Well, November and December were dedicated almost entirely to our holiday contests and Sam’s Club campaigns and that basically burned me out for awhile. Now I’m back to bore you with further mindless gibberish.

We’ve had a chance to try out some very cool products over the past few months and I have quite a few product reviews to write up. I know that Christmas is over, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t get gift-cards that need spending, or that there aren’t other upcoming occasions requiring gifts (which reminds me that Anna’s birthday is coming soon – she’ll be three- how the hell did that happen?)

So on to the review. The Young Scientists Club makes a variety of kits related to various scientific topics that are intended to provide kids with valuable educational lessons, while at the same time making them feel like they are participating in some sort of an adventure. Their concept is based on the “learning by doing” philosophy which I completely buy into (who would you rather have for a surgeon, the guy that’s read the most books on the surgery or the guy whose done the most of them on real people?). You can see the whole list of kits by visiting their site here.

The kit that we were asked to try out was the “Science on a Gardening Adventure”. The kit includes experiments for soil testing, exploring underground habitats, bug-identification and various other botany related topics. The full description is on this page. There was just one problem with the whole thing – it is designed for children aged 4 and up. Now Anna is a smart little kid, but after looking at the kit I decided it was going to be a bit too much for her. I felt bad since I think this is a great product and I wanted to help publicize it – so I came up with an alternative.

My mom happens to be a school teacher, so I asked if her class would mind trying out the kit and writing up some reviews of their own. I figured that it would be good to get opinions directly from some kids, plus I assumed that what they had to say would be sorta funny – you know, misspellings and all. Also – I’m feeling lazy these days, so this is a good way of having someone else do my work for me.

One thing to note; these kids are in 5th grade, so they’re a little outside the target age range for the product (and they’re more than happy to let us all know that – repeatedly), but they still provide some good feedback.

The kit comes with a soil PH tester and this first reviewer found it particularly interesting.

O.K. here is the thing – I have had the tap water in the town these kids are from – I don’t think a pH test is required to tell you that filtered water is better than toxic swill. I’m pretty sure that if you look at the tap water and it’s brown you should put it down and get yourself some bottled water.

I don't care what that pH test says - don't drink Brockton tap-water...

Monitoring the growth of various plant life is an important part of the projects that come with this kit. The next reviewer appreciated this.

Obviously no shortage of confidence here – but like the kid said, he’s a bit outside the target demographic.

I don't think there is enough water in there kid...

The next reviewer was so impressed that they were left speechless…

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that someone was a little too busy passing notes to their friends rather than doing their assignment ( wait – do kids still pass notes? man I’m old). Anyway – not much help from this review – I hope you got an F! Pay more attention next time!

I’ve often found that when you buy toys or kits like this the instructions for use tend to be less than satisfactory – this reviewer has something to say about that.

I like this kid – he knows what matters in life – good instructions and some stickers. What more could you want?

This next reviewer was a bit of a skeptic at first…

Yeah kid, that’s right, the sundial works – maybe try things out before you judge them.

Umm-you guys figure out the time with that sundial, I'll stick to using my iPhone.

The kid’s reviews were overall quite positive, but there was one aspect of the kit that they found lacking – the bugs…

So the bugs weren’t a big hit, but I feel the need to defend the product’s maker against this tough crowd.

Come here kids and listen closely – the reason the bugs don’t look real is because – THEY’RE FAKE BUGS! If you’re that desperate for ultra-realistic bugs, then go outside and dig some up!

The point of the activity was to learn the basic differences between types of insects. I don’t think anyone was trying to fake out professional entomologists with these things. Anyway kids, sorry to go off on you like that, but lets have some reasonable expectations here o.k.?

They look realistic enough to me...

There you have it folks – product reviews from my Mom’s class. Thanks to all of the kids (and to my Mom) for helping out. They liked the product and I’m sure your kids will as well. Find out more about this kit ($29.95 on Amazon)and all the others from The Young Scientists Club by visiting this link.

FTC Disclosures: I received a Science on a Garden Adventure kit from the manufacturer at no cost to use for this review, no other compensation monetary or otherwise was received.