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

My 8 year old newphew loves these geodes. I think he was a little bemused at Christmas and wasn't sure what to expect but once his Dad got the hammer out and they started to have a go at cracking them open he really loved it. There is much excitement waiting to see which of the perfectly adjusted hammer hits would crack it open to reveal the treasure. So far they have opened 5 and they've all be quartz (is that right? the clear crystals) and the rest are proving to be a bit more difficult to get into. This however is not a bad thing, it adds to the excitement. There is a level of skill needed to ensure you use the right strength to get them open but with adult supervision it's great. The goggles were strong and protective. Would definitely recommend if your little person has a fascination with rocks and crystals!!

I brought this for my 8yr old Granddaughter as a gift , I am sure she will be delighted with it. It is very well presented, nicely packaged. The safety glasses are very good quality and the Geodes are a good size some large , medium and a few small. A detailed learning guide is enclosed also instructions on how to cracking open the Geodes. I think the adults and kids will enjoy this kit. Very good value and would definitely recommend .

My kids were mad to get geodes and this is a fairly cheap option compared to other options online. Some opened easily and some needed a harder tap of a lump hammer. As for the quality of the geodes, I was very reluctant to order as it seems like a lottery of what you will get but I tried to keep my kids expectations down. We weren’t going to get a 6inch stone with bright neon crystals inside etc. we ended up with 3 larger rocks approx 3 inch diameters and the rest were smaller. Most were white/off white quartz on the inside but kids really loved it and we did get 1 navy/blue one with a nice hollow which they were very happy about. I knocked it down 1 star because of the images they use in the listing showing really fancy rocks, I think it’s highly unlikely to get anything like that. Good luck!!

Great fun, my boys loved smashing them open. We found putting them in a sock and smashing them was way easier than a hammer.

Wow just Wow! My 8 year old girl loved loved these. However there where some exceptionally hard to break open which took me to hammer for quite a while, which was a shame as you can't tell when they are about to crack open so unfortunately I eneded up opening most of them. They are all the same colour (white) which is very very disappointing as the box is covered in lots of lovely coloured ones and would have expected to get at least one different colour in amongst then.

Got this National Geographic 'premium' geode set for my daughter. She loves crystals and really loved this. In fact it was her favourite Christmas present. This is the educational equivalent of all of those over-priced 'surprise' bag toys that you see everywhere. She couldn't wait to break the geodes open to see what was inside. Whilst my daughter was really impressed by this product I wasn't quite as impressed. I don't think that these are really 'premium' geodes at all. Four of the ten geodes I received were solid inside, and two of those had no obvious crystals visible (the other two were solid crystal). Of the six that were hollow and contained crystals, all apart from one were quartz and the one that wasn't quartz only contained one tiny crystal. I'd say that in total, we got four decent geodes out of the ten that came with this product. Whilst those four are very pretty, that makes each one very expensive!!! Note that it's not actually that easy to break into some of the geodes. I tried the method described in the pamphlet that came with it (tapping with a hammer and chisel around the circumference of the geodes to split them in half) and this didn't work. I eventually managed to open them all using a chisel but a child wouldn't be able to do this. I used a really hefty chisel and a really heavy hammer.

My 8 year old son is really enjoying cracking open these geodes. We did by a chisel to aid with opening. Someone suggested we also wet the geodes which has helped. The goggles are an important for safety. The harder you hit the geodes, the more likely little pieces on the surface are to break off. My son has already opened 3 small ones and a large one. Although they are almost solid in the middle, the sparkly appearance of quartz doesn't disappoint. We washed a smaller geode and lots of sand came off it, revealing a slightly more hollow and interesting inner.

Geodes come in a solid cardboard box with safety goggles. Some were surprisingly tough to crack so the actual cracking of them does require adult help/supervision. My son was very happy with them and likes displaying them in his room (pack contains two small display stands). Only one geode was a ‘dud’ (no crystals), so decent value for money.

PRODUCTO DE BUENA CALIDAD, EN EXCELENTE ESTADO A PRECIO BAJO, CON BUEN ASPECTO, MUY BIEN EMPAQUETADO Y PROTEJIDO

Il mio nipotino per cui questo era in regalo é stato molto contento di questi geodi. Si é divertito molto a romperli e siamo stati piacevolmente sorpresi della qualità dei geodi. Non do 5 stelle perché perso il prezzo sia in po' alto

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.

Wurde als Geschenk für einen 9 jährigen gekauft. Nach kurzem Zweifeln des Kleinen (Was soll ich mit ein Haufen Steine??), kam aber dann schnell Begeisterung auf, nachdem wir zusammen dann mit Meisel und Hammer die Steine vorsichtig geteilt haben. Manche Steine sind innerhalb 2-3 Minuten offen und sind auch von Kinder leicht zu öffnen. Die anderen, wesentlich härteren, sind nur durch ziemlich viel Kraft zu öffnen. Aber es geht. Wie gesagt, alles mit Hammer und Meisel :-)