National Geographic 2026 Rock Collection Advent Calendar for Kids

I didn't know what kind of advent calendar to get my grandson, 11. We've had candy, legos, puzzles, gnomes, little animals, and moochis, over the years. This year I was stumped so I selected this because I always like National Geographic magazines so I felt confident this would be nice. He loved it. He looked forward to a new rock every day. Learning about the rock, collecting in daddy's office. It was a hit.

bought this for husband for an Advent calendar. He really liked because of the variety of stones, minerals, and fossils in the item. The last item was just shaped chalk but i told him that he had to scrape the chalk away to reveal a mineral/stone. We didn't realize that at first so were a little disappointed. Don't think it's just chalk - OPEN IT! I knew that NG wouldn't do us like that! NOT disappointed. some folks might think that some of the samples are small, but it's a nice intro to various rocks.

It's a nice idea and the rocks are decent, but they need better quality control in assembly. The box was assembled wrong with the tray of rocks turned rotated 180 degrees so that the first door contained what was supposed to be the culminating rock (which you carve out), but the magnifying glass, and bag you were supposed get at the start was at the very end. We also didn't get the tool to extract the "final" rock until later also. Many of the other doors didn't physically match up with the compartments beneath, so the whole thing became irritating rather than fun. -UPDATE: Nat Geo actually contacted me and offered to refund--so excellent customer service. Changing one star review to five for that. Product is fun when working properly.

There are a lot of fossil types in this, which are pretty cool, but not interesting to a 2yo who otherwise loves the other rocks and such. The magnifying glass is maybe fun for kids but pretty useless. And the last reason this does not get a perfect rating is that the pouch included only fits half of the rocks. Luckily I imagine most people will have this on display but it was a bit disappointing. But honestly I'd say 4.5 stars because my daughter loves the cool stones. I included a picture that shows most of what was in the box.

We got this for Advent this year and my 4 year old loves it. He asks to open a new stone every morning and adds them to his “collection.” Great quality and great gift. A few stones are kind of boring - the coral just looks like a rock - but most are great quality. I definitely recommend!

The first week or so we got mostly all the nice polished rocks, which I think most purchasers are going to be expecting to be in every day. After that, we got the “earthy” fossils. The “dig” they advertised on the box wasn’t much, but we still got a good rock from it.

I posted about this calendar on social media when I first heard about it, and one of my followers gifted it to me! I have had so much fun waking up each morning and opening a new little door. I'm only halfway through the month, and I already have plans to get one of the other national geographic Advent calendars next year, I'm having so much fun with this. So far, it has been a really interesting mix of polished stones, crystals, a geode fragment, and lots of fossils like an urchin and a bivalve. The kit comes with a little magnifying glass and dig tool, and also a little bag to store your treasures in. A handy chart on the side gives you a little guide so you can figure out what the days find is and learn a few interesting facts about it. I have told so many people about this. Can't wait for my big dig kit I get to open on day 24!

My son has recently been interested in rocks, so I thought this would be a fun advent calendar for him. While we have enjoyed it, we have been a little disappointed in the specimens; many do not look like the pictures inside the box which has made identification harder than it should be if the samples aren’t labeled. I am not seeing the value as some of the samples are small and dull, compared to what was advertised.

Para un adulto. Pero para niños también está padre. Vienen todas las piedras que marca la caja. Vale la pena.

J’ai acheté ce calendrier pour mon petit fils de 10 ans qui parle français. La description des pierres est en anglais seulement, ce qui n’est pas mentionné sur le site lors de l’achat. Grande déception…….. pour le prix payé. De plus la boîte est arrivé non emballé et donc aucun nom de l’acheteur…"la. Personne qui l’a reçu se demandait à qui appartenait ce colis. Très très déçu. Je ne recommande pas ce produit….