National Geographic Break Open 10 Premium Geodes for Kids Ages 8-12

Wonderful gift for children. Got this on Amazon last Christmas for my 6 yr old grandson, and he was amazed! Recommend that you break these open outside on a hard surface, and I used an old rag to put the geodes in and a rubber hammer to crack them. I enjoyed this very much myself and I highly recommend this geode set, very reasonably priced!

The National Geographic Break Open 10 Premium Geodes kit is an absolute hit for kids who love science and exploration! I bought this as a gift, and it exceeded all expectations. The kit comes with 10 geodes, safety goggles, and 2 display stands, making it a complete hands-on geology experience. Opening each geode is thrilling — the surprise of discovering sparkling crystals inside never gets old! The geodes vary in size and crystal type, which keeps it exciting for kids as they break each one. The included instructions are clear and easy to follow, and the goggles are a thoughtful safety addition that makes the activity worry-free. This kit is educational, fun, and encourages curiosity about geology, STEM, and natural science. It’s perfect for home experiments, science parties, or a unique gift for young explorers. Durable, well-packaged, and endlessly engaging

My 7 yr old grandson and I both had a great time smashing these. Some opened easily and others took more time which was perfect. More geodes than the set at Walmart. Will purchase again

Great gift for gem lovers! Got these for my nephews who love gems. The idea was cool! The only thing is that we were not prepared for the tools we would need to break these open. After try with different random tools we found around the house, I ended up buying an actual rock chisel. So be sure you have the proper tools to break these open before you open this kit! This is a kit for kids but adult supervision and adult assistance I think is highly recommended

I was looking for a great gift for the science teacher and knew the whole mug thing wasn’t going to hit the mark for someone who had been teaching for decades. I am sure her cabinets are full! - So I spent some time searching on Amazon to find an appropriate and special gift, but all I really knew about her was she had made science understandable and interesting for the teens in the small private school which was no small feat science my daughter hated science in the past. After perusing the offerings for about 30 minutes, I settled on the geodes kit from National Geographic. Here is what I thought it had going for it: 1. It was science related with a reputable name behind it. 2. It was a quick-and-easy-to-explain activity if she wanted to do it with older or younger kids or grandkids. 3. It was a hands on experience and a physical gift at the same time. 4. It was pretty. As a lady, I knew I liked pretty, sparkly rocks (usually in jewelry form though) - so I was hoping she would too. 5. It was in my price range. After giving the gift, we discovered the teacher had a special interest in rocks. So it was a good match. It is nice to feel like you purchased a gift that is well received and won’t be collecting dust. She has already made plans to open some of the geodes during a class this year. Thus far it is a raging success. During my research, I discovered that scoring an equator around circumference and using a hammer/chisel to open produced a better outcome than just using a hammer. The hammer alone seemed to produce smaller sections and some crumbled. I would also suggest using some type of holding mechanism, if possible, like a vice with foam padding around the geode. I noticed that many of the people in the videos were afraid to hold it in place while they were striking it to open. Once they are opened in class I will update the review with any feedback I get. Update: Everyone loved it and the teacher made a point of mentioning how much it meant to get a special and thoughtful gift.

Great gift for a 5 year old rock lover who says he’s going to be a geologist. Nice size Geodes are a little hard to open without the help of an adult. A little messy, but worth it!

I really loved doing this kit with my son. It was a very fun activity for us. But they were all white inside!!! I was hoping for some color but nope. They were still cool to admire though and I know no one can know what color it may be unless its broken open. Also maybe including a chisel would be nice as thats not something I have in my house on its own. And some of these stinkers were really hard to break into!! It made things funny though. Id buy it again just to see my sons face light up when the geode finally split open to reveal yet another white colored geode hahaha fun, kinda disappointing, educational, but an evening well spent with my best boy.

I’m pleased with the geodes we got in our box. I’ve had this 10-pack in my cart for a little while debating if I should pull the trigger or not after seeing some disappointed reviews. It seems a lot of people get either 10 boring clear quartz or a mix of 10 clear quartz geodes and nodules. I decided it’s only a $30 gamble so may as well. Ordered and it showed up 12 hours later. For 2 or 3 it took a while to bust through I’m assuming because two of them were nodules. The rest were relatively easy to break through with a heavy duty flat heat screw driver and a hammer. I also used a vise clamp to hold the geodes in place while I hammered away. Chipping little by little and rotating to try and split them in the middle worked fairly well. We received probably 50% clear quartz, however we also received the other half having some color. You could tell from the exterior if there was going to be some color inside, it’s pretty obvious once you crack a couple open to see the pattern. The pale beige, almost white, geodes are clear. The darker exteriors had some dark grays inside. One was darker exterior with a reddish hue and had some dark grays inside with some dark reddish flaking which was really nice. They’re not amazing, and I’m sure they’re overpriced for what they are, however I’m happy with what we received. I popped them in some floating display frames I got cheap on amazon and put them on a shelf that gets hit from the side with filtered natural light.

Aunque aún no podemos abrir dos rocas todo está muy bien, solo que no viene de otro color, solo son blancas

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 :-)

Great fun! We got some really nice ones and a couple of rocks with only a small amount of crystal or non at all (not pictured). We got a giant one which I though would be a dud but it's one of the best! All only white crystals but when you read the info book that comes with it that is to be expected.I bought this as a school holiday activity as we had been looking at geodes and made some at home using egg shells Alum and laster and wanted to show what the real thing was like. Follow the instructions to make sure you get a nice cross section and not a just a bunch of pieces. Happy with my purchase and with how quickly it arrived. Note the cardboard box is not the actual product , I've seen reviews which complained about the plain cardboard packaging, open the plain cardboard and the product is in a box as displayed.