When The Curiosity Box tweeted that they were looking for bloggers to review one of their science boxes, we jumped at the chance! As home educators, we are always on the look out for new educational activities, and this one is perfect for us. It is a fun and fascinating science box aimed at 7-11 year olds that can either be purchased as a one-off or via subscription. There are also two size options; nano or mega. Prices for the larger box start at £18 based on one year subscription paid upfront, or £25 per box on a no-commitment basis. The smaller box is £9.95. (Costs include postage and packaging). Gift vouchers are available too, so it would also make a nice Christmas present!
I received a mega box to review, which includes everything needed to complete three separate science activities. Each box has a different theme, for example this box is described as ‘Putting the POW! in Power’ and is all about exploring electricity. It came well packaged and clearly labelled with simple, easy to follow instructions. I really like the tone of the writing; everything is well explained and engaging without being patronising. It also includes some very interesting and inspirational information cards about the history of science and women scientists.
The three activities are varied and each one teaches the concept using a playful, hands-on approach. Scientific explanations are provided and I feel the information is pitched at a level to make it a truly educational experience for children within the targeted age range. They last a varying amount of time, depending on the activity itself, how quickly the child works and how much discussion occurs. We personally spent a couple of hours in total doing two of the activities. We had a lovely time together, with lots of laughter and of course plenty of learning too!
One example of the electricity activities the box contains is exploring circuits. The idea of this activity is simple but effective; design a creature with light-up eyes by creating a circuit using copper foil tape and two LED bulbs.
Squiggle really enjoyed following the instructions to make the circuit and only needed a minimal amount of help to work out what to do. (Obviously all children have different needs so the amount of support required would depend on the child).
She decided she would rather make the circuit before designing her character. She spent quite sometime carefully making her circuit.
Initially the light bulbs didn’t light up. Not to be disheartened, we used our knowledge of circuits to test each of the components separately. We used some of the resources from one of the other activities to do this, but I realised afterwards we didn’t need to and had actually made it more complicated than necessary; all part of the learning process though! However, it was useful that the boxes are generous with the resources that they provide anyway.
After checking the battery pack, bulbs and leads, it was evident that the issue was with the copper foil tape. More specifically, it was on the corner joints that the circuits stopped working. Testing it all out deepened her learning experience and investigation skills, and became part of the fun. Plus it was a good reminder that the learning is in the doing, not just in the results (as it quite rightly says in the guide too, a valuable point!) But it was most satisfying to figure it out and get it working nonetheless!
We really enjoyed The Curiosity Box and would definitely love to use them again in future. I think we would particularly enjoy The Cool Crystals Box and The Super Seeds Box personally! On that note, I am hosting a giveaway for one very lucky reader to win a Nano Crystals Box! To be in with a chance of winning this fantastic prize, simply enter via the rafflecopter widget below. (T&Cs apply).
Last but not least, my readers can enjoy 10% discount on orders using the code LIVECURIOUS10. Visit their website www.curiosity-box.com to shop or subscribe.
You can also follow them on social media for more ideas and inspiration too!
Disclosure: I was sent The Curiosity Box free in order to provide an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
The Cool Crystals Box for my nephew would be great.
The cool crystals x
my step daughter would love the mind control box
I think my Son would love the Cosmic Blast Off, PN This has nothing to do with I I would love it lol
The Cool Crystals Box for my daughter would be great.
my son would like The Cosmic Blast Off Box
The Cool Crystals Box
The Cool Crystals look fun
Not exactly science, but when I was a child, We used to the blow up frogs with a straw. I know it is wrong. It’s not like I do it now lol ?
My daughter would love the cosmic blast off
the ping pong ball in tin foil light it makes smoke bomb or the mint in a bottle of coke
Cosmic blast off 🙂
The cool crystals box. It looks really interesting, my little boy would love it.
I like Cosmic Blast Off.
I love the liquid density experiment where you pour liquids of differing viscosity in layers – simple but very effective!
