STEM Product Review: Glow Stick Lab PLUS #Giveaway

Halloween is in STEM Spark's top 100 holidays (give or take 100; is that not the most engineering thing to say? ha), and we love doing STEM and STEAM related activities for Halloween (I mean, STEM is in the blog's name). So image how happy we were to find Geek& Co's Glow Stick Lab-- we could make our own glow sticks for tricking or treating on Halloween night! Science meets Halloween, swoon! Read below for our review on the lab and then a little further (further, yep right down there) is a giveaway for a chance to win your own Geek& Co's Glow Stick Lab.

Will your kids like it and/or will you hate it?

I have been so excited for Jack and I to MAKE OUR OWN GLOW STICKS! Last Halloween, I attempted to make glow sticks out of glow in the dark paint, and it didn't really go well. Dollar store glow sticks for trick or treating it was (and a flash light; always be safe trick or treating please!) But then one day in December, I was shopping online and came across the Glow Stick Lab. I bought it, shoved it away in the closet, and now here we are.

Jack also was very excited to make a glow stick (I mean can you image, here I am waiting 9 months to do this science experiment and then he'd be like, meh, I don't want to do it? #whenparentsaremoreexcited). He eagerly mixed the water and the glow powder into the plastic stick tube, shaking the mixture with vigor. I had him attach the LED light cap, and then I asked him where should we go test the glow power of our stick? And he shouted, "our darkest room" and ran off (leaving me pondering what room is that)? I found him in "our darkest room", and he happily showed off the glowing liquid inside the tube to me. Success! It glowed! He also showed me the glow stick with the LED light on and the LED light off (and it "still glows mommy!"). We both agreed: the glow stick is very cool.

How long will it keep them entertained?

The process to make the glow sticks (with the glow powder provided from the lab) is quick. It took Jack all of 2 minutes to make his glow stick. Jack did go into "our darkest room", pretended it was a cave, and hunted for hidden objects (so another 15 minutes). We will use the glow sticks for trick or treating on Halloween night (so another 60 minutes). But honestly, this product is not one that the child (or adult) will use for long. Entertainment time will be 60 minutes (give or take 58 minutes 😉).

Are they a good value?

We purchased the lab for about $15 last December, and it's now selling for $12.97 on Amazon. I wish the lab cost a little less since it's only going to be used a couple of times this year (Fourth of July, Halloween, random time your kid wants to pretend he's in a cave), and you only get 1 LED light cap and 2 packets of strontium aluminate (the glow powder) for 4 plastic stick tubes (siblings are for sure are going to fight for the 1 LED light cap). However, the plastic stick tubes are reusable and there are instructions for how to replace the battery for the LED light cap, so I guess $12.97 is an okay price.

Ninja-like STEM Skills

Yes, there are STEM skills executed when using the lab (I mean the lab part in the product title kind of gives that away, haha). I really like that it comes with an instruction booklet that suggests many different ways (or experiments) on how to make a glowing liquid. The booklet also talks about safety and a little bit about the scientific process through experimenting. And Jack was very excited to try some of the different ways to make glowing liquids, so thumbs up on the science aspects of this product.

Overall, I give this product, the Geek& Co's Glow Stick Lab, a 3 out of 5 stars (using Amazon's rating system). It is cool to make your own glow stick, Jack and I were very excited to do so, but for what you get, I wish the pricing was under $10. Like if this product was priced at $7.99, it'd get a little higher rating-- I'd tell everyone it's worth rushing out and getting the lab for yourself at $7.99, but at $12.97, I'm not so sure it's worth it. I think you have to really, really, really want to make your own glow stick versus just buying some glow sticks from the dollar store. Luckily for you though, STEM Spark is raffling off one Glow Stick Lab! Just use the Rafflecopter below or click the link here (US residents only please). Good luck, and Happy Halloween!