The Mind Blowing Science kit is strictly for beginners (it only includes around 10 experiments), and is designed for young children between the ages of four and eight. The reason we liked this kit is that even though its scope is relatively narrow, it does a great job at what it sets out to do. The budding chemist who uses this kit and follows the procedures and explanations carefully will gain a solid foundation that is likely to spark more interest in science classes later on.
The Mind Blowing Science kit's short but sweet collection of kid-friendly science and chemistry experiments earned it a spot on our list of the best chemistry sets.
The Mind Blowing Science kit focuses on the types of experiments that are most likely to impress young kids who aren’t yet ready for complex lessons on atoms and chemicals. Some of the experiments in this kit include growing crystals, creating a small scale volcano and watching the reaction of an acid and base to form a salt. Compared to other beginner chemistry sets, this one has a shorter but sweeter experiment list. The overarching message is that “science is everywhere,” and these experiments demonstrate the scientific principles we see all around us. Many of the experiments are weather-related, like the “create your own clouds” procedure.
The idea is that even without an abstract understanding of chemistry, kids can start to pick up scientific knowledge just by seeing it in action. These experiments are meant to spark a child’s general interest in how things work. Most of the experiments are simple enough for a young child to conduct independently (with supervision), which increases the child’s engagement with the activity and therefore increases the associated learning process.
The Mind Blowing Science set includes a small selection of equipment. There are no glass parts, flame elements, batteries or anything else that might be dangerous. Most of the equipment is just basic mixing, measuring and storage supplies. The kit also includes some items that aren’t used for any procedures but that have interesting physical properties, like sand that can’t get wet. The simple supply set in this kit is designed to be unintimidating to the young scientist.
The Mind Blowing Science set contains only a few chemicals. It also calls for grape juice and flour, technically household chemicals, which are not included. The chemicals in this kit are not dangerous, but you should still supervise your child while he/she conducts the experiments, at least until they are familiar with the proper procedures and can read the instructions.
In very basic beginners’ chemistry sets like the Mind Blowing Science kit, it is especially important that an adult supervises the experiments and reads the manual. The manual not only has instructions for conducting the experiments, but it explains the scientific principles that are being demonstrated by each test. If your child is not yet proficient at reading, you should read and explain the experiment explanations to your child to help him/her get the full benefit from this kit.
The Mind Blowing Science kit is the only one on our survey that is appropriate for kids as young as four and as such it has a very basic set of experiments and supplies. This kit got higher ratings than some of our more extensive beginner chemistry sets because it contains a small but very well-conceived set of experiments that are perfect for sparking scientific curiosity in young kids. Where other kits like the C100 Test Lab focused too much on one type of experiment, the Mind Blowing Science kit contains a variety of different tests. The emphasis on weather and nature experiments has the dual benefit of planting a seed of eco-consciousness in young scientists.
