MythBusters Science Kit

Meghan Says

I’ve been having email issues, so I didn’t even KNOW I was expecting a review item from Team Mom recently.  Dylan was THRILLED when the “brown truck” pulled up outside with something for him!  Finally!  And my husband was thrilled it wasn’t another delivery from Target.com or Ann Taylor Loft.  But that’s another story for another time.

Anyway, as avid MythBusters watchers, I was stoked to see that it was something related to that show.  We watch it all the time around here.  But we were disheartened to see that the age range for the MythBusters Science Kit was 9+ years.  Dylan is only 4 1/2, even if he THINKS he’s 12.

But then I thought of my nephew, who IS 9 (ish) and I figured we could all play with the “Weird World of Water” kit when we were at my Mother-in-Law’s last week.

Of course, things didn’t quite work out as planned when they didn’t show up that day.  Dylan was SO EXCITED to do the “water rocket” that we figured it would be easier to only do PART of the kit than it would be to tell him he’d have to wait.  He’s a bit on the dramatic side, and after being so good about waiting ALL DAY we couldn’t bring ourselves to tell him that he couldn’t do it at all.

SO, we mixed vinegar (apple cider, because that was all my MIL had!) and baking soda  and launched a rocket!  Onto the roof!  Whoops!

So then we got out the ladder and my husband climbed up onto the roof and retrieved the rocket, which was in pretty good shape, considering.

The patio was another story, as it was kind of covered in apple cider vinegar.  But OH WELL.  Nothing a little hose down wouldn’t fix.

We launched the rocket again, which was a bit of a catastrophe due to user error (fyi:  Adding MORE vinegar and baking soda than is recommended is NOT a good idea! AND, make sure you don’t get distracted when mixing the vinegar and baking soda and try to put the rocket upside down.  Because that reaction happens pretty damn quickly and you just *might* almost take out your two year old.  Not that I would know.)

We were forced to call it a night when we ran out of vinegar.  But the rocket was still in pretty good shape, so we took it home and used it a few more times the next day.  Until it was completely obliterated in one exceptionally violent landing.

All in all, even though we ONLY used the Water kit for the rocket, we really enjoyed it.  Dylan thought that launching a rocket was “AWESOME!” and it even made him a bit more accepting of the fact that a REAL rocket was launched by our house  a few days later.  Which is a big deal given his history.

All in all, I wish we’d taken the time to try out the other activities, like making a tornado in the provided soda bottles (I loved doing that as a kid).  But, even though we “only” made a water rocket, I still would have been happy if we’d paid the $19.99 for it.  My only complaint is that it only comes with enough supplies to make ONE rocket.  There are two bottles in the package, so having enough fins and noses for two rockets would have been awesome.

If you have an older kid you need a gift for, I’d definitely recommend it.  And if you have a younger kid whose smile you’d want to see, I would also recommend it!

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