Best Chemistry Set For 10-Year-Old Kids [Our Top 9 Picks]

If you want to get a chemistry set for a 10 year old, we wholeheartedly recommend looking at the subscription kits from MEL Science. It’s like having the best chemistry set sent to your kid in installments. They get all the fun and learning but can focus on one topic at a time.

Related post: Best STEM Subscription Box for Kids

Best Chemistry Set For 10 Year Olds

1. Best Overall – MEL Chemistry Subscription Box

Investing in a MEL Chemistry Subscription Box is well worth it. If I was still 10 years old, I would be so excited to receive this box every month. To be honest, I probably would be now as well.

The reason we love MEL is that it’s so much more than you would ever imagine when you think of science for kids kits. You get an awesome starter kit that comes with some proper professional equipment, a VR headset to access the VR lessons you get access to, and 2/3 experiments to perform every month for two years.

The boxes that arrive at your door contain almost everything you need to complete the experiments. On rare occasions, you may need to add some common household items to finish up the kit. For example, you might need a battery.

With each kit, you get enough of the reagents (chemicals that react) to carry out the experiments two or three times.

Because each kit is focused and gives you what you need, you can focus on the experiment and the learning. There’s no hunting through an instruction book to find the experiment you want to try, and deciding if it’s worth repeating, possibly at the expense of doing other experiments.

The experiments are fun, exciting, and engaging. The materials help you really learn the science behind the experiments. These kits have been shown to help kids’ performance in tests at school. You really aren’t going to find anything better than this.

For even more details, check out our full review of MEL Chemistry.

2. Best for Budding Chemists – Thames and Kosmos C1000 (Version 2)

Thames & Kosmos are a well-respected name. They make a wide range of science and chemistry sets for kids. The Thames and Kosmos C1000 is one of their comprehensive sets. So it’s a good choice for 10 year olds who are already excited about science and chemistry in particular. It has been awarded the Parent’s Choice gold award.

This is one of the best chemistry sets for kids who have already done a lot of the most common home chemistry experiments. With 125 different experiments in the full-color instruction book, there is bound to be something to excite and enthuse.

The kit includes some chemicals with it. However, you will need to add some common household items to complete all of the experiments. The equipment consists of some test tubes, beakers, pipettes, etc. Everything you would expect in a chemistry set. There is also an ‘experiment station.’ This is a shaped and structured styrene item that is really useful for carrying out the experiments.

This kit is a more advanced option, so it requires careful reading of the instructions and care when handling the chemicals and equipment. So it is definitely not an option for young kids, 10 years old, with some supervision is about right.

3. Best Budget Option – Discovery Extreme Chemistry Set

The Discovery Extreme Chemistry Set is a good budget kit. It does require you to add extra items for many of the experiments, and some of the experiments are quite basic. While it might not blow anyone’s socks off, it is a fun kit.

The kit includes some of the chemicals you will need. The ones it provides are in generous quantities, which is definitely a plus.

The experiments are designed to be completed in order as they build on each other. So it’s not a kit where you can pick and choose the experiments that appeal to you the most.

The instructions are clear and easy to follow. They are, however, a little light on the science side of things. The focus is a little more on the fun than the science.

4. Best Crystal Growing Kit – KiwiCo Crystal Chemistry Garden

The KiwiCo Crystal Chemistry Garden takes crystal growing sets to a new dimension. The kit includes a selection of 3D trees and shrubs that your child can arrange to make their own garden.

There is so much that kids can get out of this kit. Not only are they performing a chemistry experiment, but they also get to design a 3D garden and express their creativity. This kit shows that chemistry experiments are more than just following recipes.

The crystals grow over the course of a couple of days. Which is an excellent opportunity to set up a time-lapse camera so your child can watch the action replay.

The final result of this is surprisingly impressive. The instructions are clear, and they introduce a manageable amount of science as they go.

KiwiCo makes a lot of single experiment chemistry kits. They are all fantastic quality and totally self-contained. Some others to check out include Colorful Chemistry,  Glow Lab, and Planet Bath Bombs. A couple of the kits are suggested for 14+. However, most are not beyond the ability of an enthusiastic, scientifically minded 10 year old with a willing adult.

5. Best Introductory Chemistry Set – Thames Kosmos Kids First Chemistry Set

The Thames & Kosmos Kids First Chemistry Set is a good option for introducing kids to science and chemistry. The experiments in the booklet are good core experiments and easy enough to carry out.

The kit comes with the equipment you need for the experiments – petri dish test tubes, etc. It does not come with any chemicals. As long as you are not expecting to use this straight away, that’s not a big deal. The majority of the ingredients for the experiments are everyday items like vinegar and salt.

The instruction booklet is one of the big pluses for this kit. It’s full-color and has some excellent illustrations to guide your kids as they go. The booklet also dives into the science behind the experiments offering extra tips and facts as well.

6. Best for Exploring Food Science – Thames Kosmos Candy Chemistry

The Thames Kosmos Candy Chemistry is a very ‘light’ chemistry kit. It’s an excellent option for kids who might not be sure that they like science but know they like candy.

The kit contains a sugar thermometer and some tools, including molds for making chocolates and candies. You do need to provide the ingredients yourself, so be aware if you’re getting this to use on the day you give it.

