Customer Reviews

Leonardo Da Vinci And The Renaissance (Treasure Chests(tm))

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The glider guy and the building were complicated enough that my lego savvy eleven year old couldn't manage them without adult help, but we did find the kit enjoyable overall.

This kit has a number of interesting activities to supplement texts about the Renaissance, in general, and da Vinci, in particular. Activities and supplies include: a nifty metallic treasure chest with a secret drawer; a model flying machine with pilot -- this was moderately difficult to build and worked only slightly, but it has a stand and is impressive looking; a model of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with its famous Brunelleschi dome -- this is difficult to build with glue as instructed (but much easier and quicker with a stapler!) but it looks good when it's done; punched drawing to illustrate the punched cartoon technique used by artists of the time; a 12-page pretend notebook of Leonardo's with examples of his sketches; a timeline of the events in the Maestro's life as well as concurrent events in Renaissance Europe; a sliding image to contrast the look of The Last Supper, before and after restoration; a built-in Alberti grid, squares imprinted on a transparent sheet to help an artist maintain perspective; a nice little book with sections on Leonardo's life, exploration, painting, sculpture and Gutenberg.

We enjoyed this set of activities, finding them interesting if not inspired. The quality of the materials is good, but we all thought the instructions were abysmal.