Editorial Review

For kids who want to experience the magic of growing their own garden, this kit is a fun andinventive experience. It contains everything you need to grow a small terrarium complete with an entirecommunity of tiny fantastical inhabitants. Paint the special planter with the paints (three primary colorsincluded), fill with soil, and then plant the enclosed beans and grass seeds. Then it's time to arrange the tinyfairy cottage, use the green pebbles to make a tiny path, and decorate the garden with the rocks, shells, and plastic animals that come with the kit. As the beans sprout and grow, you can cut and shape them sothey look like miniature trees--and for variety, add pepper, lemon, cantaloupe, and tomato seeds and watchjust what comes up. --John Longenbaugh ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Best toy in the world!
I think that this toy allows fun and education into children. It gives them a craft to play with when they are bored, and is fun for anyone to play with. I defenitely recommend this one of a kind "Wee Enchanted Garden Kit." My child Jessica who is 10, just loves crafts! I also teach in a school and bring crafts for them to do all the time! They seem to really enjoy it a bunch! this is totally a five star kit!

"Awsome Fun!"
It was so cool!I loved it!I could design it anyway I wanted to.Thanks!

MOTHER OF 6 YEAR OLD
MY DAUGHTER LOVES FAIRIES SO I HAD TO ORDER THIS. IN 3 DAYS WE HAD 6 INCHES OF GRASS AND A FEW BEAN SPROUT TREES!!!! SHE LOVES TAKING CARE OF HER FAIRIES!!!!

Plants grew TALL
Had a wonderful couple hours putting this together with my 5-year old niece. And, because I live across country from her, she promised she would call me when the plants started growing. Just a few days later, I got an excited phone message from her that the garden was growing and the "plants were SO TALL." I called her back and told her to get the lawnmower out, which she quickly relayed to her father. The only thing I would change about this kit would be to have more realistic and fun animals and maybe an elf to go with the house. The kit includes a plastic frog and mouse that aren't even near scaled to the size of the house. An elf, a few deer, and a squirrel might be a better combination.

Takes awhile, but is still fun!
I got this for myself, actually. I like playing with stuff like this, even though I am no longer a kid! I had fun painting the pot and planting the seeds. A few days later, the grass started to grow. Unfortunately I haven't seen much of the beans - but hopefully soon. This is a fun kit to play with, but doesn't actually give you many hours of enjoyment. Once you paint the kit and plant the seeds (which doesn't take THAT long) you basically just check on it every so often to water it and see the plants. One other good thing about this kit, they give you extra seeds and tell you how to make them sprout using paper towels so you can see the entire process - very interesting! Would recommend, as the price is not too bad - but there are plenty of more eduacational toys out there that will occupy more of your time. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Great Toy For Active Kids
This was a great craft kit for my children. My 7-year-old daugther received one for her birthday. She loved it so much since she could paint the soccer ball with colors that she had mixed and chosen. I just bought one for my son also. Both my kids love sports and I prefer them doing something active and fun rather than watching television. I love this kit since both my son and daugther can use it and you get a real soccer ball that the kids can play with after the paint dries.

Cool Look, But won't Last
This seems like a lot of fun, but at the same time most people nowadays are looking for the new cool-looking Adidas or Nike. Plus it probably won't last very long because of the material.

Coming from a kid
Coming from a kid, I must say that this is a wonderful item to have. I got it for my birthday last year and I loved it. I played with all the time. I painted it my own way, and it tought me to be more creative. It looks still liked new, after a year of playing Traveling Soccer. I had my friends sign my soccer ball and now everyone wants to play with it! I love it and if your kid is sporty and has fun painting and stuff...getting this for your kid is a great idea. I loved getting this and so will you!

not so good
tHISTOY DID NOT SUIT FOR A FUN TOY. I BOUGHT IT FOR MY KID AND 1 DAY AFTER MY KID PAINTED IT , IT CAME OFF. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT

Soccer Madness
I think that the soccer ball is great but not that educational only because all you do is paint. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Doesn't have to be just for easels...
Being a preschool teacher I use these all of the time. I have found that taking the sheets out individually clipping them to the easels clip to be the best way to work with them. Even if you don't have an easel these are wonderful for children of all ages. Large, unlined sheets of paper encourage children to be creative and to express themselves in a completely original way. For infants, toddlers, and preschoolers I will often tape the sheets to the table and let them color/paint/glue to their hearts delight.

