The Rainforest Biosphere is a good one ­hour activity to do with your elementary aged child, but the child is unlikely to learn much without parental involvement. The kit comes with everything one needs to plant and decorate a rain-forest terrarium for four tropical plants, including dirt, seeds, rocks and the planter. The kit is easy to use for a parent explaining to a child, but the directions may be overwhelming in terms of appearance and vocabulary for most elementary school children to follow independently. The directions include two good learning sections, “About Rainforests” and “Fun Rainforest Facts”, but the type is so dense that most students will not want to sit down to read it. This kit is useful to teach your child to plan on paper, then follow step-­by­-step instructions to see the project through to completion. Not surprisingly, it can be messy so students who generally need added supervision will definitely need to be supervised. The first plants pop up in a few days for quick positive feedback, but the plants are not very attractive and most children are likely to lose interest.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Adults would enjoy playing with a child
• For electronic games, gives positive or encouraging feedback
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Does not require excessive set-up time after first time use
• Can be fun as a single player game
• Multi-player game which fosters collaboration or cooperation
• Well-made for the cost
• For electronic games, can play without sound
• For electronic games, allows user to save work
• For electronic games, voice/sounds are appealing and pronounces words properly
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Fine Motor Skills
• Requires challenging finger movements, motor precision or physical manipulation
• Has small parts that may be difficult to manipulate (e.g. battleship pegs)

Grow your own piece of the colorful and tropical rainforest. Grow a variety of plants with tropical textures and vibrant patterns. Your Rainforest will develop into exotic trees, underbrush, and even vines. Hide and discover your own Rainforest Treasure and make a home for your Rainforest Friend. Create your own untamed river and finish the scene with Rainforest themed plant markers and color decals. All the fantastic species in the set are quick to sprout and characteristically vigorous growers.