Dear Mummy, I’ve donned my lab coat this week for British Science Week to immerse myself in all things STEM (Science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

I can’t wait to have fun with these National Geographic STEM kits! The weather has been a bit hit and miss recently and we’ve been doing a lot of activities at home like crafting but It’s nice to do something a bit different. Science is awesome and with various branches of science, there is always something to learn and discover.

I was over the moon to receive some National Geographic educational toys from Bandai UK to review. These fabulous little kits are great fun and bring the classroom home. Anything that nurtures my curiosity, helps me learn through play and keeps me entertained on rainy days is good with my folks.

National Geographic Crystal Garden Kit

I made a beeline straight for this Crystal Garden kit. It comes with a set of five pens which you used to colour in the two little trees included in the kit. You can also use your own to switch it up too!

Once the tree pieces have been coloured on both sides, it’s then just a simple matter of slotting the two halves of each tree together and popping them into the base from the kit.

Each tree has its own base. There are also two different sachets containing the liquid you need to pour on the trees to get the crystals growing. Make sure you follow the instructions and have parent supervision – this is a science experiment after all!

I was excited to see the first few crystals arrived within around an hour, then it had fully bloomed by the next morning! The results are stunning, with the crystals taking on the colours of the pens that I used to decorate them.

They are very fragile and you can’t play with them once they’re done, but they look amazing and make a wonderful keepsake for my bedroom. Check out my video to see it in action!

National Geographic Dino Fossil Dig Kit

Next I donned my excavating kit to hunt for dinosaur fossils! This kit allows me to dig for real fossils at home! Inside the box is a solid dinosaur head, excavating tools including a brush and scrapper and a little booklet explaining more about dinosaur fossils.

I used the excavating tools included to scrape away at the dinosaur head. Thankfully it didn’t require too much pressure to dig into the rock and reveal the three specimens inside.

I found a piece of dinosaur bone, a tooth and dinosaur poop! The booklet with the kit contains more info about the specimens and fossils. It’s worth covering surfaces with newspaper as it did create some mess with the dust and pieces from the dinosaur head as I was digging!

I had really good fun with this kit and it kept me entertained for ages! Check out my video!

National Geographic Gemstone Dig Kit

With the same principle of digging I became a treasure hunter with The National Geographic Gemstone Dig Kit. I carefully uncovered some spectacular gemstones using the digging tools provided.

Inside the kit was one digging brick containing three amazing gemstones including quartz, amethyst and tiger’s eye, archeological digging tools, a full-colour learning guide and magnifying glass. You just need to file away at the gem rock with the tools included until you uncover the three gems.

The full-colour learning guide makes identifying each specimen easy. This guide is also packed full of information and amazing facts about the gemstones.

I had so much fun digging up these precious stones and it has encourage me to start a rock collection!

Check out my video!

National Geographic Shark Tooth Dig Kit

This smaller kit is very similar to the dinosaur one (see my other video) but inside is a shark’s tooth! Included is a magnifying glass and excavating tools for digging out the tooth. It would make a perfect pocket money gift or party bag favour for kids birthdays!

So what do you think of these science kits? Cool, or what?! There’s nothing better than learning and not realising it through play and these educational toys have definitely opened my eyes to the world of STEM.

You can find all these National Geographic kits (and more) online and at good toy retailers and they make a great activity to do as a family. My folks were fascinated and wanted to get stuck in themselves.

It just goes to show that science and learning can cross over to any age! Check out my YouTube video to see these kits in action! You’ll be amazed! I spent ages digging away and studying the guides!

Check out my video!

I’ve had so much fun and I hope this is a great introduction into these National Geographic STEM Kits, science is super fun!

Love Bella x

Disclaimer: I was sent these awesome National Geographic science kits to explore and review, all digging and discoveries are my own.