Earth Day : STEM-based Educational and Sensory Science Kits*

[Ad-Gifted] Earth Day is an annual global event, observed on 22 April, that celebrates the environmental movement and climate change.  This year to celebrate Earth Day we were sent a selection of four National Geographic boxed kits from Bandai UK as we have been selected to be part of their 2021 Bandai National Geographic Stem Ambassador Blogger Club.

These kits we received are perfect for bringing your children that bit closer to nature and science.  These sensory science toys are interactive led but also have some fun and interesting facts to learn along the way, creating the perfect balance between activity and education to keep my three little busy minds entertained!

So many toys have a focus around role play, but if you have a few little ones that also love to explore as well as pretending to be the next Marvel superhero, then these National Geographic toys could just for them. My three love to dig and enjoy finding bugs and insects outside, they also love playing with sand and things like slime (although I have to say slime is one of my least favourites, it certainly does keep them occupied!).

What we thought of the Kits 

We received four kits in total; Real Bug Dig Kit, Mini Treasure Dig Kit, Sensory Science Kit and finally a Glow-in-the-Dark Science Kit. We started with the two dig kits and with the weather being so good they were perfect to try outside, plus it kept the mess there too – and that is one thing it is pretty messy. But straight forward to clean up again with a dustpan and brush.

This was great fun and they took around 30 minutes digging, to finally ended up with three insects, and a medium-sized rock. They were so happy with their finds and really happy to share out the treasure. They could also learn about the insects they found, with the information booklet included in the kit. It told them facts about each bug and gave them info on the number of species and the location in which they are found.

The next box was the Sensory Science Kit, this was a big kit and had lots of things included in it. This is perfect to buy as a gift if you have a friend that has a handful of kids as they can easily share and do this box together. It included a number of different things but my children enjoyed the play sand, the colour changing putty (which has been in and out of the freezer several times already) and the Hydrophobic Sand the most.

The Hydrophobic sand, it is actually sand that repels water – they found this really fun, and enjoyed messing with it in the pot of water (see our photos). The sand is easily occupied them for the longest amount of time and the day after they went back to this again and again. The putty is fun and changes colour, so it has a bit more to it than regular slime but each of the items in the kit were fun and again came with fun fact booklets to learn as well as play.

The final kit was the Glow-in-the-dark Science kit, this involved them making their own slime and had a fun glow in the dark putty. The slime game includes a science experiment to complete so remember to carefully follow the instructions to make this fun and safe to carry out. My kids had to measure out the water and carefully mix the slime powder until it slowly thickened. They then charged up the glow with a torch and went into a dark room to see it glow.

The only thing with the kit is you need to be careful to dispose of all the products in it and make sure if you’re outside that you don’t leave any of it lying around for a bird to come across as it is not anything you want to be left in the environment. So make sure you have paper or tissue ready, to wipe up the mess and be sure to bin/trash it as opposed to putting it down your drains or in any watercourses. The same goes for the sand be sure it is not near to pets, as it is dangerous for them to ingest. But if you are careful these kits are fun and safe as long as you follow the instructions carefully, hence the 8+ age recommendation.

Where can you buy your National Geographic Science Kits? 

You can purchase these kits which are perfect to celebrate Science Week here:

National Geographic Mini Excavation Dig Kit Treasure

Bandai National Geographic Bug Dig Kit

Bandai National Geographic Explorer Sensory Science Kit

Bandai National Geographic Glow-In-The-Dark Science Kit

How much do the Kits cost? 

The Treasure Mini Dig costs £4.99 while the Real Bug Dig Kit costs £9.99.  The Sensory Science Kit is priced at £24.99 and includes over 10 activities, finally, the Glow-In-The-Dark Science Kit is also priced at £24.99.

About Bandai UK

About National Geographic 

National Geographic is a long-standing magazine and digital information outlet, informing you on all things on nature and science. It has a strong focus on informing kids along the way, and one way it does this is through its kids’ magazine, through a variety of soft toys and its educational and interactive kits. 

The science kits are just one of many of the kits available at National Geographic and are sold through a number of outlets. They teach kids about science, show them how easy it is to do simple experiments and as well as learning are geared around fun. Which after all is one of the best ways in which to educate!

Review by: Lex Ward

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* We were sent the kits in return for a feature. All opinions are our own.