Test Tube Science Kit, amazing find or complete dud?

A few years ago in Hobby Lobby I found this cool little kit. It had 5 test tubes, a nice plastic stand, and this nice little see-through bag. Now, I love random small bags, for not other reason than it’s a random small bag, and cool science stuff, why not? So I picked it up thinking it could be a fun science lesson with the kids someday.

(there are affiliate links in here)

What’s in the Test Tube Science Kit?

Like I said, it has 5 test tubes, a fun little plastic stand, and that wonderful little bag. Inside each test tube is a different experiment.

It actually looks like they changed the experiments from when I first picked it up, which is all to the good because some of the experiments were odd….

Our favorite experiment in the test tube science kit

Our favorite experiments were the polymer creating test-tube experiments because they gave instant results. It was cool to see the little worm like creations that suddenly showed up at the top of the tube, especially since they changed color as we added drops from a bottle included in the kit.

They did eventually enjoy the crystal growing kit, but it did not give instant results. As you can see the kids tried out this project when they were significantly younger (maybe 4 years ago?), so having patience for a project to do anything was not on their list of fun.

Their least favorite experiment

I don’t even have a picture related to it, because it was a test tube that just had instructions in it, and they were so disappointed they didn’t have a mysterious power or strange crystals to mess with, they lost the paper.

I can’t even tell you what it was.

Would I get this test tube science kit again?

Maybe?

To be honest the best part of the whole thing was the five plastic test tubes with screw on lids and the plastic stand they fit in so perfectly.

Most of the projects could be recreated for less, and many of them are frequently done on many blogs I follow.

It does look like the projects in the test tube kit have changed, so every test tube has something in it, which is a big deal to young kids.

Okay, I’ll be honest, it’s a big deal for me too.

But that plastic test tube stand and the plastic test tubes were might nice. They inspired a lot of pretend play amongst my kids and were used for various different “experiments.”

So, let’s look at how you might replicate what was in that kit:

Similar awesome test tubes and stand
instant snow (2 gallons worth) OR make your own fake snow (like I did with my kids in preschool, warning terrible pictures)
make magic sand or other projects
Grow crystals

Now, I haven’t found an easy replacement for the new color changing polymers and beads, but still, I’m pretty sure you could find something if you spent more than the two minutes I searched.

But, there is still the fun that comes with a ready made kit, and this would make a cool birthday present for a friend (if you didn’t want to make your own like I shared in that magic sand link).