DIY Telescope STEM Toy for Kids 8-14 Years

Bought as a gift for my son. He enjoyed putting it together, had some difficulty with getting smaller pieces away from wood, but overall did well on his own. He had fun putting it together and enjoys using it now.

I got this as a Christmas gift for my 7yo and 10yo kids, who will be turning 8yo and 11yo in the next couple months. They both have enjoyed similar STEAM projects in the past, and I expected this would be right up their alley. My 10yo was the one who decided to tackle this activity, and I am so incredibly thankful that he was the one who chose it rather than my 7yo. There are a lot of small steps that require careful fine motor skills. He struggled, and he’s close to his 11th birthday. I can’t imagine my almost 8yo child pulling this off anytime in the near future. There are also a gazillion rubber bands. I wasn’t paying close attention to the steps as my 10yo worked through it, but there was a lot of ranting about how the smallest rubber band size kept flying out of his fingers. It’s been several days, and I’m still finding them in random spots near where he worked. Thankfully, the makers account for this by providing a ton of backup bands, so there was no shortage. It’s just a bit awkward to suddenly have tiny rubber bands all over the place. In the end, he got it done without my assistance, and he had a working telescope that was very cool. I’m not sure how much he tested the measurement aspects, but he was happy and proud of the work he had done, which is what I care about. In summary, this telescope STEM project is probably better for 10+ unless your kids excel with their fine motor skills, but it’s still a nice project with a working end result.

Moderate difficulty for a 9 year old. Took about an hour. Lots of fun to make and play with after. Parts are good quality. Not flimsy at all.

Bought this for my 10 yo son. This is an amazing find! Assembling was a fun experience, even for adults. And its now one of my sons favorite toys. It’s a good feeling to not add more “forever” plastic to this world or expose the kids to chemicals like BPA. This is a fun, educational and environmentally responsible choice. Looking forward to trying the other products from this vendor. This is what all toys should be like!

The Smartivity Telescope is a good concept, and the eco-friendly wood is a plus. However, the assembly can be a bit challenging for younger kids, and some parts seem a bit flimsy. It's a decent educational tool but requires patience and careful handling.

Building the telescope herself give her understanding of how it works and respect to not abuse it. She's fascinated with her telescope. Will she play with it forever? Of course not. But, the goal of learning things was achieved. She wanted "help" to assemble it, but it just meant some quality time for me watching her do things and telling her, "Try it!" and "That's right..."

I got this for my 9 year old who loves building things. Unfortunately, he got very frustrated with the instructions as they weren’t nearly as easy to understand as Lego kits. With some help though he was able to build and use it. I think this is better for 10+ years old. The price is a bit high in my opinion.

Bought as gift for 7 year old - loved it!!!

It’s not often a kid’s toy impresses me. I had low expectations for this but it knocked my socks off. The tolerances were surprisingly tight. They need to be for a sturdy object. A little patience helped get the pieces together as if it was machine built. The lenses leave a little to be desired but do the job. It is comfortable for my 6 year old to use, fun, can take a knock or two, and fun for both adults and kids alike. There are ample spare parts.

This is definitely an addition to enthusiastic kids' collection. It gives an opportunity to assemble and learn the aspects of making a telescope in person. All that's needed to makes the telescope is in the pack and should definitely entertain the child. Expect the resolution/capacity to be limited given the cost and scope but for budding enthusiasts, it definitely works.

Is useful for keeping kids occupied. Quality okay and makes them think.

Easy to assemble using the guide provided. I would say though a 10yo might not get it all on its own but with some guidance this is a perfect gift. (Oh and you can disassemble it too. Might be helpful if you wish to customise it by colouring or changing some part) The lens however was a bit hard to fit in Because there was a bit of trail left while machining it (tolerance was just a bit high for lens only) Other parts are well made and pretty precise in cut. The guide book also explains how to use the telescope and includes some basic trigonometry (just not as you might study, but how you would use it, obviously to a level that a 10yo can understand) The zoom.. I would say is not much good but Hey it works pretty well and you can see letters on paper from upto 2 fathoms! Overall 10/10 Love the product

Excellent product. My son is 8 years old.he Just loved the product 😍🤩😻 He Love the steps of installation process.. Really just go for it😍😍 Lovely product.. Thank you so much Amazon 🙏🙏