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Club SciKidz April 2018 Review
Club SciKidz is a science and technology subscription box for kids. Boxes are $29.95 and come with experiments, engineering projects, an exclusive interactive lab notebook, and more. Each box will include materials to help build a home lab. My oldest loves Science and Technology, so I knew he would be excited to check out the box.
The Details
Cost: $24.95/month
What's in the box? Each box comes with experiments, engineering projects, an exclusive interactive lab notebook, and more.
Coupon: Use the coupon NEW17 or BOXLABS17 to save 10% on your 1st box.
The box is covered with cool graphics. It was very inviting for kids.
The box is sealed with a Club SciKidz sticker.
First Look
There was a little postcard with a list of everything in the box,
Lab Notebook The lab notebook was included to document notes about the experiments conducted.
When you opened the book, there was a list of measurement, along with some conversions.
There are safety tips for your child to read over and a list of lab equipment. All the items listed are not in the box, this is just an introduction to lab equipment.
My older son studied the experimental design this year in school, so those steps were something he already knew. He did enjoy exploring the periodic table.
There are several two page spreads to document notes, lab results, and any diagrams or pictures you want to write down.
All the experiments and activities were in the Activity Guide.
Before your child begins the first experiment, there were safety tips to review and a list of vocabulary used in the experiments.
The box with some fun toys for kids. There was a robot eraser, rock candy and a combination compass and whistle. The whistle is quite loud, which is excellent for walking through the woods, not so much if you are in a four sq ft place with someone (lol).
Each of the projects are bagged in individual bags.
There were also additional tools included in the box: tweezers, ruler, two pipettes, two Petri dishes and a pencil. The pencil was already sharpened, which was very convenient.
Experiment #1 Brine Shrimp
The first experiment was to hatch and raise brine shrimp. The activity guide went into detail about brine shrimp, their anatomy, and the reproductive systems.
The box came with ph paper, pipettes, brine shrimp, salt, and yeast. The only thing we needed to provide was the glass dish/jar for the shrimp and distilled water.
The instructions stated to use a wide mouth quart jar or shallow glass pan. We decided to use the pan. You had to mix 1-1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to one quart of distilled water. Distilled water is very cheap and easy to buy, so there isn't a significant expense for this project. We buy it on a regular basis, so we already had it on hand.
You sprinkle 1/6 of a teaspoon of brine eggs in the water and wait. You are to place the dish in bright sunlight, and the eggs should hatch in 1-3. The yeast is sprinkled in the container for food.
This is a video of the brine shrimp. They were fascinating to watch. Once they hatched, my son was able to study their body parts, swimming habits and stages of development.
Experiment #2 Root Observation Station
This was a fun experiment to grow seeds in a unique way. This activity came with all the supplies to grow seeds in a clear tube, so you can watch them grow.
This project used the root observation tubes, polycrystals, seeds, water, root observation cards, glue (you provide this) and the pencil. The only thing we needed to provide was the glue.
The first step was to add the water and the crystals. The crystals expand in the tube and fill up space.
Once the crystals expand, you add a couple of seeds.
It took a few days, but one of the seeds sprouted. The other seed got trapped between the tube and the crystals. We have been adding water as needed to make sure it keeps growing. This has been an enjoyable project to watch each day.
Nature Project: Prehistoric Amber
The prehistoric amber project was one of my son's favorite projects in the box. You are given a piece of raw amber and using the provided tools; your child polishes the rock.
The box contained unpolished amber, sandpaper, emery boards, denim squares, toothbrush, furniture polish and the amber information card.
This project too the longest time and my son is still working on it. The sandpaper is for larger surfaces, and the emery board was for smaller areas.
To get the rock polished, you have to sand quite a bit.
This is the finished rock so far. It hasn't been polished yet, because my son is still sanding. It's a beautiful rock.
Engineering Project: Brush Robot
The brush robot was one of the first projects we completed. Everything was included to make a robot with a toothbrush.
The box included a toothbrush head, 3V battery, 2 flashing LED, mobile phone coin motor and sticky tape.
This was a bit tricky to put together. The wires were a bit finicky, so I didn't take step by step photos. The lights were pretty cool, but they would turn off when the bug was turned on, due to the vibrations.
The activity guide also included 25 more micro experiments and observations you can do. There are so many activities in this guide; this box will keep your child entertained for the whole month.
There were also two recipes t make Galaxy Slime and Playdough.
Your child can also read about Marie Curie!
Final Thought: This was an amazing box. My 9-year-old has been having a blast with all the projects in the box. This is not a box that you can just do in an hour. We love that there were so many projects to do. There are still many micro observations and experiments to do. If you want to try out this box, use the coupon NEW17 or BOXLABS17 to save 10% on your 1st box.
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