Thames & Kosmos Explore & Discover this Holiday Season

It seems we had a short summer this year, and winter is already rearing it’s ugly head here in the Midwest. When we have a mild summer, we typically have a very harsh and ugly winter. Blizzards, below freezing temperatures, rain, sleet and ice tend to cover everything outside. And if you have kids these harsh winters tend to bring many closed school days and a houseful of bored children. Which, at the end of the day could drive mom into the nuthouse!

I have what we call a “rainy day” cupboard. Throughout the year, I pick up neat items that will keep the kiddos busy and entertained on the excessive “rainy days’ we experience here in the Midwest from November until around March of the next year. This year, I’ve been blessed with some pretty cool, educational and entertaining projects to add to our rainy day cupboard.

For the boys, and yes this is for girls too, but I selected this particular science project for our boys. Gigantic Photovoltaic Science Lab by Thames and Kosmos which is both entertaining and education for the boys. When they begin to construct one of the 22 projects from this kit they will have a thorough understanding of how solar cells generate electricity.

Now, while the boys are constructing one of the 22 projects which include a scooter, locomotive, forklift, road roller, cement mixer, solar-wind sail car, crane, amphibious boat, motorcycle, beach buggy, race car, side-car motorcycle, trailer, elevator, oil tanker, maintenance car, solar car with clutch, street sweeper, backhoe, helicopter, twin-prop airplane, and cable car, my house is quiet and they are learning both the mechanics of building as well as science.
While you can power the two solar panels that come with the kit outside, you can also power them indoors using a high-wattage incandescent light bulb. You can also power them with AA batteries and to save on your batteries you can power you model using a combination of both AA batteries and a solar panel.

Now, for the girls I went with the Botany Experimental Greenhouse, which of course the boys can do too. But in my house the boys are less likely to use the greenhouse kit.
With this particular biological science experiment kit the girls will stay busy with it throughout the winter and then come spring they can transplant their plants outside and continue to care for them and watch them grow.

The kit comes with thermometers and ventilation. The girls will learn how to construct an automatic watering system, grow beans, cress, and zinnia flowers. They will learn how to care for each plant and their individual needs. Plus they will learn how to grow roots and how to germinate fruit and vegetables using seeds from the very food they eat.

As a coed project we went with the Crystals, Rocks & Minerals kit which I felt both the girls and boys would enjoy working with. With this kit you get 18 hands-on projects. They will learn the science behind rock formation, determine the mineral’s chemical and physical properties like luster, color, hardness, magnetic properties and iron content. And, while they will be enjoying themselves, they also be educating themselves in a fun and entertaining way.

All of the Thames & Kosmos kits come with a full color experimental manual as well. Each kit is designed to have both a learning experience and, make science fun, easy to understand with a direct “emphasis on teaching concepts and skills through hands-on modeling of real-world devices and processes, and by offering comprehensive, meaningful reading materials for a rich learning experience.”

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Thames & Kosmos has been generous enough to offer one lucky Mom Blog Society reader a chance to will all three science kits! Simply enter via the Rafflecopter for your chance to win! CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE RAFFLECOPTER!

Disclosure: I received a free product from the sponsor to review. I received no monetary compensation and my opinions are my own and were not influenced by the sponsor.