Kids can grow their own crystals with this kit that includes crystal formula, base rock, a growing tray, a magnifying glass, a spatula and easy-to-follow instructions. Rose Pink, Jade Green, Topaz Yellow, Amethyst Purple and White Diamond kits are also available. “Quality materials deliver excellent results,” Debra Ashley of Toysmith told TDmonthly.

Through building 36 models and conducting subsequent experiments, kids will learn the fundamental laws of mechanical physics. This hands-on approach is both fun and effective because the principles of physics are demonstrated right in front of children. Projects include building a windmill, making a hammer machine, and experimenting with pulleys and gears. It comes with a 64-page manual.

Children can get an up-close view of 12 animals and eight space-age phenomena as they hear cool facts or take a fun quiz. The detachable telescope features 3x magnification, automatic shut-off, and two game modes: Facts and Quizspeak. It is designed to develop listening comprehension skills and teach children important scientific concepts. “Children are learning about planets and animals with incredibly beautiful pictures….They can learn interesting facts, then take off the optical piece and use it as a real telescope," Kati Elliott of KEH Communications told TDmonthly.

Roly Poly Robot will tumble, fumble, stumble but will find a way to right itself up. The moment you turn it on, Roly Poly will speed away on its two cyclonic wheels. The engineering genius behind this well thought-out machine enables it to get on its ‘feet’ whenever it tumbles and then will continue on its new path of exploration. After assembling one worm gear and less than 20 parts, your mechanical marvel is ready to amuse any household pet. Sounds fun eh? Well, can’t let the fun stop here. Let’s personalize our robot friend. You can add your original work of art (drawing), or picture of your favorite person or pet and put it inside the dome. Wow, that’s a great idea!

Discovery and cranial developmental products has enabled OWI to be a premier science kit provider. The kit engages learning about gear structure, battery wiring, switch, and motor principles.

Very easy to assemble, this OWIKIT “JR Science Series” robot is ideal for robotic workshops, after-school programs, special events, gifts, science enrichment camps, classroom activities and promotional products market.

The Robotic Arm Trainer teaches the basic robotic sensing and locomotion principles while testing your motor skill as you build and control the arm. You can command this unit with its five switch wired controller with lights to grab, release, lift, lower, rotate wrist, and pivot sideways 350 degrees. After assembly, observe the dynamics of gear mechanisms through the transparent arm. Five motors and five joints allow for flexibility and fun! For educators and home schoolers, you’ll find the robotics technology curriculum and personal computer interface useful tools.

It is honored by being selected by The Institute For Childhood Resources as “100 BEST CHILDREN’S PRODUCT”, and “10 BEST EDUCATIONAL PRODUCTS”. Also, Robotic Arm Trainer has received the prestigious International award for “Good Design”.

Five axes of motion
Base to rotate left and right: 350 degrees
Shoulder moving range: 120 degrees
Elbow moving range: 135 degrees
Wrist rotate CW & CCW: 340 degrees
Grimmer open & close: 50 mm (2.2 inches)

Product Dimensions
Maximum length outwards - 360 mm (14.2 inches)
Maximum heights upwards - 510 mm (20.1 inches)
Maximum Lifting Capacity - 130 g (4.6 oz.)

With this kit, children can mix more than 15 flavor combinations to create their own crazy concoctions and make huge amounts of homemade gum. “This kit contributes to a child’s educational development because it involves a lot of creativity,” Susan Rives of product development for Scientific Explorer told TDmonthly. “Kids are encouraged to come up with their own custom gum flavor….After they’re satisfied with the gum, they can design its packaging.” Launch date: August 2006.
— “Scientific Explorer science kits. [Kids] can make candy, do slime, the bubble gum factory, dino kits,” Denis Hofsetter, owner of The Toy Store in Atlanta, Ga., listed some favorites in his best-selling educational line.
— “In the science and nature category, we sold 45 last month,” Margy Pein, owner of Tree House Toy Shop in Cumberland, Md., told TDmonthly in July 2008.
— Twelve percent of retailers said science kits and related activities account for their top-selling educational products.