Too Heavy
I bought this pad for my twins. They use it on their little tikes double easel. This pad is a little to heavy to stay underneath the clip. When they start drawing on it, it starts to slip down. However, easel pads are not easy to find in our area, so I will probably continue to buy these. They have lots of pages in each book and good quality paper for "little artists". ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Oh man... :o)
Imagine a plastic barrel full of markers, colored paper, googly eyes (different sizes yet), pipe cleaners, fuzzy balls, cut out shapes, glitter, sequins, popsicle sticks...okay, there is more, but we haven't reached the bottom of the barrel yet. Basically, it's full of cool stuff that kids LOVE to goof around with. It's messy, and you'll be picking up sequins and various "shiney" things for days, but the kids will be absorbed for at least an hour, if not more.

We're homeschoolers, and when we don't feel like doing "formal" art, it's so much fun to pull out the giant barrel and say, "Okay, get the glue!" :oD

This is great!
The kids can really be creative with this, and the adults can have fun, too! There are plenty of each item in the barrel, so you can complete many different crafts. This would be a great birthday or holiday present. Just get some glue, and you're ready to go! ... Read more

Book Description

Publish your own keepsake photo book!!

PhotoStory lets you publish your own book, but you can also include your favorite photos, stickers, stamps or other art material. Simply send in your decorated kit pages with the story or captions you want typeset, and in just weeks you'll receive back an archivalquality 7" by 9", laser reproduced 15 page hardback book. Numerous options allow you to create almost any type of book up to 50 pages in length, and for any number of additional book copies. The 168 Mrs. Grossman's stickers make it easy to be creative. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Product, Great Company
I used this product to create a book for my sister's baby shower. It was a big hit. The customer service of this company was amazing, they were always very quick to respond and very willing to work with me to create an amazing book. I have been telling all of my friends with children that they need to buy this product or one of the many others from Creations By You. You will not be disappointed with your purchase, the end product looks like a professionally produced book.

Buy this product!
My children did the Illustory kits for years but once they got a little older, they wanted a little bit more and this kit is perfect. You can still do drawings with your stories but this kit lets you use photos and stickers (some already come in the kit) and stamps and scrapbook and art materials--just about anything they want to jazz up the pages. We've made books for friends as a birthday gift, we did a travelogue of our last vacation and we've even used them to make an end-of-the-year yearbook for the teacher (everyone wanted a copy!). This kit is so cool and unique--there are hundreds of uses for it! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

THESE COLORS ARE GREAT
I really loved receiving the 213 count coloring set for my birthday. The quality is excellent and the durability is better than most I've encountered. And i've encountered a lot of just plain crappy crayons/colored pencils. I reccommend this product to anyone who just loves to color! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Too many craft projects end up in the drawer; this paint-it-yourselfelectric bedside lamp kit can light up a room. Included are a small ceramiclamp, a plain white shade, and the basics for decorating them. There's a six-potset of mixable paints, and also a 20-inch strip of pink pompoms for the shade'sfringe, complete with glue. Obviously, these can be supplemented with othercraft materials of your choosing. The lamp and shade together are 10 inches highand a 15-watt candle-style bulb is already included. --Richard Farr ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Great Project!
I bought this lamp for my 7 year old daughter when her baby sister was born. She decorated the lamp for her sister and put it in her nursery. She was very proud of herself and it was a great way for her to be included in getting ready for the baby. Her sister is 2 now and her lamp is still on her dresser. She had a great time putting it together and it is very well made as well. A great project for girls!

looks cool!
I gave it 4 not 5 because I don`t have it yet. It looks really cool, and I bet it really is all the box shows! which is more then I can say for alot of toys these days,sadly. Well I will do another review if I get this.

TERRIFIC !! We buy this for gifts too. GREAT PRODUCT !
I can't say enough about this lamp. It's QUALITY, a good project for a child 6 years and up. We bought one for a gift for an 8 year old too and she loved it. My granddaughter has a lamp that we made together, for her bedroom. What a good feeling she had when it was complete. By the way, the ONLY thing I did with her was help with glueing on the ball fringe. The only thing I would recommend is that Imaginarium also include other color fringes, like white, black, blue.....or ?? With a PINK fringe, it's clearly earmarked as a girl's project and I think a boy would enjoy a lamp too. I could see a camo lamp with a black fringe too.
GREAT PRODUCTS COME FROM IMAGINARIUM. I HAVE MANY ON THE CRAFT SHELF!

