620381 Remote Control Machines: Farm Science Experiment Kit

Great father son activities

I highly recommend this Thames and Kosmos farm kit. The instructions are not the clearest in the world especially if one is used to LEGO instructions and some of the pieces my six year old boy girl twins needed help pushing in. We had to buy two as they wanted to play with each other. It was instructive even to me to see what some of the types of farm vehicles and how they worked. At the$25 price range that it was when I bought it, I think most kids in the family will be getting these as gifts.

If your child is good at building things, it is time to get the engineering kit from Thames & Kosmos. With this kit, you can build 8 different experiments that can be remote controlled. With 355 pieces and a 64 page instruction booklet to guide the way. Get ready to make heavy duty farm equipment. Everything is included except 8 AA batteries. Don't forget them.

Since this is going to be a Christmas gift, I have only tried it to a very limited amount, but I have looked it over carefully and gone through the manual. I find that a toy such as this is almost totally dependent on a clear manual. The Farm Science Experiment Kit has a great manual. There are separate instructions to make 4 different tractor attachments and a tractor. They are done primarily in very clear illustrations. There are information articles and experiments for the various machines. It will promote a very good understanding of the soil and various aspects of farming while having great fun. All of pieces appear to be well cast and finished. The box says ages 6 to 10. I feel that a 6 or 7 year old would require mom or dad working with them and doing most of the assembly. In many cases I think a 11 or 12 year old might enjoy this kit since there is a lot to assemble and it is remote.

This was incredibly time consuming to put together and set up. I was having some serious parental regrets in the process. We persisted over a couple of days and got it together, and the end result has been very rewarding. My son is extremely proud of what he has built and loves to show off his robot tractor anytime people will watch!

One of my sons got this for Christmas and all of his brothers are jealous. Lol. The pieces are a little difficult to snap together, which is the only reason I did not rate it as 5 star.

My two boys were so excited about these.. however they were horribly hard to put together because of the unclear and confusing directions. We powered through and finally got them put together just to find out the gears (which make the whole thing move) were sticking and it wouldn't drive correctly. My husband works on gears as a part of his job so it's not like they were done incorrectly. They plain just didnt work. My kids were so disappointed.. we returned them and purchased something different.

This is a very impressive set. I found it to be different than both Legos and Fisher-Technic -- although similar to FT gear. The parts are heavy and well built. This is clearly a toy meant to be used. While I played with Legos as a kid -- they never fared well outside -- but I believe this kit is well enough built to survive outdoor play without pieces falling off -- think of the Lego sets as more of models than useable vehicles. As a John Deere fan, of course I liked the color choice of the tractor/combine and other build options (disk set). Remote control is also available for some Lego kits, but compared to FT this is definitely an improvement. Like the other Thames and Kosmos kits (Robotics and especially the Construction machines) this has a mix of both generic and VERY custom parts ). I'll repeat the build/part quality is top notch here. Great deal of fun -- great gift for any farm equipment fan young or old!