Gettin’ Fizzy with the Beaker Creatures Liquid Reactor Super Lab

 

Raising Nerd Product Review: Learning Resources Beaker Creatures Liquid Reactor Super Lab

Rogue Mom Rating 4.5 Nerds (out of 5)

The 7 second summary is this super cool reactor lab is a great science toy for kids who love to experiment. But don’t worry, kids who aren’t very interested in science or adults who want to control the mess in their house will also enjoy the fun as well.

What We Like About Beaker Creatures

• SCIENCE! We love that the guide explains how acids and bases react to form carbon dioxide. NERD FACT:  In this experiment, you’re adding water, which has a neutral PH. When combined with something that is more acidic, water acts as a base.  When combined with a stronger base, water acts as an acid.
• PLAY FOR 2 KIDS! We seriously appreciate how it’s large enough for two kids to work together. You really don’t see that with STEAM toys and that’s typically the source of biting (err…I mean fighting. Okay okay, so maybe one of my kids still bites, but don’t judge!)
• EASY SETUP: We love that the product essentially comes fully assembled.
• KID APPROVED! The kids loved dissolving their figures and since the tubes are clear, it definitely adds a layer of fun to color mixing.
• THE YES FACTOR: Telling your kids “yes you can put that figure inside a messy mixture” is seriously gratifying! I mean honestly, how much time do we spend telling our kids to get things OUT of their glasses.  Don’t put your fingers in your drinking cup!  Don’t put food in your milk!  Don’t put salt in mommy’s margarita!  Okay well maybe that last one I don’t really say but still … these little beaker creatures are meant to be put into the reactor tank and come out clean with a little rinse!
• PACKAGE: Because let’s be honest, so much of play is about the box. The kids were happy to read the back of box for longer than usual time frame without nagging me immediately to open the package.

Gadget Girl’s Favorite Beaker Creatures Features:

• Lots of super cool parts!
• This is the perfect Science toy birthday party present for a 5- or 6-year-old. Or even a 4-year-old with a mom’s help.
• It was cool that the fizz balls were colored and lots of tools that could help.
• I liked that there were special edition figures!

 

Experiments With Beaker Creatures:

• EXTRACT YOUR FIGURE! This definitely has a wow factor and fortunately lasts longer than a hot second.  Gadget Girl and Wild Style loved it but wished it came with more figures.  (Clearly they haven’t been taught about attach rate sales strategies! LOL)

 

• DEEP BLUE SEA: This experiment didn’t work well for us as it ended up looking instantly like a salad dressing bottle that hadn’t been shaken at all.  BUT adding baby oil to the mix of food coloring and water was just what we needed to NERD out and come up with other cool experiments.
• The kids loved mixing baby oil and colored water and the Beaker Creatures Super lab was a great science toy that allowed them to use messy materials without making a mess all over my house!

 

NERD Experiments with Beaker Creatures:

While the Beaker Creatures Liquid Reactor Super Lab is a great science toy for kids on its own, Gadget Girl and Wild Style decided to Nerd out and see what else they could make. We used some paper towels to suck up colored water, which then lead to our own version of Suminagashi, which is a Japanese art style based on marbling ink in water.

To recreate this it’s super simple.  Pour some baby oil and some water with food coloring into one of the Beaker Creature beakers and pour it onto plate.  Add some more water with different colors and then gently press a paper towel into the solution.  This works because water and oil don’t mix so the oil creates interesting patterns between the water when you press the mixture into a paper towel.

NERD FACT: Oil and water don’t mix because Oil is less dense than water.  That means that water molecules are more attracted to one another than they are to oil molecules.

 

Gadget Girl’s full summary of Learning Resources Beaker Creature Liquid Reactor Super Lab:

It’s a science toy with reactor balls that dissolve into little collectible animals when you add water. It’s a fun chemistry experiment without the big mess!

There are lots of different experiments to do, but I didn’t like that you cannot re-use the reactor balls.  Maybe we could figure out a way to put the figures back into the dissolving balls.  What if they gave us more powder and we could press the figures back inside and re-do the experiment?   Overall I would say this is a great science toy for kids just like me!

 

 

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