Science Reviews

The GeoSafari kits are the more educational of the dinosaur excavation kits, providing a booklet with fun facts and projects as you excavate and assemble your dinosaur. It is also the least messy, with the bones packed in clay. Unfortunately these are the only advantages over other kits you could by. The excavation tools provided ensure that it will take a long while to get to the bones. And the bones don't snap into each other like other kits. Instead, you use wax to hold them in place. The wax is messy but is supposed to allow for movement if you want to put your dinosaur in different poses. Unfortunately what you wind up having is a skeleton that falls apart easily.

For the same type of kits I'd go with the EduScience brand.

My 7 year old son purchased this as a replacement birthday gift. He likes neat and unusual things. I can't tell you how disappointed he was when the drive wheel attached to the motor shaft became seperated and could no longer turn the polishing barrel. The noise was bearable since we ran it in the garage, but he really thought he was going to get jewelry ready pieces of rock (and it did not look like that was going to happen either) to make his Mom and sister something nice. Definitely not a good buy for any price!

Our 6 1/2 yr. old son got this for Christmas and it has been a huge disappointment. We too suffered through the noise for about 20 days (it was in our garage), and could not finish the tumbling because the container that actually holds the rocks started leaking. All of the finishing/polishing grit and water oozed out of these tiny holes that developed. The rocks did come out smooth, but not shiny at all. Also, the rocks themselves were a very boring assortment. There were no colored rocks as pictured on the box, they were all brown or white. Our son was bored with the whole process and lost interest almost immediately as well. Thankfully, we know this item was purchased on clearance because the full retail price is way too much. Actually, any price is too much for this item!

My son, a budding scientist, was so excited to get this toy home. No where on the box does it tell you that you will have to live with the sounds of rocks bouncing around a tumbler for up to 30 days and that the end result will be very disappointing. Step one takes 48 hours, step two takes14 days and step 3 another 7. We put the tumbler in our cellar and could still hear it all over the house. The rocks came out (my son had really lost most interest by then) and they were not very polished. It was not very interactive, just dump the rocks and grit into the tumbler and wait and wait and suffer through the noise for a MONTH solid. Think before buying this "TOY" (AKA: Parent torture device)

This is a great product. Kristal Educational does a fantastic job in teaching archaeology, palentology, astronomy, or geology through a toy.

This toy also teaches patience and perseverance. Sure, there is a mess issue, but it can be easily contained by simply using newsaper, a little attentiveness, and a "project area".

Note: This is a "project" toy. It does take some time to complete. I would not recommend it to any child that has a low attention level.

My daughter received the Wooly Mammoth Dig Kit as a gift and she enjoyed it immensely. She still proudly displays it today.