It should be noted that the Foundation Chemistry Kit: Beakers and Bubbles is a kit from Yellow Scope Science Kits For Girls . It is heavily marketed as “science for girls” and is sold in a few online stores. I had never heard of it but saw it on clearance at the MakerShed (online store for Make magazine) for $15 and thought for that price it would be worth trying. I have a son and did not care that the kit said for girls and neither did he. The kit itself is not “girly” but has female scientists and encourages more writing and drawing than any other kit we have done. As my son has repeatedly said while doing the kit, “Science is for everyone!” Thus, we decided once we were done with the kit we would write a review to let others know about their kit and the fact it is good for both boys and girls.
We loved their lab book. Now, we didn’t write in ours because we were planning on sharing it with friends. However, we completed every single experiment and answered every question. Doing all the suggested experiments in addition to what the main lab experiments resulted in a total of 19 experiments. And, from there my son came up with a few of his own. Their lab book is broken into 3 separate labs with different amounts of experiments in each lab, which led us to break up the experiments over 3 days. Realistically, a family could do the whole kit in one day but it is better to break it up over 3 days. The lab book comes with great descriptions and explanations. It is written very clearly that any child could set up the experiment and run it with minimal adult assistance. We both felt their lab book was one of the better ones we’ve seen in kits.
Overall, the kit was fun and educational. It was too simple for our son. He was expecting more from a foundation chemistry kit. He had fun and said he would enjoy repeating it. As a parent, I liked how well stocked it was. There is definitely enough materials to repeat experiments. And, all materials are clearly labeled as well as easily identified if you needed to obtain more. The beakers used are a great size. Many other kits out there use really tiny plastic cups versus Yellow Scope using standard size plastic beakers with markings. The scientific explanations and the questions asked are much more thorough than what we have seen in the Magic School Bus Kits or the Scientific Explorer Kits.
The only downside is the price. I am so glad we picked it up on clearance when we did because MakerShed no longer carries it. However, its regular price is too expensive. At $44 it is almost double the price of other similar kits like the Magic School Bus and Scientific Explorer. It is higher quality but not double the price level. From being at the Yellow Scopes website, this appears to be their first kit and it is sold at a very limited number of physical stores. Hopefully, they will come out with more. And, maybe you will find it on sale. In addition, science is for everyone.
Adventures Of Hahn Academy 