Club SciKidz Labs is a subscription box for children ages 7 and older. Each month your box will be filled with lab equipment and hands-on STEM activities, science experiments and engineering projects.
The first box that you will receive is the Welcome Box which includes an exclusive Lab Notebook you can use for experiments in future boxes.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Club SciKidzLabs
The Subscription Box: Club SciKidz Labs
The Cost: $34.95 per month + free shipping
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 20% off your first box!
CODE: NEW17
The Products: Each monthly lab kit includes hands-on STEM activities, science experiments, engineering projects, nature crafts, lab equipment and various other items.
Ships to: U.S. and Canada
Club SciKidz Labs August 2018 Review
Included in the box is a card titled “What’s in the Box?” which lists the items, experiments, and activities included in the box. This month’s box is about Exploring Our Solar System.
The included Welcome Activity Guide includes an introduction to the solar system, a lab safety checklist, and a table of contents. They also include some science vocabulary related to the specific experiments and projects in the box. All of the information is incredibly useful and they even have a chart on the back describing Experimental Design which is a great reference to have.
The book details the experiments and projects in the box and includes several extension activities in the back which I think is great! There is a section of 20 Micro Experiments and Observations that provide fun ways to explore the projects further if you wanted. In your Welcome Box, you will receive a Lab Notebook that you can use to record these observations. The last section of the booklet is entitled Scientists That Inspire and this month they featured Guion Bluford who is the first African American to travel into space.
Each month they include a “science surprise” in the form of a candy and a little toy. This is the toy, galactic putty (found here for $3.90), which I thought was really cool and definitely reminded me of space with the fun colors and slight shimmer.
Our candy treat was Pop Rocks. This was a fun blast from the past!
Activity #1: UV Beads and Sun Print Paper
Our first experiment involved learning about UV light. The experiments always have an introduction, materials section and procedures, so it is easy to follow and complete them.
The first part was to record what color the beads we received were on our observation sheet. Then we put them on the pipe cleaner and wore them like a bracelet and went outside. The beads began changing color immediately, which was fascinating to my kids!
Then we divided the beads in our egg carton and covered half with the plastic wrap and observed.
We also received two pieces of sun print paper. For the first sheet we used the enclosed packet of sunblock and smeared it on half- I might have used a bit too much, but to be fair, I've never put sunblock on paper before. For the second sheet, we provided our own four small objects and placed them on top of the paper, set them outside, and then observed after some time.
I thought these experiments were such a great way to show kids how quickly the sun can take effect. It was a great way to explain why sunblock is needed when we go outside and the visual examples were incredibly helpful. Very simple, yet effective in teaching about UV rays.
Activity #2: Why is the Sky Blue?
For this activity, we had to provide our own plastic container, water, and a spoon.
They provided this flashlight for us, which was actually a pretty decent quality with its nice bright light and handy strap.
We filled our container with water and then taped our index card to one end.
We observed what happened when we shined our light through the plain water and then when we added the powdered milk to our water. The point of this was to show us how the sun is responsible for the colors in the sky by observing the colors in the beam of light.
Activity #3: Solar System Model
Our nature project for this month was to make our own solar system model. We received this long piece of paper that showed us the sizes of each planet in comparison to the sun. We used the model magic they gave us to roll up into spheres for the planets.
Next, we used our own markers from home to color in the planets correctly by referencing the planet chart that they gave us. Then we used our glue (from home) to glue them to the correct spots and let it dry. This was a fun, easy way to make a model solar system and I love that the size is just big enough to hang up for reference without taking up too much wall space. It also really helped us become aware of scale since we had to create the planets in the correct size with our own hands.
Activity # 4: Constellation Geoboard
The provided all of the materials needed to make our own constellation geoboard. They gave us a cork trivet as the base and a pre-cut sheet of constellations.
We used the Mod Podge and included cosmetic wedge to secure the sheet to the corkboard. I appreciated that they gave us something to apply the Mod Podge with!
Once it was dry, we were able to use the pins and mini rubberbands they gave us to mark the constellations. It was actually pretty tricky to get the rubber bands just right on each one, but it looked pretty cool once they were complete. I think they were supposed to glow in the dark, but I couldn't see anything when we tested it out.
Activity #5: Electric Space Car
So our last activity was to make an electric space car and when I went to complete the first step, I realized I was missing an important piece, the on/off switch. Fortunately, the directions and pictures were so detailed I was able to see exactly what was missing.
We reached out to customer service and within a few days, they sent us the missing piece, along with a few extra surprises for our trouble (make your own bouncing ball kits-so cool!). This is what they do for any subscriber if this happens, so it's nice to know they value their customers and will make it right ASAP!
This was our missing on/off switch. Now we were ready to go!
The first step was connecting all the wires to the appropriate spots. This was easy to do with the detailed directions and pictures they provided.
We did need to provide our own hot glue gun for this next part which was to glue the motor and switch to the top of our 9-volt battery. I'm not sure if a glue gun is something that a lot of people have on hand though, so this could be a potential issue for some!
Next, we assembled our wheels using dowels that we hot glued into bottle caps and straws that we slid onto the dowels before gluing on the second bottle cap.
Lastly, we glued our wheels to our battery bottom and added the little propellor to the piece on the motor.
When we hit the on/off switch the propeller started to spin, but for some reason, I could not get our car to move. I thought maybe our wheels were too close together and so I tried moving them, but that didn't work either. For me, it was enough just to see that little propeller go! It was cool to see such a simple method for creating something that is electrically powered.
Verdict: There were a lot of activities in this month's Club SciKidz Labs box! Even though we were missing a part, I think we still would have been fine even if we didn't get to complete that last activity since there was so much to do, but it was great to see how responsive their customer service was. I really appreciate how educational this box always is and how the activities are such great hands-on experiences that help to really engage kids in the learning process. This box costs $34.95, including free shipping, and I think that it's a great value for such a complete lesson in science. I always think of this as a great supplemental tool for a homeschool science class, but I think any kid would appreciate the experiments and fun toy and candy.
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? All subscribers will receive this Welcome Box to get their labs started! Each month after there is a different themed box. Spoiler: see here for a complete list.
Coupon - Use code NEWBOX18 to save 10% off your first box!
Check out all of our Club SciKidz Labs reviews and more activity boxes for kids ages 5-8 and ages 9-12 in the Kids Subscription Box Directory!
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