Kid's Panning for Gold Kit

Details:  Dr. Cool's Kid's Pan for Gold Kit can be purchased from the Link provided.  This is a great science kit for children 4 and up.  Learn how to pan for gold and discover with Dr. Cool.  The Kit includes 1 Adventure Guide, 1 Activity Booklet, 10" miner's pan, 2 bags of dirt (practice dirt, and pay dirt), real fool's gold specimen, tweezers, magnifying glass, nugget vial and storage bag.  Can be translated into German, French, Spanish.  Learn about Gold uses from around the world, the California gold rush, how miners panned for gold then and now, what gold ore is, and the differences between gold and pyrite.  Test your skills with hands on panning with your own "pay dirt" and pan.

Extras: * Learn how to pan for gold just like a real prospector with this hands-on science kit
* Kit includes 10” prospectors pan, tools, storage vial, practice and advanced miner bags of paydirt, plus large fool’s gold nugget
* Perfect gift for any kid aged 6-12 that is interested in gold, prospecting, science, or geology
* Full Color Info and Activity guides written by teachers are filled with cool science facts about gold
* Winner of Dr. Toy Best Picks for New Products Award
* Kids award winning pan for gold science toy

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My Review: This kit from Dr. Cool's Sciences is really neat for my kids aged 4 and 7.  Both loved it to different degrees.  As we Home School, I'm always looking for tools, supplies, supplements, games, activities, field trips, etc to help bring our schooling into a more Interactive focus.  This is one such supplemental activity for science.  My children love rocks, so what better way to help teach Earth science than to help them learn more about rocks, minerals, gems, jewels, and the refining process.  We've been to many museums lately where they have seen gold, silver, copper, jewels and gems, crystal formations, lava rocks, moon rocks, etc.  So to have the opportunity to learn about one way people used to find and get gold really helps bring what they learn from their books, field trips, me as their Teacher and such is a great way to impliment my goal of Interact Home Schooling.  The day we got this in the mail was the same day that we opened it up, used it, read the booklets, did the activities and panned for gold.  I gave both kids a chance to pan for gold and use the tweezers to pick out the gold nuggets.  My 4 year old needed more help with the panning part (as we did end up with sand and water all over the floor with him.  But my 7 year old could to everything pretty much on his own, but I still stayed put to supervise.  They loved the history behind everything and the activity booklet's mazes, dot to dots, and word searches were handy and fun!  My only thought is that it's a one time activity, so once we've used up the sand and gold nuggets I'm not really sure what to do with this kit...maybe if the company offered a recycling effort for their pan, and box and booklets that was also free to those who purchased it this way it doesn't necessarily go to waste once the pay dirt is gone.

Pros: fun for kids, great for parents, teachers and home schooling

Cons: a one use activity kit, not sure what to do with all the left over materials, would love to see some type of free recycling program put into place.

My Rating: Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down