Many children are born scientists — they love to question and experiment whenever they encounter something new. So investing in a science kit is a good move. However, there’s a vast ocean of different types of science kits for a range of age groups.
But don’t worry. We applied our own science skills to this task as we reasoned, compared, and experimented to find the best science kits for all interest levels. These kits are fun, educational, and kid-approved. They teach many skills and help children learn about the world around them.
We’ll walk you through the process of choosing the perfect science kit for your child’s needs. And our reviews of these 21 products will make the choice easy and save you time so your child can start experimenting sooner.
- Parents' Choice Gold winner
- 24 large plastic scientific tools
- 1-year warranty
- Packed with hair-raising experiments
- Safe and non-toxic
- Filled with fun
- Beautifully illustrated
- Highly educational
- Very entertaining
- 55 color-coded circuit components
- 175+ do-it-yourself projects
- Arranged in order of complexity
- ASTRA Best Toys for Kids award
- 5 clay colors
- Non-toxic and gluten-free
- Fun and educational
- Built-in innovative LED light
- Evaluated by STEM.org
- Fact-filled colorful lab guide
- Easy-to-follow instructions
- Loads of fun
- Parents' Choice Gold award winner
- 41 science experiments and activities
- 1-year warranty
- Flower-shaped butterfly feeder
- Deluxe Chrysalis station log
- STEM.org authenticated educational product
- Helps improve social skills
- 12 glitters for slime
- Non-sticky solution
The Best Kids Science Kits of 2023
Here are 21 awesome science kits for kid engineers, inventors, and scientists.
Science Kits For Age 4+
1. Thames & Kosmos Laboratory Kit
Best Science Lab
This science laboratory kit from Thames & Kosmos comes with all the tools and an age-appropriate approach. The set is suitable for children aged 3 to 6. Your little one will get a few different laboratory tools and cards full of safe experiments.
There’s also a detailed manual for parents, so you can guide your child through it all. We love that all the tools are reusable, so your child can repeat the experiments many times to see if they get different results.
2. Create With Clay Dinosaurs
Science Kit for Budding Paleontologists
My kids love dinosaurs, and now that they’re getting older, it’s time to get scientific. This set from Creativity for Kids is perfect for the aspiring paleontologist.
Your child gets to explore dinosaur fossils with this kit. Of course, they’re made from plastic, but it’s still a good experience for young children.
Then, after studying the fossils, they have to cover them with colorful clay. Don’t worry; all the materials are non-toxic. The set is suitable for ages 5 to 95 — so if you’re 96, I’m sorry.
3. Insect Lore Deluxe Butterfly Garden
Great Kit for Nature Lovers
For this, some of you will need to put your fear of bugs aside because this is an excellent learning experience for children.
In this set from Insect Lore, you’ll get everything you need to raise butterflies. The company provides you with five baby caterpillars your little one will have to feed and look after.
It’s appropriate for children ages 4 to 6. It does require some patience, but it’s worth it.
4. Young Scientist Club
Best Nature-Based Science Kit
Exploring nature and being outdoors are some of the best parts of being a kid. With this set, based on “The Magic School Bus: Rides Again” show, your child gets to go on a scavenger hunt.
They can build an ant farm, dissolve eggshells, lay out animal prints, and much more. It encourages creativity, asking questions, and most of all, discovery — like a true scientist. It’s suitable for children aged 5 and up, although the littlest ones might need some assistance with this in-depth kit.
5. Lauri Fun With Magnets
Fun-Filled Magnetic Science Kit
If your preschooler is showing interest in the refrigerator magnets, this magnetic science kit might be a great option for them. This set from Play Monster is excellent for teaching physics.
Appropriate for children aged 4 and up, it includes different shapes and objects your young scientist will have to use in 14 experiments. There are magnetic wands, balls, wires, rings, horseshoes, and much more.
Science Kits For Age 7+
6. Scientific Explorer Science Kit
Science Kit for Beginners
This set has everything to prepare your child for science in school. It’s recommended for children aged 6 and up.
It includes 20 pieces your child has to use for different chemical reactions. There’s baking soda, citric acid, red cabbage powder, and more. Your kiddo can create a color-changing volcano or a sunset in a tube.
However, there are some items you’ll have to provide from your home. But these are basic things, such as plates and trays, water, and measuring cups.
7. Dan&Darci Light-up Dino Terrarium Kit
Great Kit for Budding Botanists
With this little kit from Dan&Darci, your child grows a small garden inside a jar and learns about dinosaurs in the process. It’s suitable for junior botanists or paleontologists over the age of 5.
