The Magic School Bus: Weather Lab

This is a wonderful chemistry set. I bought it for my 9 year old granddaughter and she and I had a great time with it. The directions are simple and most of what you need for the experiments are in your kitchen cabinet. Anything else is included in the set. We got through nearly half of the experiments in one sitting and if we'd had more time, we would have done them all. I even learned a bit about chemistry and it was fun for my granddaughter. There were several experiments that I'd like to do again, just for the fun of it. I should say that the company that was supposed to ship this, after ordering it through Amazon, sent me the wrong item. They don't know if someone grabbed the wrong box in the warehouse or if they made a decision to replace it with a different chemistry set because they were out of the Magic School Bus set. Either way, they told me to keep the item (which I will give to a different grandchild) and refunded my money. I had to order the Magic School Bus from another company outside of Amazon.

I gave the kit 5 stars because it is really a neat kit IF it comes with all the pieces. My son if 5 and he loves it. We gave it to him as a Christmas present. When we opened it it was missing the ph chart, the piece of iron, the peppercorn, the string, the popsicle stick and the 2 balloons. I was very very ANNOYED to say the least. Luckily most of those things are laying around my house, but still. One of the reasons I bought this particular kit was because I wouldn't have to go hunting these things down in order to do the experiments with my kids. It's pretty much open up and get to it. And the measuring spoon isn't very sturdy my son broke it the first time he took it out of the box. I wanted to give it less than 5 stars because of all the missing parts, but it is still a fantastic kit to help the kids do some hands on experiments. I love that it comes with the litmus and ph papers because that is definitely not something I have laying around my house. The experiment cards are really nice quality and it appears they will last a long time. All in all it's a hit and my son begs to do the experiments every day.

I bought this kit for my five year old son. Surprisingly, the included items are of a pretty good quality. I was a bit surprised that some needed ingredients were not included and had to be provided by the user, but I guess it is OK. For example, we do not use corn starch at home, so one experiment has to wait until I bought corn starch. It would be nice if the creators of the kit either provided some cornstarch or recommended an alternative, but it is not a big deal for me. Ingredients you need to supply on your own are marked on each experiment card with a little house icon.We are still going through the experiments, but my son loves doing them and is looking forward to using the kit every day. He liked testing with included litmus papers vinegar, milk, and lime juice, and then recording his observations and conclusions in the note book.Certain experiments did not work very well - for example, sticky ice did not work, potentially because in CA it is too warm for the water melted by salt to refreeze. Yeast-generated gas didn't inflating the balloon. We could feel some gas inside the balloon, but it did not rise as shown on the experiment card. Chromatography of color markers didn't work at all. Glue slime came out as cottage cheese. Volcano eruption worked, but I had to double all ingredients. Still, with several tries and help of internet you can make most experiments work. To me the kit is still worth it because of provided supplies and tools.In my view, the kit works on many different levels. It teaches children chemistry, organizing workplace, safety (wearing goggles), accuracy (measuring), motor skills (using pipette, etc.), observing the results and drawing conclusion, reading (instruction cards), and writing (notebook).I would recommend this kit to others, just expect you will have to re-try certain experiments. Alternatively, you can look up simple experiments online.

This is a fun chemistry for kids to do science experiments. Yes, the first 12 of the "50" experiments are introducing the child to the parts of the kits and basic directions, the experiments are great ones for kids to try. My 9 and 11-year old can do the experiments on their own.Here is a list of household supplies that you will need to have on-hand (or buy) to complete all of the experiments, in case you want to get in advance:Salt, cornstarch, water, ice, vinegar, baking soda, pennies, lemon juice or cola, cup, pepper, baking dish, scissors, disposable bowls, piece of bread, sugar, 2 zip-lock bags, 2 pieces of banana, vegetable oil, pancake syrup, markers, rubbing alchol, yellow or red leaves, raisins, soda water, small glass, tall glass, egg, chicken bones, jar, milk, food coloring, cereal bowl, 2 pieces construction paper, 1 liter plastic bottle, measuring cup, tape, newspaper, black paint, paint brush (last 7 items are for #50 experiment). Most supplies are small amounts that are used. Baking soda, vinegar & water are used in many experiments.