I like this toy, not because it’s a STEM activity. I don’t think there’s much learning taking place unless and adult explains the different types of gears you assemble while making the toy (spiral, helical, worm, etc…). The real value comes from giving a child the opportunity to follow steps and manipulate very small parts in challenging ways. Fine motor skills are lacking in many kids today and toys like this can help them develop.The toy is rated 8 and up, I think realistically it’s more 10 and up. Some of the steps require more manual dexterity than many 10 year olds can muster and as a parent you’ll want to be close by to step in when needed. Better yet, this is a joint activity.The quality was 99% on point, unfortunately one of the eyes didn’t click-in properly but it was a very easy fix with a touch of glue. Other than that one fault, everything fit perfectly.You’ll need a very small Philips head screwdriver along with a pair of wire-cutter clippers to finish assembly.Once assembled the toy is very cute and my 9 year old was eager to play with it. As far as functionality goes, unfortunately it wasn’t able to climb our glass door the way we hoped. It just couldn’t create enough suction and kept falling a few steps in. Maybe the feet and glass weren’t perfectly clean? I tried with wetting the pads to no avail. It’s also possible that we flubbed a step.The good news is that the toy is quite durable and survived a few drops from over 3 feet without sustaining any damage.For us it took about 40 minutes from opening the box to testing the completed toy out.One nice thing to note is that there are detailed step-by-step instructions available on YouTube if you need help visualizing one of the steps. Just search for the toy by name and you’ll find it. You probably won’t need to look up the video, the instructions included are excellent.Would be a great gift for kids over 10, or geniuses under 10.

As a parent, I’m always looking for good STEM toys, but more often than not I’ve found what some companies call “STEM” toys are just cheap crafts or mass produced plastic toys that *maybe* have a passing relation to science and technology, but don’t teach my child a thing.I am routinely blown away by Thames and Kosmos, and this is no exception. This is truly a STEM kit that covers science (biology and physics), technology, AND engineering.I’ll start off by saying that this is almost certainly too advanced for an eight year old. My 10 year old and I were able to enjoy it, but that’s mainly because I helped a lot—there are tiny pieces, small screws, and intricate assembly that even I found challenging at times. I’d say it’s probably not until the junior high age that someone can really do this on their own without a lot of supervision.I loved it, and so did my daughter. Yes, like many Thames and Kosmos kits, it’s challenging at times. But that’s kind of the point. This wasn’t a simplistic toy where you just snap together a few pre-assembled pieces and say you “did science”. Like an old-school model kit, you remove the small pieces from a plastic frame and follow the instructions step-by-step to put together a fully functional machine. You’ll assemble each part piece by piece, and each part has its own unique design. It was fascinating to see the engineering that went into everything from making the legs move to making the tail move, and see it all literally come together.Once we were done with it and saw it in action we were filled with an immense feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. The gecko really DOES walk up glass walls and mirrors (those for whom it doesn’t work probably either assembled the legs incorrectly, tried to get it to walk up plaster walls, or failed to read the part about making sure to wipe down the gecko’s suction cups AND the glass surface before using it). It didn’t work for me at first, but that’s because my mirror was covered in dust. When I wiped it down the little guy performed like a champ.For the most part the instructions are excellent; there were one or two places that weren’t as clear as they could have been, but part of the fun is figuring it out. The manual doesn’t just give step-by-step illustrated instructions, it provides tips for using your gecko, additional experiments and thought-provoking questions, and even some information on suction cups and real geckos. This is nothing new for Thames and Kosmos, of course. Most of their kits come with excellent educational material.The model is surprisingly durable; I wouldn’t let it fall to the ground too many times, but unlike other models of this kind it doesn’t break apart easily; they designed it brilliantly so the parts all came together securely. I’ve learned over time to keep an eye out for Thames and Kosmos sets from Taiwan and Germany, which I found consistently to have the best quality and manufacturing. This set was made in Taiwan and certainly is no exception.I only have a few minor gripes. It does require a very small Phillips head screwdriver, which you may or may not have at home. It also requires a single AAA battery (also not included). It would have been nice for them to include them, but not the end of the world. You’ll also need some kind of cutting tool to separate the plastic pieces from the frame; I found that a nail clipper worked just fine.If you’d like to expose your child to REAL engineering, you’ll want to look at this and other Thames and Kosmos kits. I’d say this one took maybe a little more than an hour, but we ended up with an impressive piece of engineering that’s as adorable as it is technically impressive and more importantly, we spent an hour together learning stuff and having fun with no phones or tablets in sight. That’s worth everything in the world.