“School is out next week, which means my boys will be home all day with nothing to do, because there is nothing fun to do here, despite bookshelves crammed with reading-level-appropriate books and bins full of toys that they once insisted they had to have, and an entire backyard to play in, plus the school playground just down the street. Instead, I know I will be spending hours every day forcing them to turn off the TV and do something educational, something that will keep their brains from turning to mush.”

Sound familiar?  Then keep reading.  PBN and the Discovery Channel Store have some great ideas for keeping kids’ minds occupied this summer - namely, the Solar Science Lab and the Hydro Greenhouse.

Scientific experiments are a fabulous idea in theory, but as parents know, they often devolve into a big mess - that is, if you can even locate all of the necessary components for the project.  But that’s what makes the Solar Science Lab so great: “The kit comes with a thermometer, a mirror, a test tube (score!), a mini solar panel, a motor, a propeller, a bunch of easily assembled cardboard supports, a bunch of wires and connectors, four colored filters, and - last but certainly not least - a magnifying glass.”

One particularly imaginative blogger described her initial reaction to the contents of the lab:

“Opening this box of lab equipment is like being an actor in the first scene in one of those doomsday movies where later on - after the asteroid has hit and the nuclear bomb has gone off and the aliens have invaded - the mom is trapped in the basement with her kids and the power is out and the Radioactive Asteroid Aliens are upstairs and about to close-in and do whatever dastardly deed it is that Radioactive Asteroid Aliens do, and all seems lost, except wait! Remember in the first scene of the movie where the mom was opening the science kit box with her kids - the kit with the mini solar panel and the motor and the propeller? - and hey! Didn’t the guy on that final newscast mention something about the RAA (Radioactive Asteroid Aliens) getting all freaked out by rodents, and what if we trapped a mouse in the basement and then hooked it up to the motor with the propeller and then charged the whole kit-and-kaboodle with the miniature solar panel held outside the basement window, and the rest of the movie writes itself! Happy endings all around!”

Okay, perhaps she waxed a bit dramatic, but there’s something to be said for a toy that can provoke that sort of reaction.

How did the experiments themselves turn out?  One mother noted: “Most of the experiments and activities seem like they could be conducted by my six-year-old and my nine-year-old with little actual overseeing on my part.“  Another blogger reported: “Our favorite was the weather in a casserole dish. The kids absolutely loved cutting up a felt tipped marker and having permission to do so. We got a little messy, but it was fun and educational.” She went on to comment: “I love projects like this where you sneak the learning in because it is so fun you don’t even realize you are learning anything. I always find these lessons to stick with you longer because you have experienced them instead of just being told it works.”

So while the Solar Science Lab can involve a bit of a mess, it’s well worth it - especially since all of the key supplies are included in the kit.

The Hydro Greenhouse wasn’t quite as intuitive at first for a few bloggers.  Putting it together seemed to be easier for the kids than for the parents.  One mother reported: “I found it difficult to assemble - the plastic that makes up the bulk of the case was flimsy and the top kept popping off. I was completely annoyed with the entire thing.  No matter how many times I’d put it back together, one of my kids would tap it or touch it, and it’d fall apart again.“  Her oldest daughter was the one who managed to get everything together - “a 13 year old could assemble and execute the entire thing unsupervised.“  Another blogger noted that “there was no top in the kit I received,” so “it was kind of difficult to create a moist and humid greenhouse environment without being able to close it up on the top.”

But a third mother left it all up to her daughter - and with great success: “With the exception of slicing open the cardboard box in which our Hydro Greenhouse arrived, my nine-year old daughter managed this entire process by herself. She read the directions, measured the water and mixes, and planted the seeds. She readied a spot near a sunny window and positioned her garden-to-be.”

Perhaps the Hydro Greenhouse is parent-proof.

Both parents and kids had a great time sowing seeds - “the tiny garden tools for raking and planting the seeds in the planting material were a big hit” - and they were thrilled to find that the seeds really germinated and grew into plants: “The greenhouse watered and fed itself with no attention from us at all.  The kit came with enough nutrient to last for two weeks, and our flowers grew beautifully.“  Even a family vacation didn’t derail the progress: “[we] had to leave the greenhouse six days without supervision. I was sure I’d come home to dead plants and depressed kids. But the bottle was filled and growing nutrients added and we left and came home to a little mini jungle growing happily.”

In spite of the bumps, the Hydro Greenhouse sparked real interest among the kids.  One little girl “has stood before her mini-greenhouse and marveled at the miracle of nature.“  Another couple of siblings “check our greenhouse every day to see how much the plants have grown.“  And this blogger summed it up perfectly: “This is a great way to help kids get in touch with their budding green thumbs, especially on days when they’re complaining that they have nothing to do!”

More reviews of the Discovery Channel Store Solar Science Lab and Hydro Greenhouse are coming up!

Mon 6/2 - A Gaggle of Girls and Just Not Martha
Tues 6/3 - The Silent I Speaks
Wed 6/4 - Melting Mama
Thurs 6/5 - Three Kid Circus
Fri 6/6 - Sweatpants Mom
Mon 6/9 - Lipstick to Crayons
Wed 6/11 - Round-Up Review on PBN