With this indulgent kit, girls can transform a bath into a frothy fizzing sea of color and fragrance. They can make colorful, fragrant bath soaps, fizzers and oatmeal scrub while learning the science behind gels, fragrance and more. This kit “is not about being a stick figure or a beauty queen, but rather about relaxation and learning….While mixing and matching custom fragrances, kids can learn about the science of smell. While whipping up a fizzy bath ball, kids learn about how acids and bases react,” said Elizabeth Rives of Scientific Explorer, who created the kit for the company while still a college student.  Launch date: February 2003.
— Mary Porter, owner of science center The Curiosity Zone in Ashburn, Va., told TDmonthly, “Our best-selling toys are our science kits [from Scientific Explorer], especially Spa Science.”
— “Scientific Explorer. Anything at all sells well,” Carolyn Meyer, owner of Blue Turtle Toys in Dayton, Ohio, told TDmonthly. 
— “The line we do best with is Scientific Explorer, because it's a complete kit and it's easy to understand,” said Greg Bonner, owner of Heights Toy Center in Little Rock, Ark.
— Annie Ricks, owner of My Imagination Station in Hattiesburg, Miss., told TDmonthly her best-selling item for tweens is, “Spa Science, by Scientific Explorer.”
— Want this? As of 05/06/2011, this product was available for purchase at Magic Box Toys.

This kit contains more than 20 different activities, from concocting a stink bomb to making itching powder from scratch. The kit received iParenting Media’s “2004 Great Holiday Winter” award. It “reveals the secrets behind pranks while encouraging social skills. Kids have a great time laughing while they learn!” Jean Bessette of Scientific Explorer told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2004.

Children and adults can grow their own Healing Garden with three powerful healing plants, aloe, hyssop and eucalyptus, decorative sensory stones, and more. The plants were chosen for their healing properties and aesthetic beauty, as well as for their ease of growth. The Healing Garden is a new addition to DuneCraft’s Windowsill Greenhouse line. The all-inclusive greenhouse contains three color seed packets, a planting and drainage mixture and instructions.

The Mini Space Wonder Gyroscope provides for children the twin benefits of fun and education. It not only intrigues the child with its play value, it cultivates the mind with its physical properties. It's why it comes with a booklet to explain the toy and its operation. It also comes with its own pedestal, so that the gyroscope can keep spinning away.

Kids will become after-dinner science magicians as they uncover the iron in their food, stretch a banana, bend spoons and mix up a batch of quicksand gravy.

Soda Pop Science is a unique kit that lets kids invent their own secret soda formulas, create some fizz, experiment with flavors and colors, conduct taste tests and make wild, fizzy drinks for their friends. “Soda Pop is a very original kit and was the product of a collaboration with early learning experts at the University of California Berkeley GEMS program,” Jean Bessette of Scientific Explorer told TDmonthly. “This kit has won several awards.”
— In a summer 2010 survey, three of 43 specialty retailers named Scientific Explorer kits a top-selling product in the science and nature category. One retailer cited the Soda Pop Science Kit as a favorite.
— “Scientific Explorer is our number-one science line,” Casey Sartain, buyer for Tutoring Toy in Salt Lake City, Utah, told TDmonthly in August 2010.

Gerri Garniss, owner of Toys That Teach in Bothell, Wash., recommended the Folding Microscope as a stocking stuffer gift idea. “For me, it’s science, including microscopes from Toysmith,” she said. Only 3” long, the Folding Microscope lets growing scientists examine an image magnified 20 times. It comes with an adjustable focusing lens and two shatter-proof slide mounts. It’s an affordable and imaginative way to introduce young kids to the fascinating world of science.

The beauty of the Lab of Luxury Kit lies not only in its end product, but also in its educational value for growing minds. “The Lab of Luxury is a science kit that allows girls to create make-up,” Bill Rayment, owner of Toy Crossing in Harbor Beach, Mich., told TDmonthly. Yet it also allows girls to learn the science behind the make-up they wear. This kit provides components such as citric acid and sea salts to make products as various as fizzing bath balls and glittery lip gloss.

Part of Sakar’s range of products for the next installation of DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek movie in 2007, this Swamp Kit includes a telescope, a net, binoculars, plastic tweezers, a magnifier, a listening device, a lighted bug scope and bugs. Other kits include walkie-talkies, tents, flashlights and more. The Shrek line also features flash lights, iPod Skins, and MP3 Speaker Cases. Launch date: April 2007.

This reusable sand “plays like dough” and is ideal for sculpting and molding. It never dries out and can be used over and over again. This product was named one of the Top 100 Best Children’s Products of 2006 by Dr. Toy. “Moon Sand is an amazing product. Its traditional play pattern combined with innovation sets it aside from any other product. Kids are able to mold, squish and create any shape they want,” Ashley Elborne of Spin Master Toys told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2006.
— “They were all looking for Moon Sand [this Christmas],” Nancy Streeter, owner of Eureka Toys in Newburyport, Mass., reported to TDmonthly. “The manufacturer ran short on this.”
— “MoonSand … they were sold out in the mass [market],” explained Deran Muckjian, owner of Catch a Falling Star in Lexington, Mass.
— Six of 31 retailers surveyed said they’d gotten numerous requests for this product, which they didn’t stock.

