Review on NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Expanded Crystal Growth Kit by Andy Tunes

It was more expensive than I would normally pay for a 'toy' so I hoped it wouldn't go to waste. It was given to my 8 year old daughter for Christmas and she was thrilled when she saw it. The instructions were clear and the grow cups were of good quality. We left the crystals for 11 days (recommended 4-10 days) and they were very developed and beautiful once we took them out! However, the colors of the crystals were not as bright as in the photos. They were very light, slightly lighter than white. The seed stones (on which the crystal grows) were very difficult to remove and although I was extremely careful the yellow crystal dissolved and shattered in my hand when I tried to pull the seed stone out. (The seed stones only need to be removed if you wish to display the crystals on a lighted pedestal so that they can glow from the LEDs below, otherwise the seed stones may remain in the crystals). I love that the set has more crystals to grow in than spots in the light up base (remember 7-8 different colors?) because it gives my daughter the options that she wants to view and change and you know that we girls like to change something: ) Due to the high cost, it is probably a one-time purchase.