Customer Reviews

Kid Concoctions & Contraptions

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

My 3 children, ages 4,8 & 15) love this book!. Its great fun for the little ones and has wonderful science experiments for the older kids. The best Kid Concoctions book yet!

My kids & I were so excited to purchase this 4th book in the Kid Concoctions series! We didn't even know ther was a 4th book until we read in the newspaper it had just won the Parents' Choice award. My children have growen up on the first 3 books and love this new book full of fresh innovative ideas. There is everything from Hollywood special effects to Sea Monkeys, flying rockets, and even a jet boat all made in minutes from household items. This book get our family vote for the best of all the Kid Concoctions books!!

Great science projects. We made the hover craft and had hover craft races with my sons 4th grade class. The kids learned about science and had a wonderful time. This is my sons favorite book....and mine too.

The best book in the series, teens will use the science projects like the hover craft and hydro jet boat for science class. Younger kids will love the special effects and gooey stuff.

I own several of the kid concoctions books; a few of the contraptions/concoctions we've tried didn't work. My daughter, who teaches school also tried them, she said some worked okay, but others didn't work at all. She also said they look good on paper, they seems like they'll work, but don't. One example the balloon hovercraft didn't work, we even tried several different sizes of balloons.

This is the 4th book in the series and our family of 5 think it is by far the best!!

We love these Kid Concoction books. They keep the kids happy for hours making things with everyday household items. This one is especially nice. It has a lot of very unique ideas. This is a great buy for those rainy days.

I bought this book when my son was 2 years old. Previously, I searched the internet extensively for experiments that I could do at home with my toddler, so I was ecstatic when I found this book. I have gotten it out periodically over the past year, always quite hopeful. Thus far, many of the experiments we have performed have been less than perfect.

For example, the soda pop potion: the idea is to make homemade soda. I followed the recipe exactly; not only did it taste horrible, it never fizzed. Pocket Rocket: the idea is to make a homemade rocket out of a 35mm film container. I tried this experiment countless times and the baking soda would dissolve before I even got the lid on; never did this work properly. Crystal paint: the idea is to paint a picture on black paper using a solution of salt and water...when it dries, it reveals your masterpiece. My son and I both tried this. After it dried we got nothing but a bunch of dried salt crystals that fell off our paper. Not resembling the design we painted.
I do have to say that two experiments turned out fine: Diving Raisins and Pistol Popper, which both are self-explanatory.

Unfortunately, many of the experiments require Alum, which I have none on hand (used in canning pickles/cherries), and some require unflavored gelatin (again, none on hand). Also, some of the experiments want you to wait a few days for something to dry/change (movie glass candy, phony spill, crazy rubber bones, plastic gelatin, disappearing egg shell, and sea monster farm. I have a 3 year old; unless "instant gratification" is in the directions, I don't even attempt it.

Overall, I think this book is a great idea for introducing children (maybe 5 or 6 years old) to science experiments. At that point they should know that all experiments don't result in positive results. And finally, I would probably not purchase this book again or recommend it.

This was very disappointing as some experiments, such as the balloon hovercraft look so cool in the book, but don't work at all. I wondered if the people who wrote the book even tried out the experiments - sure doesn't seem like it, as I followed the directions to the letter. (9" balloons etc.) I'm a kindergarten teacher and the kids were disappointed when it didn't work. I'd advise against these books as they are too unreliable and disappointing to children and adults. I've had great luck with other books. Steve Spangler has a website loaded with AWESOME science experiments and he pretests all of them - you can even see videos of his experiments on his website.

the book has alot of neat things inside for everyone. and very simple instructions makes it easy for the whole family.