This mini terrarium simulates a miniature ecosystem. With it, your child gets soil, rocks, seeds, a jar, toy dinosaurs, a spray bottle, a USB charger, and stickers. They then have to plant the seeds, place their dinos, and observe the growing plants.
Your child will love the rechargeable LED light that lights up the miniature ecosystem for them to study, and it doubles as a night light.
8. Slime Kit Supplies
Slime-Friendly Science Kit
Slime is a favorite science project among most kids, whatever their age. In this kit, you’ll get everything you need to create custom-made slime with your mini-scientist.
This science package includes all the ingredients and containers for the finished product. It’s suitable for children aged 3 and up. The kit includes coloring activities, glitter, sequins, buttons, beads, and the ingredients to create all the oozing slime you want. It also comes with a handy instruction book, so you’re not left to figure things out on your own.
9. Learn & Climb Kids Science Set
Best Jumbo Kids Science Kit
Experimenting is always the best part of science. With this set from Learn & Climb, your child will receive 65 possible experiments to try. It’s suitable for any child over five years.
The kit includes all the best kids science experiments. Your child can build a sprout garden or an active volcano, make slime, create crystals, and much more. For easy instructions, a color manual and DVD are included.
10. Playz Lava Lamp & Glitter Tube
Art Meets Science Kit
If you have a crafty, creative kid, they’re sure to love this Lava Lamp set from Playz. Your child can combine art with science to create a fun and practical lamp for their bedroom.
It’s suitable for children over 8 years.
The tools and ingredients included will let your child create a small chemical reaction inside the lava lamp, then watch it glow once finished.
Science Kits For Age 10+
11. Dan&Darci Mega Fossil Dig Kit
Best Prehistoric-Themed Science Kit
This fossil dig kit from Dan & Darci is an excellent learning experience. It’s recommended for any child over 6.
With this kit, your kiddo gets to step into the shoes of a paleontologist. They will get a magnifying glass, brush, and a small hammer. Then they’ll have to open the brick full of fossils.
Inside they’ll find fossils of dinosaurs, sharks, snails, and other fun stuff. There’s also a manual describing and guiding your child through it all.
12. Playz Bath Bomb Bonanza Science
Best DIY Beauty Products
Science in the bathtub, why not? Playz gives your child the tools to create their own bath bombs. This set is recommended for children over 8 years.
Your child can create the bombs by mixing the included ingredients together. Then watch it fizz up in the bath! With the help of over 20 tools, they’ll learn about acid and base reactions. The kit includes easy-to-follow instructions.
13. Scientific Explorer Disgusting Science Kit
Great Science Kit for Strong Stomachs
The subject of gross science is covered in this kit. Your kids will love it! It’s appropriate for children 8 years and up.
Scientific Explorer created this kit to educate children about their bodies. We’re talking about things like helpful bacteria and mold. They get to create everything that makes us squirm, such as smelly intestines, fake blood, and slimy snot — just make sure you have a barf bag.
14. MindWare Science Academy Perfume Lab
Girly-Girl Science Magic
What do we girls love? Perfume! With this set, your girl gets to create her own perfumes. It’s meant to be appropriate for children aged 8 and up, but our preteens enjoyed this one more.
Your daughter will love that the set teaches her how to extract essential oils. It provides all the equipment needed, including bottles, stirring sticks, base scents, and more.
15. Thames and Kosmos Chemistry
Great Science Kit for Chemistry Basics
If your child is starting to take an interest in chemistry, it might be a good idea to prepare them a bit. This chem lab will do just that. It’s recommended for children 10 years and up.
The kit will guide your little chemist through some classic experiments like creating invisible ink. A full manual is included, so don’t worry that you may not know it all!
16. Mega Crystal Growing Lab
Crystal-Growing Science Lab
Crystals are beautiful and surprisingly easy to grow. National Geographic provides your child with the tools needed to grow eight different crystals. It’s suitable for children over 8 years.
In the kit, your child receives five gem specimens that they then have to prepare and leave to grow. They come in eight different colors. Your child will love the included light stand, where five of the crystals can be used as a night light when finished.
Science Kits For Age 13+
17. Snap Circuits Lights Electronics Exploration Kit
Great Science Kit for Discovery
This set from Snap Circuits will introduce your child to electronics and how they work. It’s recommended for children ages 8 and up, but there are plenty of challenges for a teenager.
