If you have a kid and are looking for a way to make them fall in love with science, here is an option: MEL Science subscription boxes. They can help your children explore different fields of science. But isn’t the MEL Science kit just a waste of money? Let’s find the answer in this MEL Science kit review.
I have a 9-year-old kid and we tested the Chemistry and Physics kits together. So here I am going to explain everything in detail.
What is MEL Science?
Let’s start with a brief preview of what MEL Science is. This is a company offering subscription boxes with science kits for kids. You can choose different courses: Physics, Chemistry, Med, and recently the company has added Coding for kids. There is also a basic kit STEM collecting different science topics.
So, each subscription box includes kits with hands-on projects related to science. MEL Science has a subscription-based model meaning they deliver boxes for experiments once a month to your doorstep. Meanwhile, they have also live science classes with professional teachers and AR lessons.
What MEL Science Kits Contains
Each subscription box that is delivered to your doorstep contains the materials, equipment, and instructions for experiments and games. The boxes are eco-friendly and safe for kids. However, the kits are not recommended to use for kids of lower age than it is claimed. Each subscription box can be used for up to three experiments, and kids might need the help of adults with experiments.
What ages is MEL Science good for?
The company has subscription-based science kits for different ages but is best for kids rather than adults. From our experience, the MEL Science kits are best for kids of age 8-14 but some boxes would be good only for smaller kids.
Here is the age recommendations by MEL Science.
- STEM kits are recommended for kids of 5–9+
- Physics: ages 8–14+
- Chemistry: ages 10–16+
- Medicine: ages 14–99+.
- Coding (the new line for kids): ages 4–7+
MEL Science Courses
MEL Science has five sets (called “courses”) for different subjects of science.
- STEM includes over 30 science projects for kids aged 5-9. Within this course, you can find such projects as Space rockets, Liquid sand, Hydraulic lift, Pneumatic press, Electric Boat, Sound Waves, and others. Each one is an eco-friendly construction model with the goal of teaching your kid different aspects of STEM–science, technology, engineering, and math.
- Physics includes sets for hands-on experiments related to physics for kids of ages 8-14+. This course includes such topics as an electric motor, luminescence, arthroscopic fluid, alternative energy, Colorful stress patterns, Vacuum chamber, and more.
- Chemistry subscription boxes, which include such projects as Sugar snake, Igniting iron, Fire foam, Egyptian night, and others, would be best for ages 10–16+. This is probably one of the best set by MEL Science and the majority of kids and teens find it exciting.
- Medicine course is one of new ones and it is designed for teens and adults with the recommended age of 14-99+. It allows learning medicine with hands-on projects like a surgical suite, therapy, dentistry, pharmacy and ECG monitoring. It’s great for teens who are considering a medical career or are just interested in medicine.
- The coding course is designed to teach kids of ages 4-7+ to code but without using a real laptop and coding programs. It includes such projects as learning programming concepts with wooden blocks, making a rover execute your commands, assembling 3D puzzles, and some others.
How MEL Science Works
The first step is choosing the course (you can switch to another later). After you enter all you details for delivery, you need to choose a subscription plan.
Then, you will receive a new subscription box every month and it will be delivered right to your door.
After you subscribe, you will receive a new STEM box delivered to your door every month. The service is available in the US, Canada, the UK, and a number of other countries.
Additionally, after you subscribe, you get access to MEL Science’s educational platform with VR and live lessons.
MEL Science Pricing
Let’s come to the question of how much MEL Science costs.
If you choose one kit per month:
- $29.90/mo (billed monthly)
- $20.90/mo (billed annually)
If you choose two kits per month, the price will be:
- $45.90/mo (billed monthly)
- $35.90/mo (billed annually)
The max you can choose is three kits to receive each month. In this case, you’ll need to pay
- $59.90/mo (billed monthly)
- $54.90/mo (billed annually)
Our experience with MEL Science
To start with, I have a kid of 9 and we home school. We subscribed to both the physics and chemistry kits, both are great, however, the chemistry set is still our favorite. Also, I found MEL Science experiments to be a good addition to the lessons to explore science concepts together.
The experiments are useful to demonstrate the concepts and don’t take much time so a kid doesn’t get bored or tired. Also, the chemistry kits are not trivial like baking soda and vinegar reaction experiments. They are more complicated but designed to be easy to understand.
Moreover, online lessons are really informative.
The only concern is that some parts of the kits can be fragile–for example, once we had a broken valve and a broken plastic plate. However, it’s easy to pick up a replacement.
Overall the experience is really positive and my kid enjoys the MEL Science kits, especially chemistry.
MEL Science Kits Reviews by Customers
Positive reviews
The majority of reviews available online are positive ones as parents and grandparents as well as their kids and grandkids love the monthly science kits by MEL Science.
Here are some of them:
“My son and I loved the MEL Science kits as part of our hands-on homeschool science curriculum! We used them from 5th through 7th grade.”
“We’ve thoroughly enjoyed Mel Chemistry for several years. So many cute pictures and videos of the kids discovering the outcomes of the experiments. They are well put together and high-quality experiences.”
“My kids love the MEL Science Chemistry kits. Everything about it looks and feels like real chemistry – the kind done in high schools and universities but at a level that younger kids can participate in and understand. It is highly engaging and fun as well as very safe.”
Negative reviews
There are very few negative customer reviews. Most of them regard billing and customer support as answers slowly. There are also reviews that point out that there’s room for improvement when it comes to the kits themselves. Here are some of the reviews:
“Bought a prepaid gift subscription but then the company started charging my card automatically per month thereafter which I did not authorize.”
“My only complaint is when we wanted to renew a 4-month subscription, there was no guarantee we wouldn’t get the same kits, so we did not renew. There should be a way for them to keep track so you get new kits instead of duplicates.”
“The wooden pieces can be difficult to assemble for a 5-year-old kid and started to splinter in certain spots.”
“I also wish the instructions were labeled as instructions. The booklet starts with a cute story, but I was confused at first about where to begin.”
Pros of MEL Science:
- Everything needed for experiments is included in the box (the company even includes bonus activities like a coloring page and a spot the differences page)
- The sets are a nice hands-on supplement for homeschooling and generally for educating kids.
Cons of MEL Science:
- Some parts are fragile
- You can receive a duplicate kits
- Some instructions are not very clear
Is MEL Science Worth It?
Yes, MEL Science kits are of great value and especially chemistry experiments are really enjoyable.
