Customer Reviews

Scientific Explorer Scientific Explorer Bubble Gum Food Science Activity Kit

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My 6 year old received this kit for Christmas and was very excited to make her own gum. I really liked that the booklet had a very educational introduction. We were able to make 6 gumballs from one recipe so it is a little time consuming for such a small amount of product. I would maybe double or triple the recipe next time. However, my daughter was very pleased with how her gumballs turned out and enjoyed the taste. I had to help a good bit with the whole process because it is quite messy and when the gum gets thick, it is hard to stir. She was able to help a lot though with every step of the process.

The first step in the gum-making process is to gather all your ingredients for your particular recipe, to measure them out, and to put them into individual cups. This is a waste of time as it is just as easy to measure out the ingredients when you need them, you don't need all the powdered sugar that is told to be measured, and the corn syrup is nearly impossible to accurately pour back out of the cup and into the mixture. The only ingredient that needs to be measured out ahead of time is the gum base. Be sure to put this in a DISPOSABLE container as you will not want to have to scrape your dishes clean. Also, it is helpful to use a DISPOSABLE stir stick to mix up the gum. We used a disposable chop stick.

As other reviewers have mentioned, it takes MUCH longer to melt the gumballs than the recommended 10-20 secs. I believe we probably heated them a total of minute and a half before we actually got a gummy texture.

When kneading the gum, I found it helpful to lay down plastic wrap on the work surface so I did not have to worry about a sticky gooey counter top.

If you have some time, this is a fun project. Just be sure to take common sense precautions to protect your dishes and counter and you will have far less stress with it.

My 6 year old son loves gum, so I thought this would be a good toy for him for Christmas. All 3 of my children ended up loving it. They each made their own flavor and it was very easy to do. It did take longer to melt the gum pellets than the instructions say, but no big deal. All parents tell their kids not to play with their gum, but with this kit, you get to play with it during the kneading process. After they were done, we rolled it in saran wrap. I've heard them proudly telling their little friends that they made their own gum :) It tasted pretty good, too.

My 9 year-old, 11 year-old and her friend and I did this together this afternoon. The gum base never got soft enough to stir together with the corn syrup. We ended up scraping out the mess onto a plate and then adding the flavoring and powdered sugar. It was almost impossible to knead, especially for a child. The taste wasn't great. We all agreed the watermelon flavor smelled like dill pickles. My nine year-old put it well by saying "That just flat out didn't work right". We enjoyed ourselves despite the fact that it was a flop, since the girls thought the gum base pellets resembled boogers. One upside; the gum does make nice bubbles. Overall- don't waste your money.

I really never take the time to write reviews, but we just finished this kit with our 8 and 10 yr old boys. We followed all of the directions to the letter(including the disposable cup) and it worked as expected, but the gum tasted so strong of plastic or glue I cannot in good conscious let my kids make another batch. It was terrible.

Fortunately it took the boys a few minutes to realize that it tasted gross, so they had a few minutes of joy, but I am throwing the rest of this kit away. Too bad. We didn't find it too hard or annoying to make if you plan ahead and gather all of the items listed on the box, and the gum LOOKED really neat - like a nice homemade gum, but after tasting it I cannot believe it is safe to eat.

We have made other kits such as root beer and realize it is not going to taste "store bought" but this is inedible. Do not waste your money on this.

My daughter enjoyed making the gum, but we were disappointed to find that not all of the flavors were included, so she was only able to make the mint gum. There were recipes for many other flavors that supposedly the kit contained, but they were not there. This was frustrating. Other than that, though, it was fun and educational.

kids loved it i would use a disposable cup. flavors were not as the box made them seem. kids liked it and had fun. kinda high to make such a small amount of gum

I was hoping for illustrated instructions or a video because me and my 6 year old got stuck on the part where we had to microwave the gum base and stir it together. The directions said 10 seconds but we got no where. Microwaves differ and ours took over a minute. There is no tool to stir so we did it by hand.

My daughter liked mixing the corn sugar, powdered sugar and food coloring (does not come with the kit). She said she enjoyed her mint flavored gum but hasn't asked to make more gum. I could see myself making gum balls.

Some observations: unless you have older children, this seems like one of those products where adult do much of the work. The gum recipes are easy to follow and the kit comes with enough ingredients to experiment. I'm not sure this really had scientific value other than showing my daughter what the ingredients of gum are. The company should really have a video showing how the instructions are done or pictures. This would make it easier for children to use the product.

This kit makes a huge mess- picture melted gum all over you cutting board, counter and baking dish which I still have not gotten clean. The gum tastes gross and the experiment takes too long. Kids got bored. If you want to throw away 20 dollars and a baking dish, buy this kit.

I got this for my 7 and 8 year old daughters for Christmas. I ended up doing most of the "work" because you have to heat the ingredients in the microwave and I didn't want it to get too hot. Then the kids mixed some, but it is very messy and no one liked the gum that was made. Lots to clean up. I ended up throwing the craft away after just one batch. It was a real disappointment.

My daughter received this for xmas. We made the gum and it takes a bit of work for a small piece of gum. Then when you go to chew it, the flavor lasts for about 20 seconds and is gone. At that point the gum tastes gross. Waste of time and money.