Review: Glowing 3D Planets by Great Explorations

Rated 3/5
Planets, Solar System, Great Explorations, Glow, Space
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Learning the Planets

My sons are still only young, and maybe too young to understand the solar system. However, I recently picked up the Glowing 3D Planets by Great Explorations to begin their education into Space Science. Space science is a great STEM concept to teach to young kids, and these 3D Planets are a great way to get them thinking about our solar system.

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Overview of the 3D Planet Set

Glowing 3D Planets by Great Explorations comes in a small box. The largest of the planets is around 4cm in diameter. Each planet is made of hard plastic and has a small mounting hole at the top. The pack includes all eight planets and Pluto, a dwarf planet. It does not include our moon or the sun.

The planets are designed to be hung in a kids room, and make a great addition to the already popular Glowing Stars found in plenty of kids rooms. These planets claim to have a lifetime glow guarantee and are powered by 'Glowminite', whatever that means.

3D Planets Setup in Order

Here are the Glowing 3D Planets setup in order on a shelf I made for my sons.

What's in the Box?

The box has all you need to get these hung up in a kids bedroom. However, you may want to upgrade the adhesive. Here is what you will see when you open the Glowing 3D Planets by Great Explorations:

9 Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
Solar System Guide: There is a black and white card showing the planets and includes distances from the sun.
Clear String: Similar to thin fishing line, they include 25 feet (7.6m) of clear string.
White Adhesive Tack: A small amount of white adhesive tack is also included.

Solar System Instructions for Glowing 3D Planets by Great Explorations

Our Review/Opinion

This is not a bad toy and is educational for kids. But there are a few downsides to this product that we didn't like:

Expensive: We bought this on sale, and it was still a little overpriced. I think it generally sells for around $26-$29AUD. For a piece of string and some pained balls, it could be cheaper.

Colours are Not Accurate: I don't expect perfection, but the colours of some of the planets seemed a little weird and made it hard to put in order. If you are struggling with the order, here is our guide: Glowing 3D Planets Order.

Sizes are Not Proportionate: Good enough, yes. But it could be better for the price.

Quality Low: I had to punch out a couple of the holes to put the string through as they were blocked by lousy manufacturing. Easy fix though.

Not Enough Adhesive: The amount of adhesive is borderline.

Overall, this is a good educational product, that either needs to be of better quality, or at a lower price point. It could also do with some instructions or colour guide for parents who are not solar system experts. We gave the Glowing 3D Planets by Great Explorations 3 out of 5.

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