SmithsonianDiggin' Up Dinosaurs T-Rex Plastic Skeleton Set Educational,Fun,Science,Archeological Playset for Kids Age 8 up

I was looking for something fun to do with the kiddies and remembered seeing this or something like it in a museum gift shop. Immediately found this one with Amazon search tools and bought it on the basis of the Smithsonian brand. I bought a competitor, too.The plaster is neutrally colored and despite some worries I found that it washed right off the concrete on my dad's porch. The kids of course loved the digging and especially the brushing away of dust from the bones, which is of course the part that makes even a grown adult feel more like Robert Bakker.In that connection, provided tools are as I recall a little paintbrush, a round wooden "chisel," and a very light wooden hammer. These are adequate to the task of excavation, but it will take a while. For younger children you may wish to consider using a cold chisel and a light "real" hammer despite the risk of damaging the "fossils," which latter are by the way made of a rather softish plastic.The skeleton is to my moderately practiced eyeballs basically anatomically correct (at least one competitor has the ilia reversed) and stands up reasonably well to moderate playtime use by juvenile hominids once assembled. The wee ones needed a little help assembling the skeleton, which is in about a dozen pieces. Recreational disarticulations can be addressed effectively with application of a small amount of plastic cement or similar.Overall, a great time and not too big a mess. Good I'd say for basically-normal kids from about 5 to about 15. As there is to my knowledge nobody in my immediate family who is basically normal, I'll note that it's probably good for nerds ranging from 3 to 30.

My small son (age 5) loves to learn about dinosaurs and paleontology. So, my wife and I decided to order this dino fossil kit and let him have at it by "digging" up the bones. In actuality, this is just a set of small plastic dinosaur bones that are poured at the factory into a combination plaster/rock mix and allowed to harden. The child can then use the included wooden hammer and chisel to slowly break apart the rock to reveal and release the bones. A set of goggles and some instructions are also included. It took my small son about six days of chiseling about 30 minutes each day to fully release the dinosaur skeleton. Although, some wilder children could probably break the whole rock up in about 20 minutes if they really pounded on it (but they might also break the dinosaur skeleton as well). Just make sure that the little ones do not break up the stone over some nice carpet and putting an old towel under the kit might be a good idea as well.I was torn between giving this little kit either 4 or 5 stars. It is fun and it does encourage their curiosity but it is also short lived and a tiny, tiny bit on the cheap side as well. But, for the price I paid ($9), it did provide a nice experience for a small child. For that reason, I am giving the Smithsonian Dino Kit five stars.

My son and I had a great time with the Diggin' Up Dinosaurs T-Rex. It was so much fun to uncover pieces of the dinosaur and speculate about where the next piece would be found. It took about 2 hours total to get everything dug out--I did not let my son hit it with a hammer like he wanted to. It's great for teaching patience! The one thing that I didn't enjoy (and this is my type-A personality coming out) is that it was really, really messy! If you have a good outdoor area to do this, that would be great. However, it was easy to clean up, and the joy this activity brought to my son was worth the mess! One tip--using a small dropper of water to wet the area you want to work in cuts down on dust, and, I thought, helped move things along a little quicker. FYI--my son is 8. There is no way he could have stuck this out on his own, but he has ADHD, so judge accordingly!

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.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.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 "trophy." 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.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.