I like this kit because it shows how much chemists have in common with chefs and bakers. There is so much chemistry involved in cooking, and knowing some of it can make you a better cook. It also makes science seem a little more relevant and a little less scary.

7. Best for Fans of Makeup – Yellow Scope Foundation Chemistry Kit

The Yellow Scope Foundation Chemistry Kit is a kit that is aimed, unashamedly at girls. However, it doesn’t do it by pretending to be something it isn’t – it’s not pink and frilly and focused on makeup. It is proper science and is designed to hook girls before they get turned off from math and science.

The kit contains everything you need to carry out the experiments. There are only 18 to try, which is less than you get with other comparable sets. However, it does have some really well-considered items in the box that you don’t see in other sets.

Two of my favorite items in the box are the colorful and stylish safety specs. It’s a small detail, but it matters to a lot of girls. The second is the chalkboard experiment mat. This allows kids to keep track of what’s in their beakers.

The instruction booklet is designed to look and act like a workbook. As kids work through it, they are encouraged to flex their creativity to create their own experiments. This is great for building their confidence in their science abilities. There are also mentions of accomplished female scientists throughout.

Even though it is aimed at girls, there is nothing here that would make boys feel excluded from using it. It is one of the best science kits for encouraging creativity along with science.

8. Best Attention-Grabbing Experiments – Playz Kaboom Explosive Combustion Set

The Playz Kaboom Explosive Combustion Set is a chemistry kit that focuses on keeping kids engaged through fun. The experiments are either colorful, fizzy or involve flames. It’s one of the best ‘fun’ kits around.

Many kits contain the same or similar experiments, but what’s good about this kit is that the instructions encourage kids to think about the science behind what they’re seeing.

There are 25 experiments in the kit. You are provided with the chemicals you need, but you might have to grab some household items, like toothpicks, for instance.

9. Best for Learning Basic Chemistry – Playz A+ Kids Chemistry

The Playz A+ Kids Chemistry is a great introduction to the fundamentals of chemistry. The experiments in the box are some of the core experiments that every child should know and have tried for themselves.

The 32 experiments can be carried out using the items in the box and a few household items.

The instructions are clear and easy to follow. They also take the time to explain the science in each experiment, and even how the science links together.

This kit does have the bonus of including not only goggles and gloves but a lab coat too. There’s nothing like wearing the right clothes to make you feel like the real deal.

What to Consider When Buying a Chemistry Set for 10 Year Olds

How Many Experiments?

When picking chemistry sets for kids, you want to consider the number of experiments.

If the child in question is new to science, then you don’t want to overwhelm them. Being presented with over 100 experiments could be too much choice. With that many choices, if their first pick isn’t exciting, they might not try again.

As an introductory chemistry set, I’d suggest choosing a kit that has a few trusted and engaging experiments. If they really enjoy it, you can always get them another set later down the line.

However, if you’re choosing a set for kids that you might describe as young scientists, who’ve already had a chem set before, you should lean the other way. These kids have probably seen and done the most popular experiments before. While they’ll be happy to repeat them, they can get stale. So more choice would be the better option here.

Volume of Reagents

When you’re picking a science kit for kids, it’s a good idea to see how much of each chemical they give you. Some sets will provide you with enough to repeat experiments more than once. Others will give you the bare minimum of each reagent, so all you get is one try.

Safety Equipment

A good quality kids science kit should come with some safety equipment. If there’s none included, you may need to consider getting some for your child. Even though these kits are safe, if used carefully, it’s good to encourage your kids to think about safety whenever they are performing experiments.

Educational vs Fun

Science kits for kids can sometimes lean to one extreme or the other. Some are so focused on being educational that they end up being boring. Other kits for kids go the other way. They are so focused on being fun that they squander all the learning opportunities.

The best chemistry sets for kids are the ones that manage to strike a balance. It should be a choice of either fun or education. The best chemistry sets can do both at the same time.

Challenge Level

This one is a little tricky to get right. It’s going to rely on your judgment of the child you’re getting a kit for. The science needs to be interesting and engaging, but not so hard that it becomes inaccessible.

The level of challenge is most often a result of the instructions and explanations’ quality rather than the experiments themselves. Good quality instructions can work for anyone. Instructions that are more open to interpretation are better suited to more experienced young scientists.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best chemistry set?

The best chemistry set is one that gets your kid excited about chemistry. If it makes them feel like a young scientist, then you’re off to a good start. The experiments should be fun, the science well explained, and the enthusiasm it generates should be long-lasting.

We think that the MEL subscription offers all of this. Because there’s a new box every month, it keeps kids coming back to chemistry rather than just using up everything in the box over the course of a single afternoon.

What’s in a chemistry set?

The exact contents of chemistry sets vary. Usually, you can expect to find:

• Scientific Equipment – like beakers and test tubes
• Chemicals – sodium bicarbonate and citric acid
• Safety Equipment – like goggles
• Measuring devices – like volumetric cylinders and thermometers
• Instructions

Who are chemistry kits for?

Chemistry kits are for anyone who wants to try their hand at chemistry. I say this because, as a grown adult, I would love to get a chemistry set to play with. They are really cool and have some fun and exciting experiments.

When it comes to kids, I think they are suitable for everyone, whether a child has already expressed an interest in science or not. A chemistry kit is a great introduction to science and a terrific way to nurture a budding interest.

Last update on 2024-04-25 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API