Explore Box 1 – Hidden Rainbows

Order today and your exciting new science kit will be in the post within two working days.

If you’re still reluctant to sign up for a subscription then on this page you can purchase an individual box. Note that by choosing this option you do lose out on the subscribers’ discount. Also, the boxes are a series so we recommend that you purchase them in order. A new individual box will be made available each month. 

Letterbox Lab was started by two people who just love playing with fun, surprising and interesting science stuff and want to share that with people. So, the first thing we ask about any activity we’re planning to put in the box is “Is it fun?”. But, each kit does support the primary school curricula of all four regions of the UK as well as going beyond the curricula – because science knows no limits!

One of the advantages to this being a series of science kits instead of one-offs is tha we refer back to previous boxes so that your child’s knowledge and the content of the boxes grow together. 

Not at all. Our whole thing is that we want to make playing with science as simple and as convenient as possible. Our instruction leaflets are fully illustrated and we have video instructions for each box to make doing the experiments hassle-free. 

If your child asks a question about the science that you can’t answer please send it to us we’d love to answer it for you. We’re not just selling you a product you are joining our club and we’d love to hear from you. 

Yes they are. In developing the Explore box we’ve closely followed all relevant safety regulations and it bears a CE marking to demonstrate compliance. 

The only consumables in the Explore box are foodstuffs – although we should point out they are not being prepared in a food-grade environment, so they should be used for science not for eating! All equipment that we put in the boxes is carefully vetted to ensure that it cannot cause harm. All equipment that we put in the boxes is carefully vetted for safety. However, as with anything harm can come through misuse so we provide plenty of instructions on how to use our materials safely. 

Working with liquids always has the risk of spills so our clever boxes open up to work as a tray for performing the experiments in to contain any potential mess. We also provide disposable gloves to keep hands clean. The first page of each experiment has a “messiness rating” to give parents a heads-up.

Both Explore and Investigate are 12 month (no-commitment) subscriptions that put everything you need to play with science straight through your letterbox. There are a few things that distinguish the boxes:

• The Explore box is for those who like to tinker or who don’t have a lot of time, containing 2-3 activities that will entertain your child for up to 1 hour.
• The Investigate box is a bigger, more involved box containing between 6 and 9 activities that will engage your child for up to 3 hours. Generally you will find all of the activities from an Explore box in the corresponding Investigate box, but with additional activities that take your child’s discoveries further and require a more extensive collection of lab equipment (which, of course, is included).
• The activities in an Explore box are usually loosely tied to a particular topic (although we don’t like to constrain learning with tight topics!), but the Investigate box takes children on a journey via a 24-page booklet featuring Meg and Pico, the Lab Assistants.
• The Investigate box is an experimental set containing a range of chemical reagents, and as such is only available for children over 8 years. The activities in the Investigate box include scientific demonstrations, experiments and creative projects.
• The activities we select for the Explore box are from the third category; these don’t require laboratory equipment or any chemical reagents other than common foodstuffs (e.g. salt, sugar, flour). So the Explore box is not an experimental set but a creative set based on scientific principles.

We currently ship to the UK and Ireland.