Mine It! Gold and Diamond play sets

Have you ever collected rocks? When I was a child, a couple of my parents' friends were geologists who travelled much in the Soviet Union, and often brought back some stunning rocks and minerals as gifts for us. My Mum was particularly knowledgeable on the subject, and when I was young, I was pretty good at identifying minerals as well.
When my son Eddie showed interest in rocks, I was delighted. I bought him a beautiful edition of rocks and minerals practical encylopedia, and we also went to the Natural History Museum and got some of rocks to start his collection. Later one of our kind neighbours gave him a big box of rocks and fossils. He was thrilled to bits and would show his collection to whichever "victim" agreed to see it, with great enthusiasm.

When recently we were asked to review Mine It! sets, I knew it would appeal to my rocks-obsessed child.

Mine It! Gold and Diamond boxes follow a reveal and discover play pattern. Each Diamond or Gold block has a precious (semi-precious) stone inside.
There are 12 Gold blocks and 12 Diamond Blocks.

These fun golden or diamond shaped bars were launched on Boxing Day, and are available from all leading retailers including Character Online (at £4.99).

The suitable age range is 5+, though children will need an adult supervision.
Pick up a diamond or gold block, and mine away in your hunt for the real precious stones hidden inside.

You can see from the video below how we cracked on with the job of mining for gold and diamonds.
Eddie loved these sets, and had a great time mining for treasure.



You'll have heaps of excitement looking for your surprise treasure. What's more, one in every 24 boxes contains a real piece of diamond or gold.
Explore each box to see if you find rose crystal, volcano rock, red onyx, black jasper, tiger eye or more inside.
Ir's tons of fun for everyone.

A chisel. a hammer and a magnifying glass are all included for young geologists to get cracking.

We didn't find any real treasure, but the process of mining was fun. You might want to put a newspaper on the table, as it is a messy process.
When Eddie mined the stones, we thought the rocks he discovered were pieces of picture jasper. Once I gave them a good clean, they started shining, and I realised that both rocks were a tiger's eye. They are beautiful, when polished to a gleam.

These sets would make a lovely activity on a rainy day.

Disclosure: We received two products for the purposes of reviewing. All opinions are our own.