Customer Reviews

3D solar system kit

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this set for my 10 year old daughter and she loves it. The planets are easy to snap together and there is plenty of paint. My favorite feature is the glow in the dark paint. It can be painted on after the regular paint dries, or you can mix it with the colored paint for a different effect. It didn't glow as bright as I'd hoped, but that wasn't a big deal. The paint dried surprisingly fast, we were able to apply two coats of colored paint and the glow in the dark stuff in under two hours. I would recommend using a smaller paintbrush than the one included. We used a q-tip for the details. The sun and Saturn come with plastic rings, and there is even a poster of the solar system. The mobile was pretty easy to put together, and the instructions are very clear, my daughter did most of it by herself. We have it hanging on the ceiling in my daughter's room, so no one can touch it. When we were hanging it up, I accidentally scratched Pluto and some of the paint came off. Overall this is a great toy. I would recommend this toy for older children. I can't see a five year old painting details on the little planets and putting together the mobile.

I added this toy to my son's xmas list. With much luck he did get it; and we are pleased ! I would not say that it's a "fun to play with" toy but the entertainment value still exists. The planets are large enough without being overbearing up on the ceiling. They glow at night..which is the best part !! At 36 years old I can't wait for nighttime to hang in my sons room to check out the planets! The stars the set comes with are perfect. They are NOT the bulky plastic ones that can be seen day or night. They are paper stickers that disappear during the day (on the celing they do anyway) The planets come with name stickers which adds educational value. My son is five and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES these planets. I say get 'em !!

Lisa Avilio-Meyer

It was very easy to paint. The planets are in two pieces so they sit nicely on the table while you are painting. There is plenty of paint. The planets are labeled on the inside, so you can make sure you are painting the right one the right color & so you put them together right. It was easy to put together and hang. It comes with glow & the dark paint, so at night it glows in my daughters room. She loves it. I would highly recommend this.

I bought this set for my 10 year old daughter and she loves it. The planets are easy to snap together and there is plenty of paint. My favorite feature is the glow in the dark paint. It can be painted on after the regular paint dries, or you can mix it with the colored paint for a different effect. It didn't glow as bright as I'd hoped, but that wasn't a big deal. The paint dried surprisingly fast, we were able to apply two coats of colored paint and the glow in the dark stuff in under two hours. I would recommend using a smaller paintbrush than the one included. We used a q-tip for the details. The sun and Saturn come with plastic rings, and there is even a poster of the solar system. The mobile was pretty easy to put together, and the instructions are very clear, my daughter did most of it by herself. We have it hanging on the ceiling in my daughter's room, so no one can touch it. When we were hanging it up, I accidentally scratched Pluto and some of the paint came off. Overall this is a great toy. I would recommend this toy for older children. I cant see a five year old painting details on the little planets and putting together the mobile.

The 3D Solar System Kit by Toysmith is a good educational/learning tool that introduces children to the world of astronomy. This planetary system includes spheres representing the eight planets and the sun, sized in relative order (not to scale). It hangs from the ceiling as a mobile unit and includes special glow in the dark paint for added fun.

This solar system kit comes completely unassembled and part of the enjoyment for youngsters is the application of the paint. There are two strips of paint included with several different colors. This allows kids the chance to explore their creative side. Some kids will choose to paint the planets according to their actual color, such as painting the planet Mars red. Others will mix and match and create all sorts of different color combinations. Kids will enjoy this part of the process almost as much as they will enjoy looking at the completed mobile itself.

Once the fun of painting is over, it will then be time to assemble the pieces together. This is easily the most frustrating part of the process and depending on the ages of your kids, you may very well have to complete this step for them. The reason this is so frustrating is because of the very small size of the hooks and the rectangular pieces that are anchored into the spheres. The tiny hooks and even tinier rectangular pieces have a small hole in the middle through which you have to thread the fishing line. This takes time and patience and you have to tie the ends securely enough that the line won't come loose. A single knot isn't good enough. You need to make two knots if you want the line to stay in place. The pieces are so tiny, many young children will be unable to complete the task and even many adults will grow frustrated. The manufacturer should rethink this aspect and, if nothing else, increase the size of these pieces, in order to make them easier to work with.

Another possible trouble spot with this solar system module is the fragility of the pieces. The mobile looks interesting hanging from the ceiling and its lightweight design means it will slowly turn, with the slightest amount of air. However, because the pieces are so light and fragile, you have to keep the mobile away from wind/air sources. The air movement from a fan, for example, could be enough to make the planetary bodies come apart and/or cause the nylon string to become untied. Even the air movement from a heat duct could be enough to cause problems. It's best to place the mobile far out of the reach of small children. If little ones can easily touch the mobile, the constant handling will cause the pieces to fall apart.

Taken as a whole, the 3D Solar System Kit by Toysmith is still good educational toy for kids that introduces them to the world of astronomy. Assembling the tiny pieces can really try your patience and the fragile nature of this mobile solar system limits its quality. However, it still has enough positive points to earn a slight recommendation.

I got this for my son a couple of years ago and he and my husband snapped the pieces together and together painted the planets. My son was pretty young so needed a lot of help in the painting department, and they did it over a couple of nights, not all in one sitting. The result was very nice and unique in a way because of the painting. We hung it from my son's overhead light fixture in the center of the room and guests often remark on how nice it looks (we also have glowing stars on the ceiling). When the heater turns on the mobile slowly spins which is a nice effect. It's a great product and so far has proven itself to be durable. Be careful to put all the pieces in one place. At one point we'd lost a couple of planets and it took weeks before we found them!

My 5 year old son got this for Christmas. Although it was hard to paint, we found it easy to assemble and hang. He loves it in his room. We were a little disappointed in the glow factor. We thought it would be brighter. Be sure to use ALL the glow paint. Just keep caking it on!!

My daughter (10yrs) had to do a project for school. This was great because it came with everything she needed. She enjoyed painting it and was able to put it together herself, except for tying the strings because they had to be thread into a little opening and tied.

My 9 yr old daughter used this for her science project. She had a great time painting it and putting it together. She now has to poster that comes with the kit on her bedroom wall. I would definately recommend this to anyone looking for a nice kit for fun or for school.

My husband and I decorated our son's nursery in "science" so we wanted to have a themed mobile over his crib. After much debate we purchased this. We wanted to make something somewhat realistic so I thought we'd have to buy additional paints, but I was very pleased with them. We both sat down after covering up our dining room table and went to work. We found that while there was not an exhaustive color selection, the colors provided did mix very well with each other and there was plenty of paint to mix some on paper plates and get some variety.

The paint brush was not the best quality but luckily I had a eye shadow brush to donate - I suspect most parents of young kids will have a few paintbrushes laying around, so minimal worries there. The rings for the sun and saturn are also less-than-stellar quality, but nothing that is unbearable.

Getting the string tied and the small piece of plastic attached to the string that goes inside the planet is kind of tricky. As long as you have a small amount of patience and/or tenacity AND you wait a good while for the paint to dry it should all work out.

Good luck on your planet project!