4M KidzLabs Solar System Planetarium Kit

I didn't look closely enough at this before buying it and didn't realize I would be painting as well as assembling the mobile for my sons. I simply wanted a finished mobile as my sons like everything 'space'. I am glad I made the mistake as the painting is pretty easy and it looks great in my sons' room. The paint dries very quickly (2 hours for a coat to dry in cold weather) so it can be completed in a short period of time. The mobile is easy to put together. I would have preferred the string to be something other than fishing wire which requires you to knot it more than once to save it coming undone when it stretches. It is a bit fiddly but they are generous with the wire which makes life easier. If you follow the instructions it is easy to balance the mobile. The poster that is included is a bonus. The fact that the mobile spins slowly in the slightest breeze (like closing the door) just makes it more authentic. The only bit that really didn't work well for me was the glow in the dark paint. I must have been doing something wrong as it was too thick to apply evenly. In the end I wiped it off and went without. Painting instructions would improve the product as it primarily tells you to follow the picture on the box. A smaller brush is really needed to paint the finest areas properly. The fact that it is hanging from the ceiling (no close viewing) means that you can get away with what is provided. Overall it is a very good product and makes learning about the solar system fun and interesting. It is a nice decoration for the room and we have fun pointing out the planets and learning what makes them different from each other. To be able to show why it is dark at night and moving on from 'the sun has gone to bed' as an explanation has been my highlight to date. Having seen the product I will purchase it again as a birthday present for a 9 / 10 year old.

Really cute solar system model!! The instructions were easy to understand! We did use acrylic paint to paint the plants so they would be vibrant!

Got this for my 6 year old kids' holiday gift. We painted and partially assembled it together during a couple of afternoons, then I strung it together by myself. It's definitely not a project they could do on their own, but it was fine with an adult helping -- as long as the adult isn't too picky about the end product! Overall it was relatively simple and the directions were good enough. Pros: * Sufficient paint. We did though run out of some colors -- don't expect to use the same color on several planets. * Easy to snap the planets together -- and pull them apart again if needed. Kids did the painting and snapping together themselves, once I showed them how to align the pieces correctly (so the two halves of the hole for the hangar pieces line up). * Plenty of fishing line for hanging, though you won't think so when you first see it. * Assembly is easy enough, though still enough challenge for an older kid to enjoy. I did have to map it all out on the table before starting to string them on the support pieces, since the planets are close enough in size that it's not easy to tell them apart. Cons: * I was surprised to see that the unpainted planets were a dark blue plastic -- most paint colors covered it OK, though needing a bit more than they would otherwise for coverage, but getting a light color meant first "priming" it with white. * Barely enough glow paint, and it doesn't glow much. It does if you shine a bright light directly on it for a few minutes, and then make the room really dark. But since it's a mobile, most kids' bedrooms aren't going to have a bright light *under* it. And having one over it simply makes the top of the planets glow -- which you can't see unless you're really tall. Another minor problem I ran into is that the assembly instructions showing where on each hangar to hang each planet are only in centimeters. I couldn't find a ruler anywhere in my house with metric on it so I had to pull out the calculator and convert to inches. I won't deduct any stars for that, since I'd rather the US went metric anyway, and I have no good excuse for not having a dual-system ruler in the house. But be forewarned. Liked, it and would buy it again.

This was a gift for a Space Loving little girl. We had been gifted one for OUR girl and it hangs in her room with great love! It is really quite nice. We painted the planets and assembled it by the instructions. Easy to paint, assemble and hang. It will last a long time and is very sturdy!!!! The girl WE gifted just loves hers!!

Did take a little bit of time to assemble but it was great

Excelente le gustó a mi bebé

The 3D Solar System Kit by Toysmith is a good educational/learning tool that introduces children to the world of astronomy. This planetary system includes spheres representing the eight planets and the sun, sized in relative order (not to scale). It hangs from the ceiling as a mobile unit and includes special glow in the dark paint for added fun. This solar system kit comes completely unassembled and part of the enjoyment for youngsters is the application of the paint. There are two strips of paint included with several different colors. This allows kids the chance to explore their creative side. Some kids will choose to paint the planets according to their actual color, such as painting the planet Mars red. Others will mix and match and create all sorts of different color combinations. Kids will enjoy this part of the process almost as much as they will enjoy looking at the completed mobile itself. Once the fun of painting is over, it will then be time to assemble the pieces together. This is easily the most frustrating part of the process and depending on the ages of your kids, you may very well have to complete this step for them. The reason this is so frustrating is because of the very small size of the hooks and the rectangular pieces that are anchored into the spheres. The tiny hooks and even tinier rectangular pieces have a small hole in the middle through which you have to thread the fishing line. This takes time and patience and you have to tie the ends securely enough that the line won't come loose. A single knot isn't good enough. You need to make two knots if you want the line to stay in place. The pieces are so tiny, many young children will be unable to complete the task and even many adults will grow frustrated. The manufacturer should rethink this aspect and, if nothing else, increase the size of these pieces, in order to make them easier to work with. Another possible trouble spot with this solar system module is the fragility of the pieces. The mobile looks interesting hanging from the ceiling and its lightweight design means it will slowly turn, with the slightest amount of air. However, because the pieces are so light and fragile, you have to keep the mobile away from wind/air sources. The air movement from a fan, for example, could be enough to make the planetary bodies come apart and/or cause the nylon string to become untied. Even the air movement from a heat duct could be enough to cause problems. It's best to place the mobile far out of the reach of small children. If little ones can easily touch the mobile, the constant handling will cause the pieces to fall apart. Taken as a whole, the 3D Solar System Kit by Toysmith is still good educational toy for kids that introduces them to the world of astronomy. Assembling the tiny pieces can really try your patience and the fragile nature of this mobile solar system limits its quality. However, it still has enough positive points to earn a slight recommendation.

My best advise on buying this would be to consider how big of a "perfectionist" your child is when it comes to coloring in the lines. The planet halves already have the land masses, stripes, and craters lined on them for more realistic looking planets after painting. I bought this product for my four year old who loves planets right now. While she had fun painting, I ended up mostly doing it myself because she would get frustrated every time that she colored out of the lines. After everything dried and we snapped the planets together, it was ready for her room by the end of the day. All in all a very nice product for the price. On another note, I purchased a spinning motor (often used for wind chimes) for her mobile after she complained about her planets not really orbiting the sun. This is a must in my opinion. It looks so much nicer in her room now that it's constantly spinning and all of the planets are now really orbiting the sun. If you decide to go this route as well then forgo the fishing line at the top and replace it with a really thin wire instead. I used about a foot and a half of wire from some ribbon folded in half twice. After stringing it through the top piece I then divided it into four and wrapped each separate one around the beginning of a different stick on the mobile. It's not as nice to look at as the clear fishing string, but out of the three ways that I tried it with the spinner (fishing string included) it was the only way that I could get it up without it snapping and falling.

I loved this! So much fun to put together and it looks awesome!

Los materiales son de excelente calidad, ya pintados son en verdad muy llamativos

Excelente producto tal cual se muestra en internet

This was great fun to make. It's a quality product and my child had fun painting the planets.