Groovy and FUN too!
I bought this toy for my seven year old's birthday and she had the best time with it. It comes with paint to paint the base and other arts and crafts to decorate the lampshade...and it really works!! It's definately worth the money! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Like miniature cans of spray paint, the pens in this 50-pieceBlopens activity kit can be used to make a wide variety of colorfulstencil and airbrush pictures. The kit contains 15 pens, including fivecolor-changing ones, and 23 precut stencils. Each pen is filled withnontoxic, washable ink. By blowing into one end of the pen young artistscan create a colorful airbrush effect on paper. A sturdy cardboardworkstation that holds all of the pens has been included, along witheight sheets of paper, a carry case for the whole set, and aninstruction and idea booklet. --Chris Burns ... Read more

Reviews (23)

blopens are creative and a great leaning experience
My daughter received a blopen kit over a year ago. She has used it for many school projects and also just for fun. She and her friends love it and the teachers have commented on how original her projects are. They want to know how she did it. She did one project which had to do with space and planets. She used the blopens to make the background(Blue black and purple). It looked realistic and then she mounted her planets on top. They were also made using the blopens and the whole effect was very artistic. The only negative comment I have is that I have not been able to find replacement pens anywhere including on the internet. It would be nice to be able to buy replacement pens without having to buy the whole kit again.

Boo this toy sucks
It was hard to make the ink come out plus they ran dry to soon Take my advice dont buy them

not a (real) kid!
i am an artist; i make a lot of greeting cards. i have found blo-pens to be a lot of fun and i have been very creative with them. i found that i do better when i use my own stencils, and i have experimented a lot with the pens. my frustration is not being able to find just the pens, except for the "bold" colors, which i do not need. and i don't like the color change pens (the colors are blah, as far as i'm concerned). would love to know how to find an assortment of pens.

BloPens Rock
I loved playing with BlowPens. I used to hate arts and crafts. But when I got BlowPens, I had the best time of my life! Now my sister's an artist!

Be careful - the ink stains!
This ink runs through paper, so be sure and cover the surface your child is working on and make sure they wear old clothes. This ink stains, and some colors come out but others don't. Our kids enjoyed Blopens so much we couldn't keep them away from it, to our home's detriment. You'll be in for an unfortunate surprise if your child decides to sit on the floor over carpet or at a table with a tablecloth while using these pens. We were surprised that a company would make a child's toy like this with ink that won't easily wash out. Just something to consider before buying. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

No Sun No Solar System!
You can't very well have a solar system without a sun and this product does not have one. Ridiculous!

Vincent 's favorite Night time activitie
I purchased this for my son (He just turned 2) after he was totally taken with Baby Einstein's Baby Galileo's Dvd. It's a bit of a pain with the installation (fishing wire, and those very tiny star tac's ). But other than that its a great way for children to learn about the solar system.

A must have!!!!!!!!

I want one too
My daughter got one of these but never showed much interest, so we hung it in my 4-yo son's room. It was so cool, the planets glow really brightly and in different colors....Jupiter is kind of red and neptune is blueish. I take every opportunity to go in his room and watch these, I want my own set. Now all I need to do is convince my wife.
Very cool toy.

Educational Room Decorations
The educational value of having the planets hang from our son's room is great. At 4 years-old, he could name the nine planets thanks in large part to this "toy". So I give it the highest marks in educational value. A little tid-bit about each of the planets is provided on a panthlet in this set and I read it to our son as my husband hung the set. Our son actually memorized much of what I read to him and when the set was new he asked me to reread the panthlet to him several times to fill in the pieces of information that he had forgotten.

It's also fun in that our son enjoys showing it to our guests and telling them about the planets. However, I rate the set as 4 out of 5 stars in the fun category simply because it is more like decoration. This set hangs from the ceiling, so you never play with it or even touch it once it is hung. You simply enjoy looking at it and talking about it.

The downside of this set is that the stars are really small stickers so you will want to purchase some larger glow-in-the-dark stars. Also it is a pain to hang this set since you have to tie fishing line to each of the planets and then use tack-like objects to connect them to the ceiling. But once you have it all set up your child will probably be pleased.

The Case of the Missing Sun
I am currently considering purchasing this toy for my 7 year old nephew. From the reviews, it sounds pretty neat. However, for all those reviewers who were mourning the lack of a sun, allow me to point out that this set seems to be scientifically to scale. Since that is the case, a 3d model of the sun would be thousands of times larger than the model of the earth, hence you would have about a 6 foot wide sun model to hang from your ceiling! That might just be a little too awkward.

