Customer Reviews

Thames & Kosmos Sophisticated Science Candy Factory

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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
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This is a really neat concept, and very attractive to both kids (make your own candy!) and parents (teach your kids important scientific principles!). The manufacturers have put together a nice package, with a beautifully illustrated, and informative instruction manual. The caveats I would offer are:
1. Candy making is actually pretty challenging, and sometimes dangerous (170-degree sugar syrup). Kids will not be able to use this toy safely without continuous adult supervision.
2. In order to use this kit, you will have to buy at least $40 worth of candy-making ingredients and equipment, unless you are already making candy at home and own these things (for example, colorings and flavorings, various kinds of chocolate, a marble pastry board).
3. The recipes sometimes don't include a lot of detail. For example, they don't always specify the quantities for the various ingredients. If you have a lot of candy-making experience, you may be able to guess. We had to look up candy recipes on the internet.
Overall, it was fun to read the manual, and we tried a couple of the simpler recipes. Some of the more hazardous activities ended up being more demonstrations than opportunities for the kids to have a hands-on experience. The kids enjoyed being able to choose different colors and flavors for their candy creations.

This was a gift that was purchased by a well-intentioned aunt for my 7 year old girl. Once the kit arrived, my daughter was very excited, but we both soon realized that a run to the grocery store was required. As the other reviewer mentioned, you need to buy all of the ingredients and the coloring and the flavorings you want to put in. Also you will need a double boiler or rig something similar up for melting chocolate.

The instructions were fairly basic (as in lacking detail). The language used was directed at 10~12 year olds, but really doesn't even give them the support they need to figure things out. As an adult I was able to get the gist of what they were asking for and figure it out.

The kit just seems awfully expensive for what it gives - which are instructions and recipes that can be found on the Internet, a few plastic (and easily breakable) chocolate molds, and the few odd accessories (like pretty foil for wrapping candies.)

BTW, the 7 year old enjoyed eating the candies, but would rather watch TV than help make them.

I got this kit for my 10-year-old daughter, who had wanted it very badly for a long time. The box made it look like you were getting this big, lovely kit, but that was a little deceptive. Most of what was inside the box was styrofoam packaging. The candy-making tools themselves were fine, but for what you get, you'd probably be better off buying the supplies individually from a local kitchen-supply store. I think the best thing in this kit was the little booklet of instructions, which had some interesting facts about candy, including the fact that modern children eat WAY too much sugar as it is, which made me wish I had never bought the thing in the first place. But alas, it was a gift for my daughter, so I'll let her keep it!

Well, I had high hopes for this product as my now 4 year old has almost 3 years experience in the kitchen. It is ok, just not really geared towards kids. We were really expecting the instructions, recipes, and prep methods to facilitate working with your kids step by step. It's just not there.