Educational Insights Nancy B's Science Club Black Light Illuminator & Nature's Mysteries Journal

Purchased as a present. The recipient is thoroughly enjoying using this, which is encouraging a natural scientific curiosity.

This was a gift for my daughter. It came with the book for the binocular kit and it won't work with batteries. I've tried multiple ones and it just doesn't light up. The store I bought from won't give me my money back because I no longer have the receipt or box. I assumed it would be fine since it came ina seal box. I'm so dissatisfied and my daughter is really disappointed. Not was I'm used to from educational insights

I couldn't find how to read the reviews. I saw the rating and the number of reviews but I couldn't see where to read them.

We were sent this from Educational Insights to review and we tested it out with a family friend. She had this to say, ""I think it is really cool that you can see some rocks glow. It was fun to use the illuminator pen to secretly write my name on things. I like being able to shine the black light on different things to see if they would glow. It was fun searching for counterfeit money too!"

My daughter - 10 - and her friend had a lot of fun playing with this toy. They first stayed within the scope of the instructions, and learned what the black light reveals and how different substances varied in their response. Then they got more inventive and sillier, going outside of the box and testing different items not listed in the instructions to see the result. These experiments spurred their scientific curiosity, with them next going well outside of the scope to create concoctions and potions. They got sillier and sillier as crafted new experiments while having a great time. So not only was the toy itself educational, it created a mindset of intellectual curiosity that will serve them well beyond playing with this toy.

We have 2 girls, aged 6 and 4, who were both intrigued by the black light illuminator! They loved using it to examine different items, some on their own, some as proposed by the book included in the package. It was fine for our 6 year old to use the illuminator on her own. However, we made sure an adult was around when our 4 year old participated too to ensure that she never looked into the light. (She was very intrigued by the illuminator too!) They examined all types of objects around our home, and used many of the suggestions in the included Journal. The toy is well made and seems quite durable.

My 9 & 7 year old were fighting over it the first day we got it. They had a great time hiding in the bathroom and using the black light on different objects and seeing which things would glow. The workbook that it comes with, is very well written and easy to follow with tons of interesting facts and really fun activities. I would say about half the activities need the help of an adult, so I thought it was a great way to do something fun and educational together. I like that there is a good balance of things that they can do on their own as well using everyday household items. My daughters were also fascinated by the magic pen and writing secret messages to each other. Overall, we thought it was a great product. I'm always on the hunt for unique birthday gifts for their friends, and I think this would be such a fun gift.

I personally really liked the set bc it was fun and educational at the same time. My girls had a fun time just playing with the black light. It's actually pretty good quality for a kids toy. I def. would recommend it for OLDER kids. i have a 10 year old that loves "Science" so she really enjoyed the activity book that came with it and actually went through the whole book. Where as my 8 year old didn't care so much for the book and just wanted to play with the light. But overall 2 thumbs up. written by my 10 year old daughter ---------------------------------------------------- I think that this was a pretty good product. It even came with little activity book for you to experiment on. With interesting facts inside the book, I think this is definitely something u should check out. The only thing that i wish was different was the size of the booklet, i wish it was a bit longer- but other than that, it's really fun to play with. I liked writing stuff secretly between things. Bummer that the flowers in the booklet (the one that glows under black light ) was out of season, i knew i had it in the backyard. I really liked playing with it and the black light i guess can be used for other things. -----------------------

My almost 8 year old daughter loved this science kit. I think she sat in the dark bathroom for almost two hours with it. The activities were appropriate for her age and she understood all of the concepts. Her younger cousins were over (age 6 and 4) and they equally squealed at the black light illuminator. After the book was completed, they went through pages and pages of white paper to write secret notes to each other. I would definitely purchase this gift for friends and family.

Comes in an easy to open plastic pack, containing 22 page journal (12 different activities with fun facts), blacklight (with 3 LED lights; approx. 5.5" long), instruction guide and an invisible pen. Light worked well; best used in the dark, but can be used even if there's ambient light. My 8 year old daughter immediately started shining the light on different objects and said, "This is fun!" I liked the fact that it has 3 lights, and therefore provides a wider space that it covers. The activity book had some great ideas, from looking at different dollar bills to rocks to different objects. While you have to collect some objects, i.e. rocks or flower, others are more readily available, thus providing projects that one can easily do. There's a plug for the Nancy B Science Club, which also highlighted women in science; I liked the positive female role models, since I have a daughter. The club website looked interesting, so I signed up for the club, as I am always looking for fun learning activities to do at home. Pros: easy to use & activity book was easy to understand; offers ideas beyond writing secret messages (why my daughter wanted it in the first place) providing a fun way to learn about fluorescence and UV lights. Note: requires 2 AA batteries and a screwdriver, although I was able to unscrew it with my fingers.

Great scientific kit for young learners. The notebook provides ample space for kids to write and record their own observations like a true scientist. We liked that the experiments called for materials that can be easily found - from milk to rocks. Definitely the best part of this kit is the invisible ink pen it comes with. My kid also really loved learning how to write in code! I wish it came with protective goggles to help shield the light, since it is really bright. Also, because the light it really bright, the objects being examined all lit up in some way, and sometimes it wasn't clear which items were merely reflecting the light.