Still think I'm going to purchase it, though. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This magnetic calendar is undated, so it can be reusedmonth after month, year after year. Use the month magnets to identify themonth, and then stick the magnetic numbers on the appropriate days ofthe week. Hinged panels fold out for hanging--the top half is acalendar, the bottom half is a blank white magnetic surface for storingmonth and year magnets and the colorfully illustrated "reminder"pieces. There's one for every occasion you can think of, so you'llnever miss an important date or activity--Test Day, Mother's Day,Canada Day, Kwanzaa, Go To Dentist, and so on. Consisting of 139pieces, the calendar measures 15.5 by 23 inches unfolded. --AlisonGolder ... Read more

Reviews (9)

We're still using it!
When my son was in kindergarten, my sister purchased this for him for his birthday. He took a lot of pleasure in it. He is now almost twelve and he still likes changing the dates and putting in the special magnets for the special days. This was a great gift. It doesn't make a lot of noise, or sparkle when you play it, but it is the one thing that we all still use after all these years. I'm thinking of purchasing another one to update our old one.

Great teaching tool
This is a magnetic, wooden perpetual calendar for children. The set comes with more than 120 magnets with which to create a customized, plan-ahead monthly calendar. The child who manages the calendar can affix the correct year, season and month and then can go on to show holidays, play dates, library book due dates, etc.

We use this calendar to teach time concepts to our young son. The calendar is colorful and engaging and conveys the meanings of the words year, season, month, week and day far better than any dictionary, book or video.

This is an effective teaching tool, and we were thrilled with the results. However, ours warped severely within three days of purchase. The manufacturer must have used green wood to make a particular batch of calendars. Be careful of shoddy workmanship. The product otherwise is good.

This Calendar Is Actually Fun!
Purchased this calendar for my 10 yr old son and he and his brothers fight over who is going to put the magnets on the calendar for the new month. There are great magnets for appointments, holidays, sports and parties. It also helps them learn about the seasons, months and various state and national holidays. I'm an adult and I enjoy it too!

Great calender, only a couple complaints
My 5yo son picked this calender to spend his birthday money on. It's a great calender. We love how there are not just event magnets but weather magnets. My only complaints are the

1) the grid boxes could be a little bigger. If you have a holiday, a birthday, & an event (or some other combo that would require 3 magnets) all on the same day the magnets cross over into the other day.

2) I really hope the company comes out with an optional pack of more magnets to buy separately. The calender only comes with one magnet for each sport (soccer, football, dance, etc) but when my son was in soccer he had soccer once a week. It'd be nice to have 4 or 5 soccer magnets to put on the calender at the begining of the month rather than moving the one soccer magnet every week. The optional pack could also include a couple more 'dining out' & 'movie' magnets, a 'school event' magnet, a 'family outing' and just 'outing' for hard to classify events. I also agree with the poster who said a 'start vacation' & 'stop vacaton' would be better than just one vacation magnet. Also a stay with sitter magnet would be great.

I'd still buy the calender again though. My son loves putting the magnets on & is learning the concept of time quickly with this visual aide.

Great for teaching young children to use a calendar
My recently turned 5 year old has begun asking about days, weeks, "how many days until X" type of questions. We are homeschooling so no other person or school had yet introduced the teaching of days, months, etc. to him. Seeing he was curious and ready to learn, I quickly purchased this calendar to use as a perpetual calendar to help teach him the concepts. He loves the calendar.

It is more fun than a paper calendar because it has the magnets with the activity notations on them. If you are looking for a consumable version you could just use paper and buy stickers. I prefer this magnetic version. It is more functional than a wooden perpetual calendar that uses blocks for the dates because it allows customization of activities, holidays and events that take place on that day.

I give the manufacturer credit for coming up with many creative ideas for the activities. There are Christian and Jewish religious holiday magnets. There are American federal holidays such as Veteran's Day and the big kid holidays like Halloween. There is one for Canada Day and one for Victoria Day. There is one for Cinqo De Mayo. There are activity holidays such as the popular sports for young kids, dance, soccer, martial arts, etc. There are school related magnets such as "school play", etc.

If you take the extras that don't apply to your family, you can customize them by writing on paper and gluing it on top of the magnets you don't think you'll ever use.

There are magnets for the years 2002 through 2007 and season and month magnets. It would not be a big deal to continue to use it beyond those years and simply omit the year magnet.

To make more room to select the magnets on the extra magnet board side, I took away all the magnets that we would never use for our family such as sports my child does not play. I also took away the future year magnets for fear of them being lost. I put them away for future use.

