NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Break Open 15 Premium Geodes Science Kit - Goggles, Detailed Learning Guide, 3 Display Stands, Great STEM Science Toy & Educational Gift

not all rocks are created equal. After numerous attempts to find the geodes with the crystals inside this one was 100%. They are the right size for small children and you will be the hit of the party. Adults break them open and kids get to enjoy the discovery of what is inside the ugly rock. Every child gets to take home crystals.

My 11 year old son really enjoyed this Geode Kit even more than he expected! He is at the age where he is hard to shop for aside from video games and electronics, I wanted something fun for him and I to do together as well as a learning tool. He has shown interest in rocks, gems, and crystals so I thought this would be right up his alley and boy was I right. Since cracking open the very first geode his curiosity and excitement began to intensify and I loved helping him out. This kit really provided a nice assortment from solid to hollow and a fair variety of size and colors also. One of the geodes was actually filled with a bright sand colored dirt which both of us thought was really cool, he immediately said "I wonder how old this dirt is" which let me know he was getting a hands on learning experience. We will definitely be interested in purchasing more sets just like this one and I won't be so lost come his birthday as to what to get for him or recommend to others. The set does come with safety goggles which he put on and used without my having to ask as well a small information booklet on the different geodes. I definitely recommend purchasing a chisel and rock hammer to get better splits on the rocks but we made do with a flat head screw driver and house hammer. Some of the solid heavy geodes were a bit hard to break and we even ended up using a sledgehammer on it! Another tip I recommend is to break them on a hard surface and place the geode inside a zip lock prior to cracking to keep all the bits contained. Overall I am extremely pleased with this purchase and it has definitely become one of our new found hobbies thanks to this kit.

Kids loved it

Hmmm... Ones' satisfaction with this purchase will depend largely on one's expectations. I bought 2 boxes of these for a kids' birthday party. My expectation was that we would have many types of geodes from different parts of the world. We could cut them open and discover some of the wondrous formations that our planet can create. We found quartzite, pyrite, amethyst, and many others. Inside the box is a great booklet which describes the various types of geodes. The kids were delighted. Some of the more interesting rocks warranted making slices which we could hold up to the light to see the interesting patterns inside. Others we quartered to achieve beautiful natural sculptures. I am very pleased with this purchase.Now for the caveat... Many folks seem to want to crack geodes with a hammer or a hammer and chisel. If this is you, this product may be disappointing since about 2/3 of the geodes were solid. We expected solid geodes. We used a tile saw to slice each geode to reveal the magical patterns inside. This purchase was perfect for that. The pyrite framboids which were included are always solid, so "cracking" those will always be a bummer. When sliced with a saw however, we saw the distinct lines of the crystal formation. So, if you can get your hands on a tile saw then these geodes are for you. (You can rent one.) If you want to smash them open, look somewhere else.

REALLY great gift for a budding geologist. My son loved breaking the rocks open and looking at each one. Some break easily as they’re more cavernous inside, and others definitely take some adult help as they’re pretty solid inside. Would buy again!

Fun activity to do with my kids, but half the geodes were solid, like quartz. One big rock we couldn't even crack open. Out of 15, 2 were hollow with a beautiful crystal inside. All were white except one solid stone had gray/blue hues.

My son loves this best gift ever!

Gave this to my 17 yr old grandson and he loves it and all of the sets similar to this that they offer.