Review of Zlife Education’s Monthly Science Box

Science often seems formidable to children. What they study in textbooks often seems larger than life and seems to have less of a real world feel to children. Chemistry was one of my favorite subjects in school. I majored in it as well. Hence when I came across this Monthly Science Box, my interest was piqued. It would be lovely to let the children explore science through real-life experiments that can help them re-create and relate it to things around them.

This Monthly Science Box from Zlife Education is compact but holds a treasure trove of interesting goodies for the children. It comes with its own safety equipment like goggles and gloves to ensure that the children are safe while doing the experiments. It also comes with exhaustive instructions to do each scientific activity. There are links to the youtube videos that give you step-by-step instructions so that each activity is very simple to do.

This Monthly Science Box contained 4 activities:

pH Indicator: We talk about foods and things being acidic, basic and neutral. But with this activity, the child experiences and understands what these concepts are. The pH strips lets him see what is the nature of the different foods and fluids that he consumes. It is actually a fun way of making the child understand this basic concept of science. There is a colour strip provided that lets your child compare the results he gets on the pH strip with the test strip provided. You know what they say about seeing is believing and recalling.

Effervescence Test: This activity shows how an acid (vinegar) reacts with a base like chalk to produce effervescence or CO2 bubbles. It is fun for the children and shows them how acids and bases react.

Magical colour change: As you can see from the video, this is a very interesting activity. It shows how certain indicators change colour differently when they come in contact with acids or bases. It reminds me of my titration experiments.

Salt formation: This one also revolve around acids and bases. The child gets to see what happens when an acid and a base reacts or when two bases react. The way their eyes widen in astonishment is so much fun.

Each activity is fun to do. It is simple and safe for kids to do on their own though I would suggest that the parents hang around. Each such activity box is mailed to your doorstep every month once you subscribe to the Monthly Science Box for kids through their website. You can try the quarterly, six monthly or the annual plans.

You can also subscribe to Science with Zlife Education Youtube Channel that details other exciting science activities and videos for more fun activities. The activity box is a new concept and different from the craft boxes that we normally see. Frankly, my sons were very engaged with these activities and thoroughly enjoyed them. It is a nice way to make Science fun for them. It also makes them want to further explore these concepts.

And you know you also get to build your very own lab at home with dainty beakers, pipettes, test tubes and so on that your children can reuse over and over again.

Pros:

Unique idea: I love the concept of a monthly Science Activity Box. It is a great step in making Science fun for children. It is also an innovative concept as far as monthly activity boxes are concerned.

Attention to detail: Each activity is painstackingly explained. The Youtube videos and printed sheets are illustrative and make it very easy to do them correctly.

Quality equipment: The equipment is good quality and suitable for the use of children. It is all plastic to keep it safe for even young kids to use.

Safe: The instructions emphasize on safety. Safety gear like safety glasses and gloves keep the children well protected.

Engaging: The activities are interesting and hold the attention of the children. Many other similar activity ideas are given for the child to try out on his own.

Cons:

Price: At ~Rs. 1500 per box, this is slightly expensive. But considering the work that goes in putting it together, the creativity, the tools given etc., it does feel like value for money.

If you want to inculcate the joy of Science in your children by doing fun learning experiments at home, then this is the right choice for you. It is certainly worth trying for your children.