Monday, June 15, 2015

Magic School Bus Growing Crazy Crystals

IMG_3041The Magic School Bus Growing Crazy Crystals
By The Young Scientists Club

What it’s all about!

Kids love science! Introducing children as young as 5 to the interesting world of science is as close as the kitchen cabinet. Everyday items like salt, sugar and baking soda become ingredients for learning through science experiments. The Young Scientists Club, makers of entertaining, informative kits, suggests crystallizing a lifelong love with science with their newest offering, The Magic School Bus™ Growing Crazy Crystals.

The well-known characters from The Magic School Bus guide youngsters on a journey making and observing crystals, rock candy and more. Ms. Frizzle, their eccentric third grade teacher, spearheads all of the crystal capers in this colorful kit that includes an observation chart, tweezers, brushes, magnifying glass, petri dishes, measuring cup and much more. The simple at-home experiments included with this science kit are spelled out in a delightful instruction booklet which introduce elementary school-aged children to basic concepts in chemistry, physics, geology and mathematics! Plus their home-grown crystals are beautiful. Young scientists will discover that creating crystals are as much art as they are science. As Ms. Frizzle often says, “dynamic deduction.”

The Young Scientists Club's subscription kits are mailed monthly to thousands of children around the nation and the company’s retail kits are sold in hundreds of specialty stores. All of their kits have been very hot sellers in the Amazon STEM store.

Our Thoughts

I am very impressed with the packaging of this product.   All that is needed to grow crystals is packed into one very colorful box with illustrations from the popular television show – The Magic School Bus.   Included in the box you will find all the materials you need to introduce your kids to the world of crystallization.  You will also have an observation chart where they can write down the results of their experiments.

The book itself is very well explained and will provide step-by-step instructions for your kids to follow.  in all there are twelve experiments in the book. 

  1. Are the shapes of salt and sugar crystals different or the same?
  2. How can we make ice crystals in a freezer?
  3. How do you make sugar crystals?
  4. How do you make rock candy?
  5. How would you make a crystal star using a pipe cleaner and a saturated baking soda solution?
  6. What would happen if you paint the saturated baking soda solution on a glass?
  7. What kind of method would you use to have salt crystals appear in a bowl with charcoal?
  8. How can you make Epsom salt crystals?
  9. How can you use Epsom salts to create a drawing on a black piece of construction paper?
  10. How can you grow crystals using alum?
  11. How can you get salt crystals to grow all over a cardboard tree?
  12. How can you get crystals to grow on a cardboard shape?

IMG_3042

At the end of the book the parents can see the hypothesis and the conclusion of each of the experiments.  So if an error happened, you can easily explain what was suppose to happen.

Though the box contains most of the material you will need to do the experiments, you will have to swing at your closest grocery store to get some of the items like baking soda, table salt, sugar, alum (found in the spice section, Epsom salt (found in the pharmacy section), and some Mrs. Stewart’s Bluing (found in the detergent section).  This last ingredient is difficult to find and living in Canada I am still trying to figure out if I can find this specific item in the box.  Personally, I think I would prefer to have the hard to find items in the package that I am purchasing.  Not everyone can easily find such items quickly…

What I particularly like about The Young Scientists Club is that you could easily get fun packages based on popular shows like Clifford The Big Red Dog and The Magic School Bus as well as others ones based on adventure, nature, and more.

As a homeschooler, I know it is important to find fun and out of the ordinary things for our kids.  I think that The Young Scientists Club is a perfect fit for active homeschoolers who are curious about how things happen…

Interesting in The Young Scientists Club?  Check them out on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and on Pinterest and subscribe on Youtube.

Disclaimer: I received a box of investigative activities for review purposes from KidStuff PR and The Young Scientists Club. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

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