Grace: A couple of days ago I trekked into New York City to go visit the American Museum of Natural History. I hadn’t been there since I was in middle school, and it was nice to go to a place that I remember so fondly.

I am fossilized yet somewhat cute; come visit me!

In addition to checking out the fossils and the planetarium, of course I had to stop by the gift shop. While I was looking around, I found this little science lab kit for kids. I remember having something like this when I was younger and it was SO much fun! Maybe it’s just because I’m a bit of a science nerd (chemistry was one of my favorite classes in high school), but I loved that kit. All the experiments used household items and it wasn’t very dangerous at all, because trust me, if it was dangerous, I would have found a way to blow up the neighborhood; I was “that kid”.

I personally think it’s a great idea to get kids excited about learning and science at a young age, and with this kit, they won’t even know they’re learning!

Dan: I too love the museum of natural history in New York City. My sister lives in Philadelphia and we went museum touring one day and none of them, especially the Franklin Institute could not compare. When I was younger I thought that dinosaurs were the only group of species that predated humans. I was in awe when I saw fossilized saber tooth tigers and giant turtles like the one above. Now that I look back at it, it really was a wonderful and vivid moment of my childhood. Every time I go back there still I feel like a child again. The science kit gift idea from the museum shop is a wonderful one. Who says learning has to be boring? In addition to the science kit, museum shops like the one at the natural history museum, have a large assortment of really great children (and adult) gifts.