Post by ejs on Feb 9, 2009 23:40:52 GMT -5
My son received a present that he loved: A Smithsonian Rock and Gem Dig Kit.
www.educationallearninggames.com/smithsonian-rock-and-gem-dig.asp
It consisted of a roughly foot square hunk of an easily workable rock-like material matrix, sort of like plaster of paris or chalk. I could crumble the matrix with my fingers if I worked it hard. Distributed within the matrix were various rocks and gems. It came with a wooden chisel and hammer. My five year old loved breaking it up and finding the gems inside. Each was about the size of a dime and included several of the standard rocks that we all tumble. It took him about 2 hours to work it all out.
His birthday is coming up in April and I'd love to create a present like this for him. Does anyone know of a material that can be used for the matrix? I could use concrete, but that might take months and power tools to chip away. :-) I imagine that there is some kind of similar chalky material that comes as a powder, takes water, and then dries and solidifies with the rocks inside. I'd like it to be a little harder than what came in the kit so that it might take him 3-5 hours total to work his way through it.
It occurred to me that I could do one in the yard by digging up a plot of dirt and mixing them in. But he really enjoyed the "chipping away" aspect, and the soil in NH is so rocky (we are the Granite State!) that there would be too many "run of the mill rocks" to sift through.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Any help?
www.educationallearninggames.com/smithsonian-rock-and-gem-dig.asp
It consisted of a roughly foot square hunk of an easily workable rock-like material matrix, sort of like plaster of paris or chalk. I could crumble the matrix with my fingers if I worked it hard. Distributed within the matrix were various rocks and gems. It came with a wooden chisel and hammer. My five year old loved breaking it up and finding the gems inside. Each was about the size of a dime and included several of the standard rocks that we all tumble. It took him about 2 hours to work it all out.
His birthday is coming up in April and I'd love to create a present like this for him. Does anyone know of a material that can be used for the matrix? I could use concrete, but that might take months and power tools to chip away. :-) I imagine that there is some kind of similar chalky material that comes as a powder, takes water, and then dries and solidifies with the rocks inside. I'd like it to be a little harder than what came in the kit so that it might take him 3-5 hours total to work his way through it.
It occurred to me that I could do one in the yard by digging up a plot of dirt and mixing them in. But he really enjoyed the "chipping away" aspect, and the soil in NH is so rocky (we are the Granite State!) that there would be too many "run of the mill rocks" to sift through.
Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Any help?
