DANCING BEAR Fossil Collection Sorting Activity Kit with Over 100 Pcs (More Than 20 Different Fossil Varieties!), Educational ID Sheet, Color ID Cards, Bags, Magnifying Glass, and Shark Teeth

I bought this fossil set for my son’s 6th birthday party, planning to give each kid some fossils and let them try to identify them (with my help) and then take them home as party favors. The set is exactly as advertised. There are several more exciting fossils in the set, including a very nice ammonite, piece of petrified wood, coprolite, some good condition medium-sized shark teeth, a piece of dinosaur bone, and a snake vertebra. And then there are tons of small shark teeth, crinoids, gastropods, clams, skate teeth, and corals. The educational materials with the set are fantastic. The pictures make identifying the fossils easy, and they provide good information about broader groups of animals represented, but also where these particular fossils came from and what specific species or genera were represented.Before the party I sorted through the set and made a bag for each kid, to ensure that everyone got at least one “wow” sort of fossil, several shark teeth, a clam, etc. Then I had the kids go through their bags and taught them about what they had. The kids (ages 3-10, but mostly 5-6) LOVED it. They were excited about all the fossils. The coprolite was especially beloved once I defined the word for them (poop. It’s fossilized poop. 5-6 year old boys found this hilarious and amazing). Needless to say, this fossil kit made my son’s birthday party one all his friends will be talking about for a while. It’s perfect as a party activity/favors for about 10 kids. If you have more kids, you might want 2 kits so everyone gets enough fossils.The kit would also be great as a family educational activity or homeschool lesson.

This is awesome! My oldest son loves fossils and rocks, and he was absolutely enthralled by this activity. He sat at our kitchen table for more than an hour straight, sorting all of the fossils. He was also just in awe when he opened the box and realized he had a whole bag with hundreds of real fossils to sort and learn about. We love the ID cards and chart that came with the package, and we absolutely loved looking at all the different fossils. We have a fossil soup rock from Lake Michigan with a ton of crinoid fossils, so he was especially excited to see those included in the kit. Very cool gift for curious kids. My son is almost 7 and in first grade. My middle kid is almost 5, and he liked helping but definitely wouldn’t be able to do this independently like his brother did. Highly recommend. I can’t wait to see what else this small business has to offer!

Edit to add: it's been about 5 years and my kids still love this set. We are doing a major clear out at our house right now, and this is one of the few homeschool activities that we've had for this long that they chose to keep.Original review: What an experience! We are a homeschooling family and followed another reviewer's advice, hiding the fossils in a shallow tub of sand so that the kids, 4 and 6, could "excavate" the hundred plus fossils. It took several hours over two days and was greatly enjoyed by both of them. Product was exactly as described. The cards and included pamphlets are extremely well written and informative. My kids and I are definitely geeking out. In fact, sorting these fossils helped us know some things to look for in addition to shark teeth when we went on our own fossil hunting trip.There are of course more of the less expensive, more plentiful fossils such as shark teeth, and only one each of the 3 rarest fossil types. There are enough specimen bags included for each type of fossil and the matching cards will fit inside with the fossils. We chose to display ours in a plastic case with dividers for easier access (acquired at harbor freight). It is an excellent value and a well designed kit. The packaging is not necessarily aesthetically delightful, but very very functional.

This was a good variety of fossils for the most part... a few special ones and a few that are too small to be identified. The star crinoids were the favorites for us. Never found any to be "dinosaur bones"... Expect about half of the fossils to be shark teeth. My kids joke that maybe we can give shark teeth away to anyone who comes to our house 🤪

I bought this for my daughter’s teacher to use as a hands on teaching tool in class. The kids loved it and this kit came with so much!

I have been buying these kits for years. My kids - even my 10 yo - LOVE playing with them. I give them a Tupperware of water, an old paintbrush, some towels, and have them "wash and clean" the fossils and rocks, then they draw each on paper and ID each from the included chart. It's a great science project that I use to (1) teach geology and (2) grab myself some time. What kind doesn't like rocks, gems, and fossils? Good quality and mix.

At first glance, the plastic bag holding all the rocks and fossils looked kind of disappointingly small, but upon opening it and taking a closer look, it was packed with interesting small fossils, teeth, shells, etc. Here's a tip: open a corner of the bag, fill it with water, and swish it around to pour out the water with all the dust and dirt . Be careful pouring, or pour it out over a screen or strainer. A couple of rinses will save a potential mess. I had the idea to rinse from reviews that commented on the "dig" being messy. Great product for interested kids, more fun than buying a rock since they discover the fossils and compare to picture cards in the kit. The fossils are going to be pretty small; there was a nice ammonite about the size of a quarter in a tiny plastic baggie, for protection I guess, and a very good polished orthoceras that got our 6 yr old excited.

Didn’t have any kind of labels as to what each one was. There shall be some kind of disclaimer. This is not for very young children because it’s very loose parts