I hope in the future the manufacturer makes a supplemental kit for us to custom design our own magnets, perhaps by giving us loads of pre-printed stickers with a smaller number of magnets and allowing us to choose which apply to our family. This kit could also be used to replace any that may have become lost over time. Some blank stickers in the proper shape to fit the magnets could be for us to truly make unique magnets for our family. I'd like to have "vacation start" and "vacation end" rather than just one "vacation".

The cons: this is quite heavy so make sure you use the proper hanging hook and anchor it well. The pieces are choking size, so it must be hung high enough so children under age 3 cannot reach it (including guests and visitors). Placing it that high does not allow for eye-level viewing by a five-year old. I would have preferred the folding go in the reverse manner, that is, when not being hung it would fold inward so the magnets are protected inside it rather than having them on the outside because as it is moved, the magnets fall off. If it folded inward we could keep it folded up and open it to use it and then put it away again, if we didn't want to hang it on the wall. Another idea would be that I could hang it low for our family but when I have babies and toddlers visiting I could quickly put it away while they are visiting. Lastly, the size of the day-grid cubes for each day are too small to fit both the date magnet and 2 other activity or holiday magnets. I think it should have been designed slightly bigger so that 2 magnets easily fit on the grid.

Despite my complaints I am giving this a high rating. It is a one-of-a-kind product so there are presently no brand alternatives. Lights, Camera, Interaction makes high quality durable and educational products and this one fits that bill. The good things about this calendar outweigh my complaints! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Monopoly's popularity is of epic proportions. Thisquintessential board game challenges wannabe capitalists of all ages toaccumulate as much wealth as possible by buying, selling, and tradingproperties; collecting rents; and various other windfalls. Keepingplayers engrossed for hours, Monopoly requires clever strategizing andsometimes ruthless business maneuvers. Numerous versions of thethoroughly satisfying game have appeared over the years, butMake-Your-Own Opoly could be even better--because players create it themselves!The game includes everything needed to hand-customize the game board,cards, play money--even the box. Whether using a computer and printeror simply a pen and scissors, anyone can manufacture the perfectindividualized "Smith-opoly," "Baldwin Middle School-opoly," or"Timbuktu-opoly." Contains CD-ROM, floppy disk, paper and label set,game board, six colored pawns, two dice, easy-to-follow publishingbooklet, and game instructions. For two to six players. --EmilieCoulter ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Could of been better
I really liked this game, but it is a big hassle. Sure, it is cool to make your own opoly, but it took to much time. Plus once you put something on the board you can't change it. I wish they made it better, just easier. It would be really cool if you could just send what you wnated to the factory, don't you think? So, if you're wondering whether to buy this or not, it is a very fun thing, but if you are really busy you might not enjoy it as much.

It's a lot of fun.
I like it because I was able to make it about my favorite spot where I like to go swimming,kayaking,waterskiing,kneeboarding,
tubing, and looking for moose and deer. It was lots of fun. Me and my family love to play it.You should get it!

Disappointing Alternative
If you are a true Monopoly lover then, you may be very disappointed in "Make-Your-Own-Opoly". There are some major differences in the board from the original Parker Brother's game such as the jail and free parking and "go to jail" have been all changed to loose a turn and roll again and things of that nature. Also, there are no hotels or houses so you were not able to increase land value by developing properties. All in all I found it too far from the concept of the original (or parker brother produced variations) monopoly game to be able to enjoy it as a "Monopoly" alternative.
Other deterrents include that there are only a couple of plain sheets of paper sent with it for your money and property cards to be printed on. One would need to use their own printer paper if they wanted much money at all.

Why???
I really like the concept of the game, however, in my opinion it has some big shortcomings. Every die hard Monopoly fans knows that there are 10 spaces from corner to corner - this game gives you nine. Why? I have no clue. I think it could have been a lot truer to the original format. There aren't transportation squares on each side, and only two places equivalent to chance/community chest. It's a good idea, just whoever designed it didn't do a good job of bringing it to life. Copyright issues? I don't know... it just think it's annoying.

