Thames & Kosmos Electricity & Magnetism Science Kit | 62 Safe Experiments Investigating Magnetic Fields & Forces for Ages 8+ | Assemble Electric Circuits with Easy Snap-Together Blocks

My 9 year old son is obsessed with anything having to do with building circuits and recently has been interested in magnetism, so this seemed a good set to try next. It did not disappoint. Some of the pieces were a little tricky to snap together, but I didn't mind helping him. It seems to get easier the more he uses it. He found it very engaging overall. I love the explanations for what is going on in each experiment. Definitely recommend for any child who is into this sort of thing.

My 8 year old enjoys and is learning a lot from this kit. It is great triggering the curiousity of someone who has no background in electricity or circuits. While the parts look simplistic, they are designed as small blocks (like legos) so you can experiment with many different ways of assembling them to see what happens. You can try as many different combinations as you can imagine, and the surprising results (which lights turn on or off, whether or not the fan blows, etc) make you think hard about why and how the electricity works the way it does (especially when you have multiple circuits running in parallel and things like that). The simple block format makes it attractive to a child who wants to play but isn't a hard-core techie (yet). Having said that, the instruction booklet is perhaps overly complicated, describing the experiments and questions in ways that become boring to my daughter. We'll see if that changes as she gets more experienced with it. And because of that complexity, the magnetism experiments aren't so interesting to her as the electricity experiments.

This was perfect. When you open the box everything is has its own little spot so it is easy to find everything and when your child is done everything goes back into the same little cubby. Nothing gets just thrown into a box and end up floating around. The directions are very clear and their were just enough pieces to offer a variety of things to do without having it be overwhelming, or on the flipside, too simple. He is at the age where he likes to do things himself with minimal assistance - he was able to do that with this activity.The first time my son used this it kept him occupied for well over an hour and he only broke away to show us the end results when the light came on or the fan starting running.I do suggest giving a family size pack of batteries with this. He drained the 2 AA batteries completely dead in that first one hour usage.

I got this for my 6 year old daughter and I to experiment with. I think most of it goes over her head, but it's still fun and I think she's retaining and understanding some of it which is totally worth it. There are a ton of projects to do and comes with a nice guide that explains everything very well. I'm actually learning quite a bit, too. I can imagine we will have this for years and will be able to use it when our 3 year old son is old enough, too.

I got this for my 8 year old for his birthday. I opened it and showed him the first 3 experiments and he was off adding things and putting things together that were further in the book. He loves this toy and thanked me especially for getting it for him. He hasn't done the magnets yet as he spent a lot of time on the battery and switches and lights and fan. Very clever way to teach and the presentation is great. It makes him think when something he put together doesn't work. We farm and he is around a lot of machinery and mechanic work and farm repair with his dad. I think that makes this more fascinating for him because he has a strong desire to learn how things work and how to fix them. I looked at a different brand of toy that did a similar set of experiments but this one seemed more appealing. I am so glad I bought it.

So happy with this product. My kids absolutely love it and got them really interested in magnets, specifically. I love that each piece has a place in the styrofoam mold so I know if we're missing anything and makes for a nice and neat clean up. I wish I could give it 4.5 stars, though. There is one piece that is required for at least one of the experiments that it doesn't include, and is not a common household item for me. It's a long, metal prong fastener (that you find in certain manilla folders, but not the short little ones used to fasten the top flap). Since I don't have that in my house, we haven't been able to do one of the experiments that my son was really excited about. It would have been mere pennies for them to add it, so it's annoying that it's not included. That's my one complaint.

This set is great all around. 1. The pieces are easy to put together and pull apart. I bought it for my babe turning 7 and she can do it by herself. 2. It's durable! She has used it so many times and the pieces still fit perfectly. 3. Great instructions and teaching! Each experiment has a "what's happening" area that explains to children how and why it worked the way it did.

Great concept and interesting projects, but most of the connectors are too tight for a strong 10-year-old boy and a few are impossible, even for his grandfather.