Gee, It's a Geode! Make/Break Your Own At Home With This Kit!

I have always been a geology fan. Although I'm considered to have a B.S. in Physics, my actual degree is in Earth/Space Science. I took a LOT of Earth Science courses in college, including Physical Geography and Geology, Climatology, etc. One of the things I've always been fascinated by is geodes and how they're formed, so when I found this geode breaking kit for sale, I had to try it with Froot Loop! 

This was a fun DIY/break your own kit for Froot Loop to do. Obviously he needed help with it, but he was probably a little too young for it. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.

Anyway, this kit includes 2 premium quality geodes, safety glasses (which I really appreciate!), a display stand, a small magnifying glass (practically worthless), and a learning guide about geodes.

The information guide includes information about what geodes are, how geodes are formed, geodes versus nodules, concretions and septarians, geode hot spots, how you can find geodes, and multiple pages of types of geodes.

Overall, the guide is 10 pages long! It had a lot of information and I enjoyed reading it with my son. There were a lot of pictures and "cool science facts" too. I did not know how many types of geodes there are! The guide explains 8 different kinds. It was a lot of information packed into a small book. We keep the guide on Froot Loop’s bookshelf and he’s actually pulled it off and looked at it a few times since then.

On the back of the guide is the instructions on how to crack open a geode. The kit includes safety goggles, but you also need either a hammer and chisel or a sock. The sock method is what I recommend for younger kids and personally, I think it is a lot more fun. You won't get quite as clean of a break doing it this way, but it is safer and more fun. You are supposed to put the geode in a sock and hit it lightly with a hammer. I didn't want to give my 3 year old a hammer, so we just put the geode in the sock and hit the sock/geode on the ground. It broke open just fine and we had a few pieces. Don't do this if you want two clean halves. Basically, the harder you hit it, the more pieces it will break into.

If you have an older child (or if you are doing it yourself!), you can also use a hammer and chisel. Using the flat- faced chisel, score a line all the way around the geode like an equator. Then, you softly hit the chisel with the hammer all the way around. If it does not open using soft strikes, then you can gradually increase the strength of the strikes until it pops open. You can also do this with just a hammer, but you will not get straight, even, breaks. You want to use as little force as possible to crack open the geode. 

My son loved looking at the pieces with the magnifying glass. He went around the house looking at all sorts of things with it. He also wore his goggles all day. We put the geode pieces on a high shelf in his room so he can look at them but can't reach them and play with them constantly. The best piece is displayed on the little stand, which is basically just a small piece of plastic. It kind of looks like one of those little table things they used to put in pizza boxes to keep the cheese from sticking to the lid (Oh my goodness, do you remember those things!? They were FANTASTIC!)

Overall, this is a great little project for kids, especially anyone who has an interest in science. It didn't take a super long time to do, but it was so fun to do. It is a nice project to have squirreled away for a rainy day. 

I didn't get any photos of us doing this project because it went quickly and I really didn't want my phone anywhere near a preschooler with a rock in a sock, but I found several other photos that other reviewers took of their geode pieces. 

The little magnifying glass is essentially worthless. If you do a lot of these kits, it is definitely a good idea to invest in a decent quality magnifying glass (but make sure your kids are supervised while using it unless you want to replace it constantly). I love that the goggles are included, and we have set them aside so we can use them in other kits we purchase. I wish I had done this kit before doing the excavation kit (post HERE), because the goggles would have come in handy with all the flying clay… 

Which method did you use to break open your geodes? And seriously, do you remember those little pizza tables (I think they're called "pizza savers"? Did you ever use them for other things?