My daughter loves science, so she was excited to get this toy! I think black lights and invisible ink are fascinating to kids, so this toy automatically hooks their interest. Educational Insights does a great job of taking the black light experience past pure fun and into the realm of science education. The journal has some great science experiments set up for kids to try including looking at money with the black light, examining household items with the black light, and more. The only negative for this toy are that I think most kids will need some guidance in understanding and gathering the materials for the experiments. Overall, this is a great educational toy for kids that incorporates science. I received this toy from Educational Insights in exchange for this review; all opinions are my own.

I gave this product to my 8 and 9 year old daughters one night when we had shut down access to screens. The girls really enjoyed many of the various activities and the pen actually worked exceptionally better than the ones I remember from the science kits in "my day". The light does not come with batteries though which is my only complaint as I had to scour the house for extra ones before they were ready to play. I would highly recommend this toy for a vacation or camping evening activity or late night car ride. In all, I think that my kids played with this toy for about 3 hours.

Nancy B Black Light & Nature Journal is a very unique product. At the first encounter, "cool!"was what my 8 year-old daughter said, and my 10 year-old one exclaimed, "I really want to play with this. It looks fun!" While I was looking for 2AA batteries to operate the black light, my girls were reading the journal that came along, and writing on it with the invisible pen. First, we simply followed the instruction and tried to test various items with black light, and it was much more fun than I expected. There was constant "oohs" and "aahs" that it felt like we were in a magic show. Then our whole family got to move around the house, up and down, to see what glows or not. We were like a group of roaches, moving together in dark places, inspecting every corner of our house. My kids are delighted to play with it and I'm glad to see them having fun with such a creative toy that could encourage their curiosity.

Kids love this. They love to go into a dark room, close the door, and see what was written with the pen. Works with a highlighter, too. Made my son's shoes look zany. And they wanted to show their friends. Will be fun for years to come.

My daughter is 9 and my son is 7, they both had a kick out of the black light and the accompanying marker. I decided to read through the first activity with them, to jump start their interest. I then set them free to gather materials and conduct the experiment on their own. They had fun gathering things that were lying around our house (asking me for help with a couple items) and ran to a dark room to see the blacklight's full effect. After completing the first activity, they ran with excitement to share all their findings. My daughter quickly asked if she could continue with the next experiment, to which this busy mom of three approved with enthusiasm. I think the black light illuminator is great and provides a fun way to explore science in their own home without overwhelming kids with too much to do. It meets them right where they are.

I received this product from Education Insights for my daughter to review. The package comes with a hand held black light, an invisible ink black light pen, and a Journal. My daughter had fun shining the light on a bunch of things as well as things in nature. She had fun with the pen to write secret messages and illuminate it. This is a fun products for kids. It's a good combination of education and fun. I liked that it came with a journal with activities as a mom, but my daughter wasn't that interested in doing most of the activities, because she felt like it was an assignment, but I think there are some kids who could really get into it! Although this was given to my 8 yr old daughter, my 6 yr old son had a lot of fun with it too!

Doesn't a Black Light Illuminator sound so mysterious? Well it basically makes your little girl (or boy) their own little secret agent! My daughter was obsessed with this from the moment she saw it and yes, she did have to fight off her seven year old brother so it's not just for girls! With a focus on STEM this is great for kids to get those scientific minds working. I love them emphasis on science combined with something that's sure to appeal to all little girls like it did to mine. The black light illuminator will help them uncover things that only glow under the black light! The activity book leads them to uncover things like flowers and bugs and fun activities like encrypting secret codes! It also comes with an invisible pen where they can write secret messages that can only be read by the black light. This is by far my daughter's favorite feature. She did everything in the activity book but the writing in the journal is what she always went back to! My daughter is only six and I do think this is better suited to older children like the 8+ age recommendation. They would probably be more into the science activities than just the pen and black light my daughter became obsessed with! The Black Light Illuminator set is a good one for encouraging STEM and letting little girls have fun while learning!

First of all, we NO idea all the things that you could actually use a black light for...and to see! This was an eye-opening experience for the kids and me! Anything that shows up under a special light is cool :) Not only will the kids have fun checking things out - they will be learning! You don't have to tell them that though ;) We did receive the product for review, all opinions are our own.

I'm a pediatric occupational therapist in a school district and received this toy in exchange for an honest review. I have to say that I was HONESTLY surprised by how many of my clients from age 5-10 years old were motivated to use this toy. As a therapist, I utilize what's meaningful to the child to create functional sensorimotor changes in order to improve their ability to participate in the classroom. With that said, I unfortunately didn't use the journal yet, but I did browse through it and the activities look great. It will definitely keep your little one busy at home. Since there weren't too many rocks on my campus, I hid small rocks that I found on several hike adventures into playdough, and then challenged my kiddos to find it with their vision occluded. After finding at least 5 rocks, they used the illuminator to discover surprising colors that they were unable to see without the illuminator. I then challenged them to write the colors they found with a highlighter, which glowed beautifully under the blacklight. We've also worked on improving their hand writing skills by simply writing on standard paper with the highlighter, and then as a reward, they got to watch it "glow" under the blacklight. My kiddos have termed the illuminator the "Magic Light." What a great way to get kiddos writing!