Tobar Magic Growing Garden Crystal Activity Kit

I gave this to my 7 year old grandson when he came to stay, he had had a magic tree before but this was larger and more colourful, he really loved it, he likes to set it up in the evening so it has grown by the time he gets up the following day, but he couldn’t resist a little sneaky peek now and then to see what was happening, very bright colours, a great introduction to science

Worked really well. Only criticism is the card shapes did have a tendancy to pop out of the tray as others have said. A bit of sellotape sorted that out and didn't appear to stop the crystals working. Only thing is the pink crystals stain! These are soft crystals rather than hard ones you can pick up. After three weeks with it looking almost as good as the day we made it (very impressed by that) I accidentally knocked it and some of the pink trees fell off onto the windowsill. If you wipe it with a wet cloth the crystals dissolve immediately, but left a pink stain on the windowsill! To be fair it came off with a squirt of kitchen cleaner and a few hard rubs, but it's worth know... So be careful of fabrics as it might well stain those too...

The base is very flimsy plastic and the instructions aren’t the best however it is easy enough to do. My daughter absolutely loves it but as you can see in the picture when we tried moving it one of the trees fell down and lost its ‘crystals’ it takes a good couple of hours (overnight plus) to get all the ‘crystals’ formed but the joy it beings was worth the frustration of setting it up ajs pieces falling off etc

Easy to use with careful supervision of my 5 year old who loved watching it grow.

Fairly inexpensive item but not easy to put together. Needs adult help and the cardboard pieces do not fit into the gaps so maybe you need to glue the cardboard in first before adding the chemicals. Took more than a day to develop and became top heavy so trees fell down quickly/. Colours were nice but they didn't develop on the "hill" in the back. Ok for a stocking filler with lots of adult help but not for a main present.

Product not as good. I've been buying these crystal gardens for years and the whole family has loved them . This year the kit was different, instead of different solutions for the trees, flowers and mountain which produce large beautiful, different coloured crystals, there was only one solution and the cardboard templates appeared to be impregnated with the different starter solutions. Problem is this did not extend to the tips of the tree branches and there were fewer flower colours. Not half as nice. We were all disappointed. Not as displayed in the images at all, though it used to be! Not sure I would buy again at this price. Shame

Overall I was really impressed with the customer service I received from "Great gifts and Toys". I'm always a little bit nervous about ordering through the Amazon marketplace (no bad experiences - just an irrational fear). However, the delivery was very quick (I placed my order around 11am on a Thursday and it had arrived by the time I got back from work the next day). Also, the seller included a note offering a discount on future purchases and providing me with their contact details in the event of any problems with the toy.The toy itself is really fun (I had one 8 years ago as a birthday present and loved it). It's not exactly educational but might inspire kids to look into how it's done. One tip is to make sure the garden is out of the way of any drafts as a particularly strong gust did knock off some of the crystals off my tree. In a similar vein, make sure that the cardboard bits are securely inserted into the base before adding the solution.

Fab product. Looks beautiful fully grown. Quick growing too. My 5 yr old loved watching this grow.