Discovery™ #Mindblown Space Race Marble Run, Interstellar Construction Set, 3 Competitive Racing Events for 6 Marbles, Education STEM Toy, Learn Physics & Engineering, 340-piece, Kids Gift Age 6+

It's always such a beautiful thing when a child is learning something and they don't even realize that they are learning! My sister is a teacher of Middle School Language Arts, and she asked me if she could use this for her ELD class, and I was happy to let her take it. She called me tonight to let me know how much her students are LOVING this! The students are learning English by working together as they build this project. They are using real world skills, reading directions and speaking in English as they work together to build their project. What sets this Discovery set apart from other brands is, I believe, the instructions. The instructions that come with this set are extremely detailed with words AND pictures. So many things that need to be put together these days come with a piece of paper that only has pictures, but no written instructions, often leaving the person putting it together scratching their heads. Not this! This project has such detailed directions - down to listing every single part that is supposed to be (and was) in the box. The ELD kids were able to open the box, inventory all of the parts, then begin to build the project, working together and speaking English as they work. According to my sister the kids loved it so much on the first day that they couldn't wait to come back and work on it again the next day! It's so nice to see these kids getting so excited about this, mainly because they are learning English without even knowing it! As they work together they are communicating with each other, and they are problem solving together. This set is so much fun for them, and they are loving it so much! What an amazing learning tool!!! I really give kudos to the Discovery Kids people because this is such a cool, fun, and educational toy...in fact, it's almost too cool to say that it's a toy lol! I would definitely recommend this for older children and teens; or kids could even build it with a parent for some quality one on one time! The end goal for my sister's class is going to be that once they complete building their project they are going to make a movie of it, including photos that they have been taking along the way, and they are going to be able to share that video with their families, and they can also keep it forever. I just can't say enough about this set - it's the best, and I will definitely be looking for more like it!

I bought this thinking it would be fun to put it together with my 6 year old grandson. The box clearly indicates it is for ages 6 and up. He loves putting together complicated lego projects by himself. This is WAY too difficult for his age. The instructions are very poorly done. The plastic pieces are very flimsy and do not fit well together. Assembly took several hours and the end product is not very stable. Major disappointment!!!

I had a hard time getting my kids interested in building this one. It looks like a lot of work- and it is. It's tedious to assemble. The idea is fun but the work needed to get to the fun of running the marbles is too much.This would probably be more appropriate for middle school age or maybe a STEM classroom build but it takes far to long to assemble before up can enjoy playing with it.

I had hoped to give this to my young children for Christmas. But after I spent 2 hours assembling it as an adult I am quite confident my kids would destroy it. The long pieces are relatively flimsy and bend if your not careful when you insert them into the union balls. Combine that with instructions soo small I felt like I was 90 years old with how close I had to hold them to my face. I can see that the possibilities are technically endless regarding how you can assemble this, but because the length of the pieces are not linear your child would have to be a savant to be able to build anything more complex than what the instructions provide.I was lucky enough to receive all the pieces I was supposed to, but thats about it. There were only a couple spare parts, and no spare long structure pieces which will be the most likely to break. Considering this is supposed to be a kit for kids, I would expect them to provide backup pieces.Overall it was pretty entertaining when complete. But unfortunately because of the complexity of building anything other than the original design, I fear that it wouldn't get touched again after first use. So in that respect it's entertainment value is somewhat limited.

This is a good set for older children. It comes with a lot of pieces that require patience to put together. The pieces aren't super strong either so it requires a delicate touch in some places. It works great once you assemble it though and is lots of fun.

The media could not be loaded. CONTENTS: Our set didn’t come with the space signs which was disappointing. Otherwise, everything was there.ASSEMBLY/INSTRUCTIONS: Tedious and time consuming. The manual gives color coding for visual aids but does not apply the color scheme to the pieces. You must be very careful when assembling and it is very easy to mistake the size on pieces. The manual isn’t also the clearest but doable. I did have to take pics each page and enlarge on my iPad to get a clear view….that was a first!APPLICATION: It just didn’t deliver consistently and I had to modify the structure. Even with the modification, even though it did deliver 99% of the time, it still wasn’t stable. Most sets my son and I enjoy building, rebuilding or reconstructing in other ways but I don't’ see us (or I should say me as this was for sure an adult task) putting together again.Overall, while the set looks really cool and different with the “racing” quality to it, I just don’t recommend. If you have a kiddo who loves to spend hours assembling and trouble shooting though, the this set may be for them!

Marble runs and marble mazes are starting to come back into fashion now. There are more and more runs showing up, and many are not very good. This Discovery run is good. It is awesome. The pieces connect snugly, and the space motif is just so cool. The marbles move very well on the tracks and don't get hung up or fall off. Get one of these for your kids, your cat, or just yourself, and be mesmerized by the magic of a marble maze.