I like Cosmic Blast Off
I used to love making an exploding volcano with baking soda 🙂 out of the boxes I tink the mind control box looks fab
The Cosmic Blast Off sounds brilliant
Bend Water With Static Electricity
The Mind Control Box
The mind control box looks fab
The Cool Crystals Box
The Mind Control Box 🙂
My son would love the Cosmic Blast Off Box 😀
The mentos in a coke bottle and I loved using the Bunsen burners
We love the exploding coke bottle
The Cosmic Blast Off Box sounds good, my son would love it 🙂
an oldie but a goodie is the volcano bicarb/vinegar experiment that my kids never tire of seeing!
We have always had fun making non-Newtonian liquid https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/ooze.html
experiments with magnetism and growing crystals
Cosmic blast off sounds good
The Mind Control Box would go down well in our house.
When I was at Junior school we had a science club. I remember making recycled paper.
Cosmic Blast Off sounds interesting
The Putting the POW! into POWER Box! Always absolutely loved that kind of thing when I was young, it still appeals now 🙂
I would love to try the Cool Crystals box
The cool crystals for me please
Crystals one for us
The Cosmic Blast Off box
I love crystals so that would be my favourite
The Circuit
love Science it was my favorite lesson at school
When i was at school we all held hands in a science class and felt an electrical current though our interlocked hands.
wow so many amazing ones to try! the blast off or mind control! x
I loved finding out how many calories were in a peanut by burning it and seeing how hot it got the water over. Takes me back a couple of decades, but definitley one I remember. I also liked the copper sulphate experiment back in junior school except some young lad who ate it lol.
The Cosmic Blast Off box
Cosmic blast off please
Mind control box looks great
Cosmic blast of sounds fab
cosmic blast off
We’d love to try the Cool Crystals box, although Mind Control sounds very interesting!!
I love making copper sulphate crystals with my son
The Mind Control Box – wonder if it would work on my husband!
The cool crystals
The Cosmic Blast Off
great fun!
The Cosmic Blast Off Box for me, er, I mean my nephew…..
The super seeds box, think grandson would enjoy this
the cosmic blast off
Has to be the The cool crystals .x
I love the look of the cosmic blast off box. Merry Christmas ⛤⛤⛤
When I was a child, my dad worked at a plant that did electroplating. I got to electroplate some cables for a science fair experiment. That was pretty cool.
The Cosmic Blast Off box looks fun x
The cosmic blast off box sounds really cool!
The mind control box sounds intriguing!
The mind control sounds great!
The mind control box sounds intriguing
They all look great but my twins shouted the cosmic Blast Off ! We love science in our house and our favourite so far is the volcano, using vinegar and bicarb soda 🙂
The Cool Crystals Box would be my choice
I love putting alkali metals in water (I should prob point out I was a science teacher at the time!)
The Cosmic Blast Off Box sounds amazing – my son and daughter would love these!
Cool crystals look very interesting
The cool crystals looks fun xx
I think the Putting the POW! into power box sounds fun and exciting
This week my class my class tested the properties of materials by making little coats for our class teddy (Mr Puffy the puffin) and pouring water all over him. We had a great time 🙂
I dont remember doing any. Which is sad. But id like that to be a different memory for my wee girl. who i would love to win this for
The cool crystals looks greaT
I love the look of the circuit
Used to make gun powder as a kid nearly blew my hand off lol
I think any of them would be great, my Grandsons would love experimenting
we saw a video on u tube to make a lava lamp with water oil and sugar it was brilliant fun!
yes please this looks great me and my 2 boys will havr great fun with this what a great idea if i dont win i will definitelybeing looking into getting some of these products
I always remember making chewing gum at school in science, we put the very hot test tube straight into the beaker of cold water and of course it broke … we should have poured the gum out!
What a great giveaway! My daughter is 9 and my son 4, they will love it!
I like the sound of The Mind Control Box!!!!