Arts and Crafts Reviews

Dig this--it's a stegosaurus skeleton you can build yourself! The 60 birchwood pieces in the Bonz Stegosaurus set fit snugly together to form a cool-looking fellow that's 27 inches tall and 44 inches long. It's a challenge to put them all together, but there's help along the way. You get a fact sheet with tips for joining the pieces, sandpaper to smooth rough edges, and a wooden rock hammer to excavate the bones exactly into place. Dino-heads will love the educational booklet that tells all about stegosaurs, velociraptors, and their extinct cousins. --Rob Lightner

Young paleontologists will be thrilled to uncover and reassemble the bones of this ancient stegosaurus--not in the Gobi Desert, but in the comfort of their own homes. The set contains 60 flat bones that are made from lightweight but durable quarter-inch plywood. Each bone piece fits tightly to partner pieces. The plywood is rough and needs to be sanded, but sandpaper is included. Clear instructions and information about the stegosaurus make building this 17-by-31-inch skeletal model both simple and educational. The finished piece can be glued and varnished or painted to create a lasting sculpture for a child's room. Younger dinosaur enthusiasts will need adult help. --Lee Strucker

Standing over 40 feet tall and weighing over 6 tons, Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of the largest carnivores that have ever existed. You can create a scale replica of this ferocious dinosaur's skeleton by assembling the 51 pieces of this wooden puzzle kit. Made from Baltic birch, the interlocking pieces in this kit require no hardware or glue to assemble. An excellent exercise in shape recognition and spatial reasoning, assembling the puzzle requires patience and careful attention to detail and may require the assistance of an adult. But the rewards are great as you transform a pile of scattered "bones" into an impressive model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. Once the puzzle is assembled, you can leave it standing as a display piece, or disassemble it for future use. A wooden "rock hammer" and sandpaper have been included to aid in the assembly process, but you may pick up a few splinters putting this wooden puzzle together if you're not careful. An educational dinosaur booklet and scientific fact file have been included along with assembly instructions and an excavation site map. Measures 36 inches tall by 48 inches long. --Chris Burns

Your first efforts as a paleontologist have been wildly successful. After laboring tirelessly to excavate your find from the site (i.e., opening the box), you have been rewarded with the complete skeletal remains of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The 51 pieces of this Jurassic puzzle are spread out before you and, with the help of your excavation site map, you carefully begin the process of reconstructing this notorious prehistoric carnivore. Made from Baltic birch, the interlocking pieces in this puzzle kit require no hardware or glue to assemble. An excellent exercise in shape recognition and spatial reasoning, assembling the puzzle requires patience and careful attention to detail and, possibly, the assistance of an adult. But the rewards are great as you transform a pile of scattered "bones" into an impressive model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. Once the puzzle is assembled, you can leave it standing as a display piece, or disassemble it for future use. A wooden "rock hammer" and sandpaper have been included to aid in the assembly process, but you may pick up a few splinters putting this wooden puzzle together if you're not careful. Educational dinosaur booklet and scientific fact file included. Measures 24 inches tall by 36 inches long. --Chris Burns