Your teen can connect different circuits to create light. They can connect their lights to an MP3 player as they advance and watch the lights react to music.
18. Thames & Kosmos Nanotechnology Kit
Best Kids Kit for Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology revolves around the smallest structures. And with this set, your teenager gets to create nanoparticles.
It’s suitable for children over 15 years, so younger children might need some help. But we just couldn’t leave this super cool option off our list. There’s a 72-page instruction manual included, explaining everything in detail.
19. LEGO Mindstorms Robot Kit
All About Robots Kit
Enter the world of robotics. In this set from Lego, your teen can build their own robots. It’s suitable for children ages 10 to 15.
Options include building a tracker, scorpion, and snake, among others. Then they can sync the robot with an app or use the remote control to get their creation to move, talk, and think.
Seventeen robotic designs are included.
20. Dual LED Student Microscope
Super Microscope for Curious Minds
Examining particles and other matter through a microscope is usually the highlight of biology class. Now your child gets to do it from home. This dual microscope from National Geographic is excellent for this purpose.
Your child can study all kinds of interesting things up close and personal with the microscope’s 20x or 50x magnification.
This microscope is suitable for children ages 13 and up. The kit includes instructions and supplies for a complete experiment to track a brine shrimp’s life cycle. It also comes with 10 specimen slides, 10 empty slides, LED lights, and other accessories.
21. Thames and Cosmos Big Engineering Makerspace
Best Kit for Engineering Interests
If your teenager is into engineering, you’ll want to check out this unique product. The Thames & Kosmos Big Engineering Makerspace provides 22 different building options. Your teen can construct a robotic arm, hydraulic lift, selfie stick, and camera mount.
Every construction is fully functional. While the packaging states this science kit is best for kids 8 years and up, with the detailed and numerous options the set provides, teens will get more out of it.
Benefits of Science Experiments for Kids
Science for children means a lot of things. It’s not exclusively meant for children of school age — appreciation for science begins in infancy (1).
For children, doing science starts with curiosity, then exploration, and lastly, discovery. All of these traits come naturally, especially to infants and toddlers. These are the months and years when they’re eager to learn cause and effect.
It’s essential for us parents to foster a love of learning and exploration (2). Encouraging your child to do science projects, regardless of age, could yield incredible long-term benefits. Science can help develop necessary life skills such as resourcefulness, goal-setting, problem-solving, and planning (3).
It nurtures the intellectual side of their curiosity. This, in turn, pushes them to ask questions and learn to understand what’s happening around them.
How to Choose a Science Kit for Kids
When you’re searching for science kits, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the different options. But the truth is, the best science kits for your little scientist are those that revolve around a subject of interest. Let’s look at a few:
- Chemistry: This may include color-changing chemicals, invisible ink, slime-making, baking, or growing crystals.
- Biology: This broad subject could involve anything from growing plants to learning about DNA.
- Physics: Another broad subject that includes activities such as building a robot or learning about momentum and energy.
There are, of course, other good-to-have features in a science kit. Here are a few of the ones we look for:
- Fully equipped: We recommend looking for a kit where all the equipment is already included, as it makes the process much easier. You can easily do science projects with items at home, but for younger kids, it’s better to have everything ready for use.
- Step-by-step guidance: For younger children, we look for science kits that have a step-by-step approach rather than giving free roam. This simulates that of a classroom learning experience and is more likely to succeed. Open-ended experimenting is suitable for older children who already grasp cause and effect and can make their own predictions and observations as they go.
- High-quality materials: This is one of the top criteria we look for in the best science kits, not only for the project result, but also for your sake. When you’ve purchased something that will work like it’s supposed to, your child is more likely to be enthusiastic — and it’s safer.
It’s essential to find an age-appropriate science kit. Those meant for older children often require more technical skills, which might be too difficult or unsafe for younger children.
- Ages 4 to 6: Children in this age group often enjoy hands-on tasks that show quick results. Consider activities such as simple, safe experiments or handling miniature dinosaur fossils.
- Ages 7 to 9: Look for a kit that involves experimenting using basic scientific principles. These typically include more detailed instructions and may prepare your child for science in school.
- Ages 10 to 12: Look for something your child can do without your assistance. It’s a good idea to build on skills they’re already learning in school.
- Ages 13 and up: In this group, your child can advance to more complicated tasks and instructions. This is the perfect time to bring in the robot-building kits.
