Our kids (ages 5-8) love these excavation kits. We have tried the GeoWorld brand and this one. I will list the Pro's and Con's of both brands.<br /><br />GeoWorld:<br />Pros - The fossil replica is more sturdy and not as flimsy or likely to break. The tools provided are better quality, made of sturdy hard plastic (not the cheap ones that will like bend and break). The brush it comes with is much better than the Smithsonian brush.<br />Cons - Does not include goggles. The clay is much harder to chisel away (as stated by my kids), probably better for older kids.<br /><br />Smithsonian:<br />Pros - Better packaging (probably better for gift-giving). Includes goggles which is essential with all the debris coming off the clay. Clay is easier to break (better suited for younger kids). Also comes with a nice poster of the dinosaur and information about it.<br />Cons - Fossil replica is not sturdy. It is made of inferior plastic that bend and break easily. Bits of the plastic broke off when chiseling the clay. The brush is a poor quality paint brush that you get from the dollar store. Has very thin bristles that are pretty much useless. We ended up using the GeoWorld brush instead. The hammer tool is a wooded hammer and the chisel is simply a cheap wooden spike. Again we ended up using the GeoWorld tools.<br /><br />I would not purchase again mainly due to the fact that product is of lesser quality than the GeoWorld product. However for gift giving, it is probably better due to the goggles included (for safety purposes).

9yr old Granddaughter loved it.

My daughter had a great time with this. Would like to buy more kinds.

My son is only 4, but he loves dinosaurs and being hands-on. He never, ever sits still but he sat for almost 2 hours last night doing this! It was great. Pretty messy, but so much fun!

This is a pretty good kit. Messy as all get out, hand your kid a covered glass of lemonade, and send their hind ends outside to do it. You're welcome.

Super fun for me and my 5 year old!

Our son loved it.

My son had a blast with this set. I highly recommend it!

fun for grandson

AWESOME

Great!!

Got as a gift.

Great fun! Didn't realize that the block it came in was truly like a cement so there was a lot of dust. I would just be careful with asthmatics or people with lots of allergies!

I purchased this for a four year old, who has a wild obsession with Dino's and Dino bones. He was absolutely entranced by this. It kept him entertained for over an hour, and every thing he excavated he inspected and swooned over. It was awesome watching him have so much fun, and for the price, i'd totally recommend this anyone!

Wouldn't stay together due to the fact that some of the pieces were pressed into the clay so that they would not return to correct shape after removal.

Our 5 and 6 year old grandsons LOVED these! It did make quite a mess and I'd suggest &#34;excavating&#34; outdoors.

This made me the best aunt ever!

I gave it to my nine year old nephew and he said it was okay he just wish it had a little bit more stuff to it to make it seem more interesting to him. He wasn't as impressed with it as I thought he was going to be and I didn't see it being that great of a thing either OK for the money but just an average product

This was a Christmas gift to my 3-year-old daughter. She sat at the table for around 3 hours working on this and loved every second of it. I mostly let her do it herself. the brick is pretty tough, especially for little ones. I believe one of her big sisters eventually helped her. I didn't expect her to be able to do delicate excavation, and am happy to say the t-rex survived and was able to be constructed. My 3 year old loved this and is asking for another similar project.<br /><br />Side note: when it says they suggest you do it outside, they mean, 'you will have dirt everywhere by the time it's done no matter how much newspaper you put down too'. I used a painters smock with my daughter and she was still covered in dirt afterward. probably the reason she loved it so much. clean up was not fun. &#34;Suggest&#34; in this case, means: &#34;if at all possible DO THIS OUTSIDE&#34;. it wasn't possible for us, but it would make a great outdoor project. might even be fun to put in a sandbox, if you are lucky enough to have one.

Firstly, this is an excellent toy to get for a kid (or adult) who enjoys the more tedious affairs of life and loves the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. It's a great introduction to paleontology or archeology, and may even awaken the inner explorer.<br />The tools are decent quality, though the chisel showed significant bowing after being hammered multiple times, and the earpieces of the safety glasses became quite uncomfortable to me. Forget about using the brush for anything but future digging after you're finished with this project. The clay the skeleton is encased in is very soft and compliant, easily broken away with little effort. The skeleton itself is made of strong enough material (plastic) that it would take a purposeful attempt to actually break it, so damage done during excavation shouldn't be too much of a worry. Some useful tips if you choose to purchase this product: you can use the box it came in as your work area to keep things clean, just cut the front off and keep the side tabs taped together. If you're having trouble with clay stuck inside smaller parts of the skeleton, you can use the opposite end of the brush to scrape and loosen it. If you want to keep your model, use super or hot glue to stick the parts together more permanently.<br />Unfortunately - and this may or may not be the fault of the company so much as possible warping from the clay - the model is of very poor quality (at least mine was). The pieces fit together awkwardly and the resulting T-rex looks as if it were in a horrible, tragic accident before becoming a fossil, body twisted grotesquely to the point it can't even stand on its own legs. My excitement built up during my diligent digging was cast away upon assembly of this pitiful &#34;trophy.&#34; I suppose one could figure out a method of stretching and reshaping the plastic to force it to look presentable, but I found it hardly worth my time. So into the trash it went.<br />Overall it was a pleasant and enlightening experience, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who likes to keep physical mementos of such experiences.