The first step to personalized gaming! I love it!
I just bought one for my own family but it makes an AWESOME gift! I bought it for my sister's family 2 years ago and they still rave about it and play it at family gatherings like thanksgiving and christmas time. ... My sister doesn't have a computer so I knew that I was going to have to make it for her. I had to download a working copy of the program used to make the personalized stuff from the website that was printed on the instruction book - the cd and the floppy disk did not work for me but that was by no means detrimental - didn't take long and the program is so easy to use. I was able to put a picture of my niece on the $500 bill and a picture of my nephew on the $100 - it's anything goes and only limited by your imagination. A VERY creative and highly entertaining game. ... Read more

Editorial Review

It may be a grind to wait nearly 30 days to create polished rockjewelry with the Rolling Stones Rock Tumbler. But, as the makerswrite, "you are grinding in days what it takes nature thousands of yearsto do in a stream, river, or ocean." So, find a clean, remote area with aproperly wired outlet where the constant tumblingwon't disturb others (and where curious little hands won't wreak havoc), and start rolling. The first step involves assembling and lubricating thetumbler itself. Once the two-cup, plastic barrel rolls easily atop its10-inch-long and 6-inch-high plastic base, it's time to open the smallbag of gritty stones that comes with the kit. Constant maintenance and much patiencewill reward the owner with shiny stones in about one month. A smallsampling of jewelry settings and findings is provided, along with orderforms for gold-tinted accessories. --Liane Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Thumbs up on the Tumbler!!!!
I bought NSI's Rock Tumbler, for my grandson, the budding geologist. While there are many different tumblers out there with a wide range of prices, I chose to buy NSI's brand because of its high quality and low noise. I'm familiar with NSI as I initially purchased the Rock Tumbler for my own son several years ago. My son used it so much, I was afraid he'd burn the motor out of it, but he never did! I only wish I'd kept it to give to my grandson, otherwise I wouldn't have had to buy a new one! The set includes everything you need to do your first batch of stones: an electrically operated tumbler, barrel, grit and polish, rough semi-precious stones, a jewelry kit, and instructions. Unlike many of todays toys which give children instant gratification, polishing rocks is a good lesson in patience as it takes several weeks to see the result. After using the tumbler himself, my grandson reported that it was his favorite present as he enjoyed the anticipation and suspense building up to opening the tumbler. He never knew what magical surprise awaited him. Even though it's been a few years since I gave my grandson the tumbler, he still collects rocks and transforms them into treasures that he often makes into gifts for others, such as necklaces and key chains. I definitely got my money's worth with this purchase. If you have a rock lover or jewelry maker at your home, you can't go wrong with NSI's Rock Tumbler as a gift!

Middle School Science Class Usede This Tumbler!!!
My 8th Grade Middle School Science Classes used this Rock Tumbler Machine and achieved great success and , I hope, knowledge. For the unit on rocks and minerals we did a science experiment with 1/2 of a rock sample for the Variable in a tumbler and 1/2 for a Control not in the tumbler. Students ran the entire lab for the month. The final results were great both as a science lab and an enjoyable activity. The use of the diatomaceous earth becomes another lesson. I recommend that you keep some of the same types of rock out of the tumbler just to compare after the tumbling is done even if you are not doing it as a lab in a classroom.
There is a lot of noise connected with this piece of equipment. I could leave it in a storage room. Also I recommend that you tape it onto a board or on the table as the vibrations may cause it to move. Make sure that the seal is tight so no water leaks out. This is noticed at the very beginning if it should occur and can be easily fixed.
Some students went ahead and ordered their own Rock Tumbler. I warned the parents about the noise!!!

A Little Patience Never Hurt Anyone!
My 8 yr. old daughter bought this item herself and loves it! She understood from the beginning that it would take a long time since it was doing nature's job of "thousands of years" in just one month. In a world of toys that offer instant gratification for our youth, this one teaches them that nature just doesn't work that way! Yes, it's noisy (we put ours under a styrofoam cooler & put a rock on top & that helped A LOT), yes, it's takes time, and yes, it is a bit messy, but look what you get in the end. Through all three steps, your child (and probably you too) learn the process and see how nature can turn a seemingly ugly rock into a beautiful gem. If you don't like noise, waiting or a little mess, this isn't for you. If you do like cause and effect, you will love this product. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day!!
...

Waste of noise
It was really noisy the whole time and the rocks never changed.

It is a very loud toy. It goes for about 30 days non-stop.
just make sure to put in a place that the sound can't bug you ... Read more

Editorial Review

Express yourself by designing your own temporary tattoos. Apply the enclosed tattoo outlinetransfers and color them in using the washable skin markers (and your imagination). Or use the markersalone and work freestyle to create your own body art masterpieces. Tattoos last one to three days. They can beremoved with rubbing alcohol or soap and water (and a little elbow grease), or peeled off using adhesivetape. This kit includes over 50 tattoos. Both markers and transfers are made from nontoxic, water-basedmaterials.--Alison Golder ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Tattoo with your child
Kids love tatoos and my daughter is no exception. Short of actually letting her go get tatooed, this is great. It's fun...you get the hang of it after realizing you can't put in too much water. Enjoy...even my husband was tatooed, so I think it's fun. They wash off in the bath.

