I was provided Stepping Into Science by Timberdoodle in exchange for an honest review. I received no compensation for this post. Post may contain affiliate links.
Stepping into Science Kit Review
What is the Stepping Into Science Kit?
Stepping into Science is a science kit designed for kids ages 5 and up. This kit includes an experiment manual with 25 experiments, and many (but not all) of the items needed for the experiments. The manual includes one page of warning and “Rules for Experimentation” and one page titled, “Dear Parents”. This page is mostly talking about how children develop and why experimenting is good for them…but not a whole lot of direct information or instructions for parents.
The instructions for the experiments themselves rely more on photos and illustrations than written instructions…something which I found slightly annoying. The experiments were simple, but a paragraph or two of instructions for parents would have been appreciated. You can view a preview of the manual here to see exactly what I am talking about.
How Much Prep Does this Science Kit Need?
This preschool science kit doesn’t require a lot of prep work, but it does involve some. Don’t be like me and expect to sit down, open the kit, and start experimenting with your eager little learners. Take 5-10 minutes to go over the instructions and prep anything that needs to be prepped. For instance, for the Spinning Colors experiment (which the boys loved), a couple of items need to be punched out. I actually recommend punching all the pieces out at once and storing a sandwich bag, or better yet these waterproof zipper pouches. We use these a ton around our house.
What Does Stepping Into Science Include?
Here is a picture of what is included in the Stepping into Science Kit. I have to be honest, I was underwhelmed by what was included. The experiments we tried consisted of making paper airplanes (from provided colored papers with fold lines). The boys enjoyed it but I felt like we could have accomplished exactly the same thing with just regular paper especially since the “instructions” didn’t offer much guidance or support.
Which Experiments We Tried
So far we have tried: Spinning Colors, The Magnifying Glass, Paper Airplane 1, Paper Airplane 2
We did The Magnifying Glass experiment which had us attach a cardboard cutout to the included magnifying glass and then put that over a cup. The idea was to look at bits of nature up close, through the magnifying glass. Cool, right? Except the included plastic cup was small which meant the magnifying glass was too close to the subject and made it hard to see anything. We ended up taking it out and just using the magnifying glass the old-fashioned way. And then, since it was a hot day, I showed the boys how to focus a beam of sunlight and start a fire. That kept them engaged, let me tell you! You can see my fire-making curriculum here.
The final experiment we tried that day was Spinning Colors.
This one was simple but fun. You basically punched out a circular piece of paper divided into different colors. You attached this piece to a plastic top and then spin the top to watch the colors blend and “disappear”. The boys loved this one.
Is Stepping Into Science Worth Buying?
You can probably tell from this review already that I wasn’t thrilled with the Stepping Into Science kit. I am the first to admit that I have pretty high (probably too high) expectations for science experiments. And this is designed for kids ages 5 and up…so not exactly rocket science. I feel pretty mixed…most of the materials included in this kit can be found around the house (straws, rubber bands, small cup, etc) but on the other hand, it can be a pain to try to gather everything.
In conclusion, the boys enjoyed it and you could use this weekly as a fun add-on science class for your kids. Doing one lesson/experiment weekly could easily get you through a school year. If you are the type of person who prefers to have things laid out for you and want to be able to easily check off the science box in your curriculum this might be just the thing for you. For me personally, I prefer to have either a more robust curriculum or just come up with experiments on my own. The $37.95 price tag is a little steep for me personally but will likely work very well for other families.
What have you used for science at home?
