Science Experiment Gift

One of my sons is a big science guy. I bought him a book with all kinds of "do at home" experiments. We spent a whole summer doing these and he loved it. Think we bought it at Amazon and gave it to his 5th grade science teacher when he was finally done with it.

The books are better than the kits (those were always so cheap, lame and disappointing.) Books with clear pictures and directions about doing experiments at home, using normal household stuff.

We got our guy some plaster dig sets. One had a shark tooth, another had gemstones, dinosaur skeleton, and more.

If you go to most science supply places that have things for kids you'll find many of these type of items.

When my daughter was 8, she loved science. We've done of ton of science kits. She especially loved the "Lab in a Bag" test tube kit. You can reuse the test tubes for other experiments. Here's the link on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000E0DYOU/ref=mp_s_a_1_17?...

You've gotten many responses about buying books. If you're going to buy a book of science experiments, I would also include a plastic tub filled with common ingredients for science experiments: food coloring, white vinegar, baking soda, measuring spoons and a measuring cup, etc. Having a book of experiments PLUS the ingredients to actually do them is a great gift!

Best,
T.
SAHM of 5
14, 12, 6, 4 & 2

I'm another one to vote for the books. Much Better than 1 experiment.

Our daughter spent hours on different projects from a science project book we bought from the book fair when she was in 3rd grade.

She's just finished her first year of college and still uses that book for entertainment and activities for children when she babysits.

There are some mail order science kits you can buy-for one month, three, or a year. Every kid loves getting mail.
I once bought a kid I babysat a metal detector when he was 8. He LOVED it. He unearthed lots of treasuresand had the neighborhood kids following him around, lol.
You could make a science basket yourself using google. My 9 year old was super scientist a few weeks ago and I found a TON of ideas on the Internet. She ended up poking a bamboo skewer through a balloon without popping it-to explain polymers. Prior to that she was going to make a balloon inflate using vinegar and baking soda. But on our trial run she mentioned that another super scientist did that with a paper bag. Ugh! Anyway-you could include CDs, balloons, vinegar, baking soda, instructions, etc. Etc.

Not sure what your budget is, but a microscope is fun, too. Get a "kid friendly" one, but look at some reviews first. Some are definitely better than others!

I got my son one from someone off of craigslist for a great price and it worked out great.

My husband and daughter (7) like to do the mythbusters ones we find at Joanns.

The Magic School Bus kits are a lot of fun. My kids are 4 and 6 so I have to do it with them, but an 8 year old should be able to do them more on his own. Check out the Young Scientists web site. They have a Magic School Bus Science Club. We get a science kit in the mail every month. We also get a monthly newsletter and access to a members only section of the web site. It is about $20 a month, but if you watch Groupon you can sometimes get it for 1/2 price. I think you can also get 3 month or 6 month memberships. We have kits for magnets, volcanoes, light, states of matter, fossils, air, the human body, fungi and bacteria, and weather. You can also buy individual kits on line and in teacher supply stores.

We also have the That's Gross Science Lab by Smart Lab. It would be a dream for an 8 year old boy! It has a toilet bowl mixer that is the basis for a lot of the experiments like the Foaming Flush. You can also make Gooey Pooey, edible dog vomit, Snot Slime, Cabbage Crud, Gaggots, Yellow Snow, Popping Poo, Stink Bubbles and more! It is a riot!! My 6 year old daughter and her best friend love it.

The best thing about both the Magic School Bus kits and the That's Gross Science Kit is that you can do the experiments over and over (for the most part). Almost all of the experiments use pretty common household items. The items in the kits are usually things like funnels, measuring cups, balloons, paper cut to the right size. The items are usually reusable things or ones that you can easily replace without having to special order them. Sometimes it is a certain amount of something like Borax so that you don't have to buy a huge box for the 2 tsp you need for the experiment.

We also have raised butterflies and lady bugs. The Insect Lore website has butterflies, ladybugs, ants, and I think now they also have preying mantis and worms. You can buy most of the kits at places like Toys R Us, local owned toy stores or teacher supply stores. The kits come with a coupon to mail in (or order online) to get the caterpillars or larvae. My kids have loved doing both the butterflies and lady bugs. They are easy to do and don't take a lot of work to raise. And you can release them once they have grown. The habitats can be used over and over and it isn't too expensive to order new critters the next year.

Can't remember what the series is called, but I got some on amazon. A weather station (using a plastic bottle), a potato clock, they are by 4M. I gave them as gifts to my god daughter, who loved them.

Best,
F. B.