No worth the Money
It doesn't come with enough tattous. They run out pretty fast. You are just buying 6 markers to draw and color your own designs.

Good
My mom bought this set for my four year old son last week. At first I thought it might be a little advanced for him, but he got the hang of it in no time. Now he is tattooing the whole family. They are pretty easy to rub off, but that's probably a good thing, since he covered my daughter's face with flowers right after she got out of the bath! For the price, this is a great toy.

My Son Adores This!
After reading one good and one bad review, I was torn whether to buy this for my son or not, but I'm glad I did! My only complaint is that the color-in markers take a while to dry. Other than that, the tatoos are easy to apply (my 6-year-old does it himself), fun to color and even better to show off! This is by far one of my better toy purchases!

A Big Disappointment!
Gave this to my granddaughter for her birthday -- she LOVES tattoos -- but this was a big disappointment. She quickly got on to how it worked, but when she colored in the outline and imprinted it on her hand, the tattoo was unrecognizable . . . AND to make matters worse, it rubbed off immediately. We read the directions carefully and tried using it a number of different ways, but always with the same result. A waste of money, in my opinion ... Read more

Editorial Review

This Star Explosion kit allows children to create a universe intheir own bedrooms. With over 500 glow-in-the-dark adhesive pieces tochoose from (including stars of all sizes, comets, asteroids, and spiralgalaxies), junior astronomers can create star displays, black-holeeffects, and, with the aid of the included star map, actualconstellations. There are 364 small (.25-inch to 1.5-inch) star stickersand about 200 larger (1.5-inch to 5.5-inch) plastic shapes that adhereto walls and ceilings with the putty that comes with the set (it's safeto use on most surfaces). The stickers and plastic shapes are made ofGlominite, a safety-tested product that stores light. Each time theGlominite shapes are exposed to light, they recharge--so that theglowing keeps on going. --Kathryn Gustafson ... Read more

Reviews (1)

WE TURNED THE BEDROOM INTO A GALAXY
I had a lot of fun with my granchildren transforming their bedroom into a glowing galaxy. There was more than enough stars to make a bunch of constellations on their ceiling. These are easy to use and weren't messy at all. The kids love staring at the stars and pointing out the names of constellation before they go to bed at night. I was surprised when they started pointing out the real ones once we were outside one evening.
The experience really turned them on to learning about the constellations. We even ended up buying a real telescope and book about stars. What a fun way to learn for all of us. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

PRO'S AND CONS TO THE ROCK GARDEN WATERFALL
THE PRO'S TO THIS TOY IS THAT IT'S FUN AND NOT SOMETHING YOU'RE GOING TO FIND AT MOST STORES DOWNTOWN. IT'S UNUSUAL. THAT'S A REAL PLUS TO A TYPICAL CRAFT LOVING KID. MY 12 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER HAD A BLAST CREATING A FOUNTAIN SHE DEEMED TO BE UNIQUE. THE PROBLEM (OR CONS) ARE THAT THE PAINTS THAT CAME WITH THE PROJECT WERE DRY AND HARD AS ROCKS. WE COULD'NT GET THEM TO THE PROPER LIQUID CONSISTENCY NO MATTER WHAT WE DID. EVEN HAD WE BEEN ABLE, THERE'S NO WAY THE TINY AMOUNT OF PAINT THAT COMES WITH THIS KIT IS ADEQUATE FOR THE JOB. WE HAD TO BUY PAINTS, AND IT WAS NO EASY TASK FINDING SOME THAT WERE SUITABLE TO THE TASK.
OTHER CONS WERE THAT THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH ROCKS IN THE KIT TO ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING EVEN CLOSE TO THE PICTURE ON THE BOX AND WHEN THE FOUNTAIN IS ALL PUT TOGEATHER, THERE'S MORE NOISE FROM THE PUMP THAN FROM THE WATER, WHICH DOES MORE TRICKLING THAN ACTUAL FLOWING...
THE IDEA IS AWESOME, BUT THE PRODUCT NEEDS A LITTLE WORK AND IMPROVEMENT. IF YOU DONT MIND BUYING PAINT AND A FEW EXTRAS, AND MAYBE EXPERIMENTING WITH THE PUMP, IT'S A FUN AND WORTHY PROJECT AND I THINK THAT MOST CRAFT LOVERS WILL ENJOY IT.

a disappointment unless you add your own rocks
I bought this for my niece at age 11. She was able to paint and assemble the kit by herself. She needed a tiny bit of help with one of the wires that connects the battery.

