NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Break Open 10 Premium Geodes – Includes Goggles and Display Stands - Great STEM Science Kit, Geology Gift for Kids, Geode Crystals, Toys for Boys and Girls

Lovely set, lots of geodes,

This is truly a wonderful gift for the entire family! It not only met our expectations but also exceeded them. It's both enjoyable and educational, serving as a fantastic introduction to geometry.

It was very challenging to split open the geodes, but the 9 year old, whose gift it was, thought it was great fun.

Brought nephew for his 10th birthday he loves them!

My stepson enjoys collecting rocks and something similar, I thought this would be a great gift. He enjoyed it so much!

Very cool you but genuinely wish I had not gifted this to my 10 year old, as smashing through these proved difficult and the kit was soon abandoned.

I was really surprised with this, please ensure you purchase a hammer & chisel to break them open. The kit does not come with anything to break them open. Most of them were the same colours but we had a few different ones as well. Its basically the luck of the draw when it comes to variety. My son (8yrs) & I had a lot of fun breaking them open and inspecting each one. Its a great bonding exercise.

After mixed reviews I was undecided whether to buy this or not. However, my granddaughter absolutely loved it. Yes, most of the crystals were white but the exciting part was breaking them open. My granddaughter had a really good try at breaking them open but adult help is definitely required.

Padrisimoooo mi hijo se divirtió muchísimo abriendolas!

It was a great gift idea

Great set but be warned, these are quite hard to open. With the regular hammer, I probably had to hit it for a good 20min! I guess it attests to their authenticity

We've gotten two of these kits, one several months ago for my daughter's 7th birthday (first image, with the organizer), and one for Christmas for her older sister (second image, by request after seeing her sister's birthday geodes). Both times we were very happy with what we had gotten, and I love the educational value, not just the geodes inside. The kids were fascinated and really enjoyed seeing what was inside. It's kinda like those kinder eggs/surprise toys, but naturally created! I have since bought a 3rd set when it was on sale (not opened yet). Yes, for the most part they are all white, however the first kit did contain crystal that was very pale purple (possibly amethyst?), and the second kit contained a milky pink mineral with a small crystally agate section. The first kit we had were mostly around 2 inches, the second kit had a wider range, of a couple really small 1 inch ones but a couple in the 3-4 inch range. Both kits we had resulted in a variety of hollow and full geodes, and varying size of crystal points, some small very glittery looking ones, and larger clearer ones. The second kit we had did contain a kind-of-dud, where there were tiny crystals, but mostly rock, but that was only one out of now 20 geodes we've opened from NatGeo. We have tried a different brand of break-your-own-geodes in the past, and they resulted in very few crystals (only around 20 to 30% had crystals), so I was very pleasantly surprised at what we got with the NatGeo kits. I might try to sand/polish a couple at some point. They were difficult to open, and did require adult assistance. I used a dremel to score the perimeter and provide a groove for the chisel to sit in (my dremel/dremel bits weren't strong enough to get through the crystal, just the outer rock), and then we used a chisel and hammer to crack it open. My kids were able to hammer some of the smaller ones open (with assistance holding the rock and chisel). But some, especially the solid ones, were still very difficult to crack open. Those took more time, but I (a petite, but persistent, female adult) did manage to crack them open with the chisel and hammer. In terms of "giftability" it really depends on the recipient/recipient's family.... as long as there is a willing (and patient?) adult to do most of the work as kids won't be able to do this themselves, it's a wonderful gift! But if not, they might not enjoy this as much.

My 7 yr old grandson and I both had a great time smashing these. Some opened easily and others took more time which was perfect. More geodes than the set at Walmart. Will purchase again