My son loves dinosaurs and most all prehistoric creatures. He wants to be a paleontologist thanks to YouTube and Jurassic Park; yes, I know it is a questionable movie for his age but he loves it. I went exploring online a few months ago to find the right excavation kit for his age. Spoiler I didn’t find one. What I did find was one kit on Amazon and one at Target.

I found Dinosaur Eggs on Amazon for $22.85 in March 2020; it’s $19.99 as of date of posting. The box says it is not for 0-3 years old at all. The recommended age is 6+ years old. This kit includes 12 eggs with dinosaurs inside, 12 chisels, 4 brushes and 12 dinosaur information cards.

Pros:

• Keeps him engaged
• Helps develop patience
• Interesting way to learn to use new tools
• Variety of dinosaurs

Cons:

• Hard to get dinosaur out without soaking in water or help from adult
• Brushes are thin
• Chisel is hard for him to use (longer chisel would be great)
• Takes a long time to get the dinosaur out if you don’t soak it

The National Geographic Dino Fossil Dig Kit was found at Target but I do not recall the price. I did find the same kit on Amazon for $9.97 as of date of posting. This is not for children under 3 years old. The box recommends ages 8+ years old. The kit includes on T. Rex shaped brick with dino poop, mosasaur tooth and generic dino bone, 1 chisel, 1 brush, 1 magnifying glass and a learning guide.

Pros:

• Exciting for all ages (namely me, I was excited…)
• Easy to chip away with small amount of water poured over per instructions
• Packaging doubles as a container for the dig brick which contains mess
• Colorful
• Brush and chisel easy for son to use without help
• Learning guide was great even for my son who knows a decent amount about dinosaurs/ paleontology

Cons:

• Only one brick
• Not something a younger kid can continually play with

Overall both kits are great considering the price and contain learning guides/ cards for later reference. The Dinosaur Eggs kit is good for multiple kids and continued play since the eggs contain small dinosaur toys. The Nat Geo kit is good for a more dig like experience and has a magnifying glass that will definitely be fun to use for other experiments.