Fun Kits: Safe and Simple Science Tricks product reviews

I have always loved the mysteries of science, from the explosive potential of water, down to the structure of an atom... I have loved it all, for as long as I can remember. Now that I have a child of my own, who is growing to the age of wonder, it is great to see the joys of science blossoming in him too... and kits like this a great way to start the introductory process.

With all sorts of simple, yet wonderous tricks and science facts to illustrate, he has already started nagging me to show him "...more please daddy!" after only 1 afternoon of playing with this kit, and we really only got through about a quarter of the tricks in the book. His favourite, and one of the hardest to explain in kid-friendly terms, are the wonderful antics you can get up to with the magnets.

Now, having been a bit of a science buff myself, it's no surprise that my son has a growing collection of magnetic toys, including the wonderfully dynamic range of Magnetix toys and it pains me to say that the magnets used in those toys are at least three times stronger than those included in this kit... but fear not... what you get in the box is quite sufficient to perform the tricks listed in the book.

The only tiny gripe I had was with the plastic mirrorboard... it didn't matter how hard we tried, or at what angles we shone the torchlight, or even raw sunlight, we could not get it to form a rainbow! In the end, I simply dug up an old plastic prism recycled out of an antique laser printer, and illustrated the concept of differential refraction that way. Even at a mere 6 years old, he understood the concept after 10 minutes of metaphors and kinda-like explainations. (In the end the best way to describe how different spectra of light bend to varying degrees was to use the analogy of balls rolling down slopes at different speeds... just like I was taught at highschool.)

Overall, though the lack of optical delights did dampen down the appeal slightly the kit as a whole is a wonderful way to give your little ones an intro to the many wonders that surround us. And at under $20 it is great value for money. The little extras from around the home you will need to do all the tricks will cost you basically nothing, since you are likely to have them around anyway, and if not should be easily obtainable for a paltry sum.