tasks to hand.There is a long waiting time between preparing the different crystals and the completion. This left our little one a little bored by the process and anxious for the end time.In any case, the results aren't as fascinating as  cracking open real, natural geodes which we've bought from Amazon in the past.  Those were truly mesmerising. Our older son took those open geodes to school for show and tell and also purchased a few more smaller sets of the same, to hand out as birthday gifts.Considering the price is so similar between the two sets - if you take all the additionals you would need to buy for this set to make your own. Us it really worth getting this over a real set? Depends how fascinated your little ones are in manufacturing synthetic crystals.The results of the crystals in this set were mixed, some better than others, all quite unstable. They also dissolve in water, just like sugar and salt crystals.3 stars - would have been 4. But we have purchased a better  ALL INCLUSIVE home crystal making set before, which was cheaper. cracking open real, natural geodes which we've bought from Amazon in the past. ALL INCLUSIVE home crystal making set before, which was cheaper.

Both myself and my children were excited to receive this gemology experiment kit and it looked promising, there are lots of nice, good quality pieces and a nice looking instruction book that gives several different experiments inside. This is where the problem starts- not everything that you need is included in the set. They are fairly basic ingredients that you need- flour, salt, vegetable oil as well as Epsom salts that I expect most households don’t have. I understand that they wouldn’t be able to include these food items easily but it would be nice to have a bit of forewarning so that you can get to the shops before hand.We started on the first experiment in the book and we were excited to make “gem stones” we soon realised that the experiment was making what was in effect, playdoh, and then cutting out gem shapes with it. This in itself was a little disappointing, and what was more disappointing was that the recipe for it was totally wrong, it was far too watery, so we ended up adding a lot more flour and salt. I read through the other experiments and thought that they will end up being just as disappointing. A younger child would probably appreciate this.

I have ordered other Learning Lab sets for my grandchildren to play with and they have always been excellent. This crystal lab set not so much as I thought it would contain everything that we would need to start making our own crystals. The kit only contains the tools etc but not the actual ingredients that you need to make them; flour, salt, vegetable oil as well as Epsom salts which I did not have in the house. To purchase these ingredients costs quite a bit of money which makes using this kit quite expensive.My grandchildren were so disappointed when we opened this kit to play with only to discover we needed extra ingredients. I did purchase the necessary items and we did use them with this kit. Unfortunately it takes time and my grandchildren soon grew bored so unfortunately I don’t really commend this kit for younger children, perhaps children about the age of 10-12 would have the patience to wait for things to get started but for my grandchildren they lost interest and wanted to do something else instead.

This is a review for Learning Resources LER2950 GEMOLOGY Crystal LAB, MultiThis is a really nice crystal making set. Included is 2 grow chambers, 2 experiment hooks, 1 hammer, 1 chisel, 4 gems, 3 stampers, 4 two-piece play geodes, 1 beaker, 1 magnifying glass and an experiment book.The book gives you 5 easy experiments to create but you have to use ingredients that you either buy yourself or have already. This set doesn't come with the ingredients provided, which is a shame really, especially for the price of the set. You will need table salt, vegetable oil, food colouring, soil, epsom salts and water. Some of these are household items, others are things which you would need to buy separately, this will all add onto the overall cost after buying the set.However, we have had some fun creating and exploring these and feel it has been a good experience for the kids.

Got kids? Love fun science? How about gems?This is the Learning Resources Gemology Crystal Lab, 20pcs in box, but NO ingredients. Ages 4+.This set looked ace, but once opened my eldest was quite disappointed, as you need to provide ALL ingredients! You will need flour, salt, water, vegetable oil, food colouring, soil and Epsom salts! So stock up on these prior!Once you have these you will have all the tools to make three different gem scenarios from geodes to stringy crystals to crystal drops.The results are variable depending on which child does what ha. But after a few crystal formations they got bored quite quick, as there is an element of waiting.Overall I'd only really recommend as perhaps a class science experiment of club. As a home toy for the price it is fun, but not for long.