Rock and mineral kits are a beloved childhood toy. From our youngest geologists who pick up random rocks on the playground to older kids who explore outcrops in the woods, geology fascinates kids of all ages (and lots of adults too). Parents can use rock and mineral kits to elevate science in their kids minds and to promote other skills such as logical thinking and deductive reasoning in older kids and classifying and sorting in younger children.
Tip #1: Make Identification a Game
The My Rockin’ Collection Rock & Mineral deluxe kits have identification cards or an identification brochure (mineral kit) that has all of the information that you need to identify each of your samples. The name of each sample is below the foam in each slot but you can make the identification a game by having your kids try to identify the samples using the identification information before they look under the foam.
Tip #2: Use Deductive Reasoning to Find the Rock or Mineral Name
The Dig Into Geology section on the Mini Me Geology website has identification flow charts that you can download for each of the My Rockin’ Collection kits. Like the identification cards/brochure, the flow chart will help your kids identify their samples but in a different way. The flow charts move from left to right across the page and allow kids to discover the name of their sample using a variety of observations and tests. The flow charts also have pictures of the rocks and minerals so that the children can check their answers. The activities involved in identifying the samples will help develop logical thinking and deductive reasoning skills.
Tip #3: Allow Younger Kids to Develop Sorting and Classifying Skills
Younger children can benefit from using the rocks and minerals in the kits by sorting the samples. The identification flow charts will help you direct the kids with sorting exercises. The flow charts group the samples according to colors and textures that make it easy for younger children to follow. You can also encourage kids to come up with their own sorting groups based on anything that they observe as being different or similar in each of the rock and mineral samples.
Tip #4: Develop Ideas for Science Fair Projects
Encourage kids to develop ideas for science projects by examining the similarities between the rocks and minerals. What questions do they have that a science project can answer? Why do some rocks float while some sink? Why do some rocks seem to soak up water while others do not? Kids have endless curiosity. Allow them to explore their world by making lists of questions that they could turn into a school science project.
Learn more about each of our My Rockin’ Collection Rock and Mineral Kits. We are certain to have a great kit that your kids will love.
