ScienceWiz / Inventions Kit

I have bought this for my 9-year old daughter, and we spent a couple of days working our way through: she needed a lot of help and guidance with putting this together. Motor: this was the easiest and worked great. Telegraph: worked very well, but not easy for a child to distinguish between long and short while operating. She loved learning the Morse code anyway, and it's a fun way to remind your kid about a chore they forgot. Radio: was a bit tricky, as I think a diod provided was defective and needed a bit of pressure to work. We did manage to listen to some white noise.Light-flashing generator: did not work for us; I don't think the string provided was adequate but my daughter learned a lot from just trying to make it work. Overall, it was a very positive bonding experience for us, and she learned a lot about electromagnetic waves, electromagnets and electricity. She is asking so many questions about electricity now. This kit has been a great help in getting her interested in science.

The radio took forever to assemble & did not work for us (we were initially able to pick up static). Too complex for my technical 7 yr old. However, the other projects worked GREAT! Neat learning about electromagnets, and then seeing them put to work! My advice would be to start with the telegraph, then the motor, then the lightbulb, saving the radio for last.

We purchased these science kits to do with my nephews. They are 8 and 11. The kit contains almost everything you need to start getting inventive. Kids will be able to learn how to make a radio, work a small motor, and more. This is a very hands on kit, but has videos/directions you can access on the internet, as well as the full book that comes with it. It is missing batteries, and you will need to have them. Consider ordering more than one kit if you have more than one child, or you want to do a kit with them.

Hey, I read some of the negative reviews. Some expectations are perhaps higher than appropriate for a $20 kit.I was able to show my nine year old grandson how to build the electric motor. It took some careful adjustment but it worked well once "balanced." He was able to make one on his own after that. I think he learned a lot and enjoyed the process.Good value if you are willing to take your time and help younger kids.

Although the age range for this kit is from 8 to 80, I thought I'd try it for my highly intelligent, six year old who desires to be a scientist. Probably not a good idea for most. ..which I learned. This kit requires a lot of fine motor skills--which most 6 year olds haven't fully acquired. I ended up having to do most of the work. Also, if you do end up purchasing this, I'd suggest two things: 1)remember to twist the ends of your wires. I had to discover this on my own ;o( 2) always read ahead. The directions aren't written for step by step configurations. More than once we had to take apart something because step 2 (or 3, or 4, etc)told us to do something unexpected. Also, we could not get everything to work. . .even after getting replacements.On the bright side. . .My son absolutely loved the things that worked!! And even though he couldn't do the advanced things, he was really able to understand how the inventions work. Also, when I contacted the company, they gladly sent replacements.I would still order from this company because their science kits offer a wonderful knowledge base for children, adults (& teachers).

Got this as a gift for my grade school aged godson. Very engaging kit for kids to play with and develop an interest in science. Good gift for kids! Won't cause explosions.

This kit is a great concept, but a complete dud in reality. I bought this for my 8 year old grandson who loves science. We tried two projects from this kit, the motor and the radio. The motor was underwhelming at best. Then we spent a couple hours constructing the radio and trying to get it to work. My grandson was so excited to make the radio, only to be left disappointed that it did nothing. Yes, we did follow the instructions to the letter. He said he would give it 0 stars if possible. I agree, it was a waste of time.

These kits were given to ten scout-age boys learning about Electricity. They and their attending parents enjoyed the twenty-minute exercise, making a magnetic coil and using it with the supplied parts and pieces to complete a telegraph. Great! The topic was Electricity and all the boys could take home their own kit to complete the other three experiments at home. I'll be back to more more and different science-type kits. Good fun with a good outcome, learning.

This is not a kit it's just a book