The Best Science Kit Gifts for Kids

If you’ve got a little scientist on your hands, look no further for the best science kits this holiday season. We have gathered a group of the most incredible science kits you can buy right now.

Playz Explosive Kitchen Lab: $39.95 at Amazon

Kids will have a ton of fun with the more than 26 explosive kitchen experiments in this box. The kit teaches scientific principles using ingredients like lemon juice, salt, and pepper. In addition to ingredients and tools, this science kit, recommended for ages 8 and up, also includes a fact-filled colorful lab guide.

Green Science Potato Clock: $13.99 at Amazon

Potato clocks are a classic science experiment for a reason. Your kids’ minds will be blown when they learn that a potato can make electricity. This kit is recommended for kids 8 and up. Kids will have tons of fun trying to figure out what other ordinary objects can be turned into batteries.

Break Open Geodes: $24.99 at Amazon

This kit is suitable for kids of all ages. Kids can use a hammer to break open the geodes, which look like normal rocks on the outside but are filled with beautiful, colorful crystals (水晶) on the inside. Then, they can learn about how each crystal formed inside the rocks with the full-color learning guide.

Weather Science Kit: $12.99 at Amazon

If you have a budding meteorologist (气象学家) in your life, Green Science’s Weather Science kit will get them off to a good start. This kit lets kids explore the water cycle and global warming, create clouds, experiment with acid rain, study the greenhouse effect and much more. The kit is recommended for kids 8 and up.

I opened the freezer and put in the cake—a sheet cake with my son's name in red and black frosting—the colors of the University of UGA, where Laughlin, my youngest, would graduate in May.

But now there would be no graduation because of the pandemic (流行病). I had been looking forward to Laughlin's graduation. I'm a UGA graduate, too, but I didn't attend my graduation ceremony because I received an Army commission (任命) as an air defense officer.

“No graduation!” I said, a bit annoyed that my son, finishing coursework at home, didn't seem bothered. “I need to focus on my classes and get a job, Mom,” he said. But Laughlin didn't know what he was missing. Years later, I still regretted skipping my UGA ceremony. I'd been planning the celebrations for Laughlin since January.

Every day the pandemic worsened. Then, one day, Laughlin's diploma arrived in a black-and-red tube by mail. I pulled the cake out of the freezer and served it halfheartedly. Laughlin found a job and moved to Atlanta to live alone.

One fall evening, a student called from the UGA. “Did your son participate in the graduation ceremony last week?” the young man asked. “What ceremony?” I screamed. “The one at the stadium,” the student said. “To make up for the cancellation in spring.”

I dialed the office of the dean of student affairs. “Why wasn't I notified?” “Mrs. Smith, we sent an announcement to your son's school email,” said the woman who took my call.

I called up Laughlin. “Why didn't you call me?” I asked. “Mom, I did hear about the ceremony and I knew you'd make me go, so I didn't say anything. Why would I risk my family's life for a ceremony? You and Dad are in a vulnerable age group. No way would I do that.”

Laughlin's diploma rested beside the phone. I felt tears in my eyes.

Many parents of elementary and middle school students are wondering if they should send off their kids with a phone.

“What we know is that there is not a magic age for when to get a child a smartphone, but by age 11, 53% of the kids have their own smartphone,” said Kelly Mendoza, a vice president at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group focusing on responsible media use. The figure comes from a 2019 survey the organization conducted of more than 1,600 people between the ages of 8 and 18 in the US. “Sixth grade is a big transition for kids, when they start middle school and start to have more independence,” she said.

Even though middle school is a turning point for many parents in making the leap, Ms. Mendoza said age isn’t as important as a child’s maturity. She said parents can assess their children’s phone readiness by asking themselves the following questions: Do they show a sense of responsibility? Are they responsible for their things? Would they be able to resist texting or scrolling in class?

It is also wise to assess whether there are legitimate needs for children to have a smartphone, such as being able to communicate while taking public transportation, or being reminded to take medication.

Many kids start asking for a phone once their friends have one. The requests can start as early as elementary school, but the peer pressure heats up in middle school.

Understanding your children's motivation can help you decide. Do they just want one because they want to fit in? Are they being excluded from social interactions, such as group texts?

Before they power a phone up for the first time, experts say you should talk to them about your expectations for its use, and the consequences for losing or damaging the phone or for violating school rules, which include when and where the phone should be used, where it should be charged up at night, how to treat others on social media and how to report cyberbullying.