I have a niece who’ll be celebrating her 5th birthday soon and I decided to take a different approach with her gift this year. I guess you could say I got the idea when I saw Pam from The Office dressed up as Dr. Cinderella for Halloween. It’s not that I’m against princesses and fairies {I did get this same niece a costume dress last year}, but I also think it’s important to get young girls interested in other things, especially science. So, with the help of Pinterest, I opted to make her a “Scientist in a Box” present. This kit includes many items a scientist would use, including a lab coat and safety goggles {a must for any scientist!}.
I decided to include an easy reader book about scientists. I also included the following items in the kit, many of which I picked up at Dollar Tree or found in my teacher storage bins:
- kid size tweezers (pulled from my teaching stash)
- magnifying glass (pulled from my teaching stash)
- measuring spoons ($1)
- observation notebook ($1)
- Tornado Tube (on sale at a local teacher store)
- Silly Putty ($1)
- magnet wand & accessories (on sale at a local teacher store)
- grow capusles ($1)
- I Spy bottle (created using a plastic soy sauce bottle, rice, and items from my teacher bins)
- Book of Experiments (I typed up some of the experiments I found HERE, printed them out, and bound them together to create a booklet.)
- safety goggles ($1)
- lab coat (around $5 to make)
Here’s a closer look at the lab coat:
I found the lab coat idea online, where a t-shirt was simply cut down the middle {I’m sorry I can’t credit the original source. I can’t find it now!} I tweaked the design some to include a name tag and some faux buttons. What a quick and easy way to transform into a scientist!
This project cost me around $20 to create and assemble. I hope the recipient will enjoy learning and exploring as much as I enjoyed creating this kit for her!
Don’t you think this would make a great holiday gift for a preschooler/early elementary student? Have you ever created s gift kit for someone? Please leave a comment and share your ideas with us!
