NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Purple Crystal Growing Lab - DIY Crystal Creation - Includes Real Amethyst Crystal Specimen

My kids (ages 5 and 7) and I had a lot of fun with this kit. The instructions are pretty easy and the steps are pretty kid friendly, as far as stirring and mixing goes. An adult does need to help, though, since there is hot water and powdery elements involved. Be mindful of the glass you use to grow the crystals in. Make sure the top of the glass or jar is as wide as the base. I used a tulip glass and found myself breaking the glass with a hammer in order to get the crystals out. The crystals themselves are pretty cool, too. I let them sit in the glass for about two weeks. And, yes, they do glow in the dark. The kit also includes a large flourite crystal and some education on crystals in general. The kids really enjoyed it and would check on the crystals' growth every day.

My daughter enjoyed the project very much. We finally drained the remaining liquid today and removed the crystal from the growing chamber. It did break when being removed but we ended up with a decent sized chuck. I was out of paper towels so I grabbed a sheet of foil to place the crystals on until the completely air dry. Well, my husband came home from work and pulled me aside. He asked very bluntly why there is meth on our kitchen counter. I googled pictures of meth and it sure as heck looks like meth. We got a good laugh. I definitely won't leave it sitting out on foil anymore though. We will check if it glows in the dark and I'll update if it doesn't.

The reason I give this product 4 stars is due to the seller's kindness. The first time I grew this with my son, I dissolved the powder in 1 cup of water as directed to in the booklet. I got a cloudy solution, and I remember at the time thinking if I should strain it or not to avoid crystallization points in other areas besides the seed rock. Unfortunately I didn't, and after letting it cool for 15 minutes, I added the seed rock and noticed a rim of "snow" already. After 5 days there was nothing other than a crystal snow, which although impressive, was not our goal. The seller sent a second package with the instructions: Please take these steps with your next experiment in order to achieve optimal results: 1. Use a clean (be sure there is no soap remaining after you wash) glass jar as a growing chamber. A wider mouth works better as it allows for more evaporation during the process. 2. Use VERY hot water as indicated by the instructions (adult supervision required). (Filtered or distilled water will work best because it will be free of other dissolved material) 3. After dissolving your crystal growing powder, let the solution cool for about 15 minutes before adding the seed crystal. 4. Once the seed crystal is added place your prepared growing chamber in an out-of-the way place where is won't be disturbed for the during of the growing process. Here are the alterations I used: I used 1.25 cups of water instead of 1 cup. This fully dissolved the powder into a clearish solution. I then quickly filtered it with an Aeropress (which can handle hot liquids). This gave a very clear solution. Then after cooling, I added the seed crystals. I am unsure if you can just gravity filter with a funnel and some loose coffee filters, but the Aeropress was easy. This worked much better and the crystals are slowly growing on the seed crystal. I suspect the process might be faster if I used less water and had a saturated solution, but I didn't want snow again. This experiment was less of a sure-shot than the Ice Age kit that we got (which grew both snow and large single crystals). Here is the ice age kit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0039N4JAC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got this last minute on a whim. It's the best Christmas present she got. She's obsessed with the "Crystal book" that came with the kit. That was a nice added bonus. My 3yo now wants to be a scientist when she grows up. I'll definitely be checking out more NatGeo products in the future. Kit takes less than 10 min to put together. Just enough time. I definitely recommend letting it sit the extra time as recommended. And with this color you cant watch it grow because the purple is so dark. Didn't bother us because it was an awesome surprise when we poured out the liquid. Word of advice-- use a wide mouth glass container. I had to bust the mason jar to get the crystal out because it was so big!

A big hit with a pair of eight- and nine-year-old siblings. The growth aspect avoids the 'play with it for half an hour and lose interest before December 26' problem, and I feel good about getting them something educational. (They seem to do so little science in school! It's all STEM engineering stuff now...) I had a set like this twenty years ago and loved it--my niece and nephew are just as happy. :) From a teacher perspective--parents looking to emphasize the educational aspect might bring the scientific method into it. Particularly: make a hypothesis about what will happen (tweens can focus on why or how it happens--what is the mechanism that causes crystal growth) before reading the accompanying materials.

I love the concept of the National Geographic science kits. We got a kit that included several experiments, they all worked except the crystal did nothing! These kits are fun to do with children but an adult supervision is necessary. The crystal activity I followed the instructions I thought exactly using purified water, boiled in stainless steel, set the project in a glass heat-proof vessel. No crystal. We now have done this 3 times. Success only once, the very 1st try. So now I wonder if the "seed" is not good? I know this can work but it is unpredictable and disappointing for the child. If you get the one with the numerous crystals and the light stand, it is too difficult to scrape away the bottom of the crystal to have the light show through thus the crystal cracks and falls apart. Anyone want to add suggestions to have a successful crystal each and every time with these kits?

My 7-year-old girl was so excited when she unwrapped this on Christmas! Santa also brought some science equipment, so we dressed up (lab coat and safety goggles - both not necessary) to get the crystal started. Instructions were clear and easy to follow. We kept it in a safe place for a week. When we first took a look when the week was up, she was disappointed because some water had evaporated, but she couldn't see a crystal. Then I poured out the remaining water - HUGE (her words) crystal! We used a container slightly larger in diameter than an average coffee mug and the whole bottom was covered with little crystal spikes, with a tall "mountain" of large crystals in the center. She immediately brought it up to her room and put in in a place of honor! My only (tiny!) quibble is that my dad was looking for an ingredients list and couldn't find one, even after searching the internet. He's a chemist, so he was curious about this. Nonetheless, he thought it was pretty cool too

Bought this for my 9 year old grandson. We did this together. Very easy. After this we also did a blue one. He thought the finished product was neat. And shared it with his teacher and class via their online class. It is small, fits in your hand. Our second one turned out a little better since I was more careful in removing it from the growing container. For the price and the ease of doing, it is a neat gift.

Worked very well

The marketing of this product is almost a scam. You don't grow any "glow-in the dark crystal", let alone something green. You grow white NH4H2PO4 crystals on a phosphorescent plaster-like artificial seed (provided). The crystal itself is not green, it's white, and does not glow. Only the plaster you put underneath glows. You do get a sample of an actual Fluorite (CaF2), which by the way, does not glow either, not even under UV light. The white crystals that you grow are actually lovely, but that's not what I paid for.

Le rendu est super et bien coloré. Très facile à mettre en place.

Gift was received and enjoyed.

Impresionante - funciono de maravilla. Lo unico es que despues de hacer el cristal, hay que guardarlo en un sition donde no le de el sol para que mantenga su color. Pero de verdad era genial!