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little BLAST
Cost: $24.95/month (3-month minimum – free shipping). Single BLASTS are also available for $24.95 + shipping.
Ships To: United States
littleBLAST, who kindly sent me this to review, offers monthly themed science BLASTs for little scientists. Their boxes are aimed at preschool aged child or can supplement early education (recommended ages are between 3-7). Each littleBLAST includes 3-4 science activities around a main theme along with all the supplies necessary to complete each activity AND parent guides which help you to explain the projects to your little ones.
littleBLAST ships via USPS on the 5th of every month. However, if you need a box sooner than that you can e-mail them and they will work to accommodate you.
Everything came neatly wrapped in bubble wrap which both boys went crazy for. I wasn’t totally sure what the theme was from the first look, but we wanted to find out!
The April 2014 littleBLAST theme was “Magnets” and included four projects to go along with the theme. The information card gave a suggested order for the projects, but of course we didn’t follow the directions and just did them in random order. I should also mention that the box included a warning about magnets and their potential dangers which I thought was good. You can never be too safe!
Project #1: Racing with Magnets
The first project we did was “Racing with Magnets”. I should have taken a picture of our finished dune buddy (you traced it on shrinking paper, colored it and then baked it so it shrunk up), but L wasn’t having any of my pictures the day we did these so I promised him I wouldn’t take any (and a pinky swear cannot be broken)! L didn’t think that we’d be able to move this around with the paper between the magnets, but loved that we could!
Project #2: Is It Magnetic?
We have done a similar project to “Is It Magnetic?” in the past and loved it. So of course, we loved this one as well. L and I love trying to determine what is magnetic and testing everything. And we also loved finding other things around the house (legos, Baxter and Buddy’s collars, etc.) to see if they were magnetic.
Project #3: Viewing the Magnetic Field
The third project we worked on was “Viewing the Magnetic Field”. We also loved this one. I totally remember doing this as a kid and I loved it. There is something oddly soothing about making the iron fillings move with the magnets. Remember the ones you use to get with a bald guy and the iron fillings were his hair? Please tell me you remember these! Anyway, L loved it too. And he thought making a beach scene with them was fun as well.
Project #4: Don’t Touch the Sea Urchin
The final project was “Don’t Touch the Sea Urchins”. This was a bit more involved and let L see how the poles of the magnets worked and how the opposites attracted. It’s kind of the same concept as the magnets on the back of L and WB’s trains, but this explained it much more clearly. The second part of the project involved sorting the urchins and crabs using only the magnetic forces and NOT touching them!
Also included is the “Magnet Adventure Map” which guides you along as you complete your journey. At the end you receive the “Magnets” sticker to put on your Super Achievements Chart (not pictured)!
I couldn’t do a cost breakdown on this box since all of the projects are exclusive to littleBLAST. L and I enjoyed this, however, I think he really really would have loved it a year or two ago – before he started kindergarten and started going to science class.
What do you think of littleBLAST? If you are interested in subscribing or just want to learn more, click here!
