Blue Marble NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Break Open 15 Premium Geodes - with Goggles, Detailed Learning Guide, 3 Display Stands, Great Stem Science Toy & Educational Kit

Bought this for my grandson and hubby to do as a project over the weekend. Not sure if I missed something in the write-up but I didn't realise that you need a chisel, luckily we have several at home. Some of the crystals are vastly more difficult than others and you can see from the pics that we had to upgrade the chisel to a brick bolster (big daddy chisel) to get some of them to open. It may have worked using the original chisel but after half an hour on one rock the replacement was recruited. Luckily most of the stones are easier to crack open and averaged 5 to 10 minutes with my 11-year-old grandson managing to do some on his own. He loved using the tools and this is a good way to start teaching them about handling tools. He was really excited with each one they opened and loved looking for the exact name of each in my crystal books. It was a shame that a lot of them were so similar - clear quartz, smokey quartz and pyrite being the bulk of them. There was no brightly coloured geode but still very nice. A couple were left whole simply because they looked so nice as they are. One is a naturally egg-shaped pyrite which looks like the golden egg of fairy tales. Its a pity that there aren't more display stands in the box and to be honest I am replacing those provided as they didn't seem suitable for any of the opened geodes (one was a nodule which is filled with crystal - one lesson we learned!) Overall I would definitely recommend this as a way of entertaining older children both whilst actually using and the interest it generates. You do need to use quite a bit of force so choose a dry day and work outside as you do get chips flying off - they do provide one set of goggles. Packaging was sturdy and protective without the extra packaging that you get with some products. please note that I received this item at a discount in order that I would provide my totally unbiased review. I base my reviews on personal experience of the product reflecting my genuine impressions. if you have found this review helpful please tick the yes box below

Bought for my daughter. She loves it. Not opened all of them but it feels the chance of finding any with any colour are slim. But still fun going mining in the garden Update: Not all of them are geodes so really disappointing and not worth the cost of a child being upset

Awesome geodes. Look amazing when cut, I would say don't smash them. Look way better cut or opened with a hammer and chisel. If you sand the outside a little makes it easier to break open into two halfs. Awesome value for money. Really enjoyed opening them. Some were thunder eggs more than Geodes, solid inside which I loved but some may not enjoy if they want it hollow with crystals. I think thunder eggs are way more beautiful when sanded so all good. Only 4 out of the 15. I got a good variety but not a fan of quartz geodes as I have lots. But the ones in the pack had larger clearly crystals which I loved. I break them up and make jewellery and keyrings off of them so amazing for me I sanded down one that broke into bits and it's turned purple. Which is awesome. Defo recommend If you like minerals, gems and rocks. 😁

Great project and good communication with the seller

I was really looking forward to seeing what types of crystals i would get out of these but i was really disappointed when 3 rocks didn't have any crystals in and were just solid rock (i kept cracking them to see if there was a vain or anything but nothing). Also, we only got 2 type of crystals (clear quarts and calcite). Don't get me wrong they are all stunning in their own way but I was hoping for at least one other type so that everything wasn't just clear. Some of the stones were really hard to break so I wouldn't recommend kids to d this on their own.

No coloured, hard to break open as all are solid and the fact i can get plan rocks is crazy, they arent even quality controlled.

Be prepared to use your muscles. We purchased a large chisel with hand guard and used a small but weighty metal mallet. We positioned the rock in a towel nest on concrete in the garden, away from windows, and whacked away. These were purchased for a 8 year old who had great fun fitting them but just couldn't break some. All very exciting and all round a great gift. Everyone joined in and there were lots of oooooos and aaaaaahs.

If your kids are into Geods like my 8 year old son and his mates then they will absolutely love this product... my son did this activity with 7 of his mates so they had 2 Geods each, they really enjoyed breaking them open and swopped the smaller bits with one another. This was a good buy. There were 14 Geods in my pack not 15 though... But still good value for money - also complete with 1x safety glasses, small magnifying glass and 3x stands to display your best pieces.