Join Sam as he explores mineral and rock formation, the rock cycle, mineral identification, the Mohs hardness scale and famous rocks around the world. Each kit contains a teaching manual, a student workbook, a rocks and minerals journal for each child to complete, field guide, mineral testing kit, rock samples, display box and supplies for a fun art activity. "Science, art, history and geography are integrated into each unique kit, giving children a much broader understanding. The kits are ready-to-use and parents do not have to gather obscure supplies,” Michelle Eichhorn, owner of Treasure Box Press, told TDmonthly. "Children seem to gravitate toward rocks. They enjoy filling their pockets with any unusual rock they find. After this kit, they'll be able to identify their finds as igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary. What better way to learn?"

This non-solder robot features a radical walking style, a light sensor beam, and the ability to avoid interference. The SPIDER III judges by the reflection of its light sensor rays whether there are obstacles, and then gives signals in the form of electric pulses to alter the rotating direction of the left side motor. It requires 2 AA batteries and 1 9V battery (not included). OWI “kits incorporate the basic principles of robotic sensing and locomotion, and guarantee an adventure that’s exciting, challenging, educational and fun,” President Craig Morioka of OWI Inc. told TDmonthly.

This non-solder robot in the OWI Beginner Series has a futuristic style and features a touch/sound sensor that prompts it to change direction when it hears a loud noise or comes in contact with an object. It comes with a condenser microphone, a pre-assembled printed circuit board, and an easy-to-assemble mechanical drive, and requires only basic hand tools and two AA batteries (not included). The product was selected by the Children's Institute for Childhood Resources as one of the "100 Best Children's Products" and "10 Best Software/High Tech Products" for 2001.

Children can “make widgets that work and gadgets that go” with this activity book by Doug Stillinger that includes a genuine Klutz alkaline battery, buzzer, propeller, light bulb, motor and other useful items. Through eight different projects, the product helps kids master the real science behind electricity. It received the Parents’ Choice Recommended Award and was listed as one of Dr. Toy’s 10 Best Educational Products and Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products. “Budding scientists will be amp'd with all eight of the kid-tested parent-approved projects, which range from a propelled swamp boat to creating a motorized bugzilla,” publicist Melissa Bloomfield of Scholastic Inc. told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2003.

This kit includes a 7” gypsum block, tools, a paper clip and twine — everything needed to assemble a complete 11-1/2"- to 12"-tall pirate. The free Pirate Dig Kit POP contains two each of four styles. Launch date: 2006.
— “In this hot pirate market, these are incredibly well-done and particularly cute skeletons that are the perfect gift for any pirate enthusiast,” Cindy Vader of GeoCentral told TDmonthly.

Even girls will like this antquarium with its bright pink gel. The product has a slightly rounded shape and contains the special transparent media where ants build their habitat creating new and unpredictable paths and tunnels. The set includes a large container, ants booster, a special 4x lens, a starter stick and an instruction handbook. The unit requires no food or water. Launch date: December 2006.
— “[It’s] the only pink gel-based ant habitat available. The space-age NASA-developed gel also produces oxygen, providing a beneficial environment for the ants,” Greg Adams, head of marketing at Bio-Spheres told TDmonthly. He mentioned that Bio-Spheres is the only company that offers replacement gel.

Peek into the underground world of earthworms and discover their earth-saving secrets! See how they turn waste into soil and dig tunnels to create drainage for plants. Perform experiments to demonstrate how worms live and work underground. Have fun with the “Super Squirmin” character cutouts. Complete kit includes: Double-sided viewing unit with shield & tray (keeps light out–worms in), super-expanding soil wafers, live action experiment booklet and colorful worm cut outs.

Assembly your own candy dispensing machine. Easy to assemble and decorate. Just press a button and out comes your treats. Packed 4 per case.

In honor of its 50th anniversary, the classic ant farm of the '50s fast-forwards into the future with this all-new Ant Farm Gel Colony habitat. Ant fans can watch their ants make 3-D, translucent tunnels in this futuristic habitat, featuring a green-tinted clear gel for ants to dig and tunnel. The clean, contemporary styling also makes this item perfect for a kid's room, classroom, college dorm or office.  Launch date: Fall 2006
— “Ant farm fans get all of the benefits of the original — seeing ants thrive in a habitat of their very own while developing an appreciation for these amazing tiny creatures.” Andrew Sroufe of Salmon Borre Group told TDmonthly.