Thames & Kosmos 626020 Pepper Mint in The Great Treehouse Engineering Adventure Science Experiment Kit, Blue

I bought this for my seven year old daughter for her birthday bc it was a lightning deal and she is a red head like pepper! Turns out- most fun thing I’ve ever purchased for her! We didn’t do it all at once bc there are so many activities! Learning takes place every time too. We will definitely be purchasing others from this brand!

I gave this to my eight year old daughter. She was able to read the instructions and assemble the tree house all on her own! I will be purchasing more from this line!

Bought for my STEM loving son for his 9th birthday. Looks cool in concept but was cheaply made and difficult to assemble correctly because of flimsy materials.

First, I'll start by saying that my 4 year-old saw this, and put it on his Christmas wishlist, and so I couldn't resist buying it for him. He and my other son, aged 6, are no strangers to STEM kits; it's one our favorite things to do. This kit was different from others we've had, in that it presented a story line that necessitated the various tasks - building a hoist, pulley system, wiring, etc. It's a great concept that not only demonstrate real life applications, but also kept kids interested. Since my children are much younger than the recommended age, I had to help them with several of the activities. I found that directions were not always clear - the syntax of instructional statements was a bit off, which sometimes led to confusion as I read directions aloud to my kids. I found that clarifying statements were sometimes made at the end of a paragraph, when it would have helped greatly if they were placed at the beginning instead. In retrospect, I would read through each activity first, as younger children expect the steps to be in sequence. Also, the pieces connect rather loosely, in my opinion. For instance the pulley is meant to be used, but the axle that is used to turn the wheels slides easily and and out of the assembly (despite the provided "axle stoppers"), which results in the whole assembly falling off the tree house, and needing to be reassembled. However, despite the few flaws I've described, I think this is a good tool for sparking interest and questions, and just getting kids to be "hands on" with the subject matter set forth. My boys particularly loved wiring the lights, and there were enough "jobs" to go around. I also appreciate that there is some room for trial and error. For instance, we followed all the instructions to set up the lights, but there was a mix up about where to set the diode side versus the anode side (critical detail in making the lights work). We got it wrong the first time, so it was a process to figure out what may be wrong and how to fix it. My 6-year old was up for the challenge, and once he figured it out, it was all the more reason to celebrate. They turned off all the lights nearby so they could enjoy their newly created ambiance. All in all, this kit is a winner, even for younger kids!

I was looking for a gift for my 7 year old niece that didn’t require batteries. And didn’t have a screen. And she liked it anyway!

Grandson loved it. Some parts hard to assemble.

The product came as advertised

Kids had so much fun assembling. Gift for 8 year old. 11 year old enjoyed helping.