The National Geographic Ultimate Rock, Mineral & Crystal Activity Kit Review

With over 300 crystals included in this STEM toy activity kit, we reckon it makes a great start to a crystal collection for the young ‘uns… honest… not for us…

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I had to steal the amazon photos after taking a hard seat on my phone on some rocks in June '26.

I was casually browsing the rock stuff on Amazon (as I do) when I came across this set of crystals, rocks, and mineral specimens. I thought why not buy that? If there truly are three hundred crystals in the kit, then we can always sell them on after we unbox and review them. This is the National Geographic Ultimate Rock, Mineral & Crystal Activity Kit review, mentioned specifically for SEO. Now we can move on.

Let me preface this by saying I had a video of this unboxing on the phone I smashed when I fell on it on the rocks at Queensferry. Smashed to bits. Anyway, the video is gone but I get the box etc for photos… by which I mean that I dug it out of the paper bin.

To the meat!

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Are there Really 300 Rocks in this Box?

Starting off strong with the question that made me buy this in the first place. I thought 300 specimens? No chance. But there are more than that – far more. There are about 40 bigger specimens, a couple of geodes, and then smaller tumblestones and crystal chips make up the rest.

This is exactly what you get in the National Geographic’s Ultimate Rock Activity Kit (although they do say that each box varies in contents).

What Comes in the Box?

This rock, mineral & crystal collection / activity set includes the following things:

• 2 bags of polished, tumbled crystals and crystal chips, these are both fairly small specimens, gravel sized and then a smaller one. We already listed these here. Not to upsell, just to give you an indication of the size.

  
  

• Roughly 40-50 larger bits, tumblestones, rough rocks, mineral specimens.

  
  

• Two separate clear vacuum bags, unsealed. One bag had rough crystals, rocks, and minerals while the other had geodes and a couple of tumble stones. Thinking now there were maybe three. I wish I still had the video.

  
  

• Geodes x 2, one larger, one smaller. Raw selenite and raw gypsum in desert rose formation are the pieces that stand out.

  
  

• There is a tiny wee magnifying glass that is ideal for kids.

  
  

• There is a leather pouch in black with National Geographic’s logo on it.

  
  

• There are sheets that come with the set. One was a list of the types of crystals in the set, the other was a poster so that you can put it on your wall. Kids can match the rock to the picture and learn about them while they play.

The only picture I took of this set that survived!

What People say About this Rock Collection for Kids?

The reviews are mainly positive. We have one person on Amazon who was a little disappointed with the number of the rocks which were the smaller crystal chips. It’s understandable if you don’t have any use for them. I have had a glass coffee jar full of them since I was ten like every other collector I know… Is that not normal?

The only complaint seems to be the sizing of the rocks. We say: don’t expect a massive, big box and, if you were starting out from scratch, crystal chips give you the chance to carry them around with you and lose a few without it mattering too much… which we think kids might do.

Another thing we want to point out is that this toy contains small parts. It’s not suitable for kids under six and those prone to putting things up their nose.

What Types of Crystal, Rock, and Mineral are Contained in the Ultimate Rock Activity Set?

As we mentioned above, the rough pieces were selenite, desert rose, geodes, a little amethyst cluster, and a rose quartz.

The tumble stones were different; there are loads of different kinds. I would say more different kinds of crystal than you get in the National Geographic rough rock tumbler refill set which we reviewed last year.

Tumble stones included amethyst, aventurine, blue calcite, blue quartz, Dalmatian jasper, fluorite, hematite, a small quartz point (I got two), pumice, red jasper, snowflake obsidian, sodalite, tiger’s eye, and it doesn’t say it on the list, but we have blue chalcedony there, too.

Is the Ultimate Rock, Mineral & Crystal Activity Kit Worth it?

It depends.

As an experienced rock or crystal collector with a collection already established, it’s just fun.

If you don’t have a collection yet, this is perfect for you – even if you’re not a kid. You learn about the rocks in an unobtrusive way that makes it easy to remember. The poster is fun too. Stick it in your kid’s room and pretend it’s for them.

My opinion? For what it’s worth… If you had given me this for Christmas as a 12 year old I would have been over the moon with joy. There would be little crystals hidden all over the house. I guess the modern 8/9 year old is the equivalent of my 12 year old self back in the nineties. We were far more naïve before the internet.

But also, there are no photo records.

I’m going to go ahead and give this the same Meteorite rating out of five as Amazon has given it stars and say 4.6 meteorites/5 on this one. Perfect for the right person, especially angst teenagers.

Buy the National Geographic Rock Collection Box for Kids on Amazon.co.uk

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Buy the National Geographic Rock Collection Box for Kids on Amazon.com