Geology Gifts for Christmas!
Will my wishes come true?
What was I going to get for Christmas? I had given my parents my list carefully constructed from what I had seen in the Sears Christmas “Wish” catalogue. But with three sisters, I never knew just what my folks might be thinking about.
Come Christmas morning, and we’re all gathered around the tree, what will it be? I rip off the paper and there she is in all her red and white striped bathing suit glory—my first Barbie doll, with bendable legs! I opened the box and grabbed her by the head and yanked to pull her out, and out she came, only it was just her head! Yes, it was no problem to put the head back on, but she was never quite the same.
Memories of Christmas Past…
There were other gifts at other Christmases that were memorable for whatever reason – the pink skirt and sweater that were meant to match my sister’s new pink skirt and sweater (so that we could share, of course!) The Trixie Belden mystery book that I read over and over. And the chemistry set! Ah, the chemistry set!
Back then, you could buy dangerous chemicals and give them as gifts for Christmas. It was from a company called Gilbert, and they made handy-dandy chemistry sets with all the wonderful chemicals you could hope for! Mine had at least 20 containers of who knows what, with all kinds of experiments to do with them. My dad was a biochemist, so I’m sure he was hoping one of his girls would follow in his footsteps. I had a lot of fun working through bases and acids, doing litmus paper tests. But beyond that, my memory fades as to what I did or what happened to that kit. But it sure was fun!
What Will Your Child Get for Christmas?
Christmas gift giving can be a challenge, trying to figure out what will be for the win with your kids. But for me, it comes back to that chemistry set. It was something I could do, a new subject to explore. And I got to handle things that were the real deal. This was not my little toy kitchen with plastic pork chops and peas. I could do what the adults were doing.
Part of that whole growing up thing is letting your kids get a bit dirty while they explore. And not only letting them, but encouraging them. Christmas can be a great time to help them do that. So with that in mind, I do have a couple of ideas for you this year in your gift-giving, that might just kindle a passion in your child.
Geology Gifts! Hands-on Geology Lab Kit!
For a unique gift, how about geology gifts! Check out our new Geology Project Kit. This kit has our three books from our “Identification” series – Rock Identification Made Easy,
Mineral Identification Made Easy, and Fossil Identification Made Easy. Along with these books, you get:
- A Rock identification project
- A Mohs Hardness Test Kit
- Crystal Growing Project
- A Mineral Identification Project
- A Fossil Dig
- Rock, mineral and fossil samples that are needed for all the projects
- A Fossil Identification Project
Included in this kit are instructions and activities for developing science investigative skills, and interpretive skills. Both are needed to solve the questions of earth history.
This kit will encourage your child’s investigative abilities, as they seek to uncover some of the mysteries of the stuff that is all around us. Definitely, this kit would be a great choice for any child, grade 5 and up. Younger children could use it with some guidance.
Geology and Fluorescence!
You could also turn loose that explorer in your family with one of our Fluorescent Kits. In addition to our standard Fluorescent Kit, we have fluorescent kits that are specific to the states of California and Arizona. All of the kits contain:
- A combination short-wave/long-wave lamp with batteries
- Fluorescent samples
- Basic instruction on the strange world of fluorescence
- Discovery project with fluorescence
And this kit is easily packed up and taken on family outings. It’s especially fun to take if you like to camp. After all, those very dark nights are perfect for looking at fluorescence!
These are just a couple ideas, but hopefully this has got you thinking outside of the box a bit.
No matter what you choose to give as gifts, we hope you take time to enjoy why we celebrate. And we hope you have a wonder-filled Christmas, as you celebrate the Savior coming to us!