She enjoyed putting it together, but when we added the rocks, it looked very bare. There definitely were not enough rocks.

Luckily we have a collection of "finds" from the beach including beach class, stones, shells, etc, which we used to decorate it.

Unfortunately my sister, after a few months decided that she didn't want the water sitting in their living room where it was waiting to spill on their new leather furniture.

I'd have to say that if you like the idea, the kit alone isn't enough. I'd recommend a nature walk for pretty stones first.

Great fun but a few things you should know
This toy was great for me (an adult), but I'm not sure an 8 year old would have the patience for it.

A couple of tips: 1) Read the directions through before starting. 2) Don't confuse the white paint with the contact cement. 3) Save a little of the brown and black paint to reapply over the white paint if it gets too light.

A couple of flaws: 1) There aren't enough rocks to make the waterfall look like the pictures on the box. 2) The pump works fine, does not leak or anything, but the sound you hear when it is on is primarily the motor running, not gurgling water. (This is lessened when you take the cover off of the motor, so perhaps playing with the wire positioning, etc., would reduce the motor noise.)

However, I *LOVED* putting this together and am satisfied with the results. ... Read more

Features

• Paint 3 puppies
• Includes 3 wood puppies, 5 acrylic paints, varnish, paintbrush, 3 magnets, and more
• Winner of Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Toy Award

Reviews (6)

Fun Now and Later
I purchased three "Paint the Wild: Puppies" kits for my daughters, ages 5, 8, and 10. They very much enjoyed the process of painting the puppies to match their favorite breeds, as well as some newly created breeds straight from their imagination.

The puppies are a lightweight wood (likely balsa or soft pine) and are durable enough to play with after the paint has dried. There's plenty of paint included to complete your masterpieces.

Satisfaction with this product has inspired my decision to purchase other "Paint the Wild" kits. The horses were also a big hit with my children.

This is a good choice to fill a rainy afternoon. Also is an excellent gift item.

Not what I expected.
Was disappointed that the puppies were basically chunks of wood faintly resembling dogs...thought they might have more detail or finishing. Would probably pass had I known....

GREAT FUN KIT!
The kit was great I thought it was soo much fun to paint the puppies different colors! This toy is really cool because you can hang your puppies,put magginets on them or just play with them! This toy is pretty durable but if you slammed it really hard on a hard floor it would probally break.If you like craft kits you should deffinatly get this one.

Painting Puppies With Paint the Wild is FUN
I love this kit--the puppies are so cute and the project is really fun. I loved the finished craft and it gave my children the freedom to creat whatever they wanted. Would like to buy more of these to make a whole kennel and to give as birthday and holiday gifts. All we needed was in the box and the directions were so easy to follow.

Howling fun!
We got this puppy kit for my daughter's birthday party. She spent more time on it than any other toys she got (maybe 20 gifts). It is a good, classic toy and I was suprised how well she can paint (she's 7). The only thing I would like to have more is a couple additional paintbrushes so her brother can do it at the same time with the other 2 puppies. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Small,but an AWESOME gift.
This toy is SMALLER than it looks.I'm not saying anything bad about it.I'm actually happy I got it.It's a great gift.You'll love it.It comes with a little,blue case(as shown in the picture)a silver bracelet,one silver backpack charm,one silver sun charm(with a different smile on each side),one silver heart charm,one silver princess charm,and one beautiful crystal charm.They are very pretty.I'm not lying on any of this information,UNLESS they change it in the future.

A nice gift...
The classic "Charm Bracelet' makes a cute and stylish comeback with High Intencity's charms. With dozens of styles (more then on Amazon.com) you can personalize it for whoever you want, and keep it as an heirloom. I've seen everything from rhinestoned letters, to astrological signs, to cute little symbols ranging from a soccer ball to a fortune cookie to a diary.

A cool feature about the charms is that they are easily detachable and can be rearranged to your desire, in fact, I use one of mine on a necklace chain from time to time.

For a unique gift for your friend or child, definately try out one of these, altho the charms are hard to come by in stores.

GREAT GIFT AND IDEA FOR ANY GIRL!
I bought this Charm Bracelet for my daughters birthday and she just loves it. You can buy the extra charms on Imaginarium.com such as dance or music. I'm going to add the extra sets for Christmas and other special occasions. What a great idea! ... Read more