MAGIC GARDEN from Schylling Toys

I’ve been buying these for 20 years, and they are super fun. Some tips- I use hot glue to secure the cardboard into the grooves, and then I set it up in a spot where it can stay without moving it, and don’t touch it. It’s fragile, meant to hang around a few days and then be tossed in the trash. It’s a fun little experiment for little kids.

Pretty simple instructions, I got results within the first hour. I did use some tape to keep the structure in place but overall, the results shown are 24hrs after initial setup up. Pretty neat.

I loved this while it lasted! Setting it up was a headache because the instructions aren't very thorough and the pieces didn't fit well in the tray. I ended up removing an inch or so from the back of the mountain and stapling it back together before I could force it into the space where it went. Then it kept popping out so I hot glued it in place and finally moved on to the other pieces. I wish I had glued the trees in too because once they grew they got a little top heavy and came tumbling down. Make sure you assemble it in the place you want to keep it if you're not going to glue things in place because there's no moving it! I also added the water with a medicine dropper to have a little more control over it.I plan to order another one to try and keep on a shelf in my office because it was really beautiful once it had grown! I wish there was a way to seal it / preserve it because everyone who saw it immediately wanted to touch the trees - you don't realize how soft and fragile they are until it's too late!It was well worth the price and the extra time invested in setting it up. I gave one to my nephew for Christmas and my brother sent me a photo of their completed forest. Here are links to view both.My garden: [...]My brothers garden: [...]

And that movie was terrible. Just awful. Even after all these years I can't rationalize why it was made.And after 2 attempts at following the "instructions" included with this, we gave up and set up the pieces the way we liked in an empty organic spinach container.Nothing fits into the tray. The mountain is far too big for the hole provided for it. One of the trees is too big for its hole, and the other is too small. Not too mention that the paper-thin grass strips are supposed to stand up in a groove that is at least 30x wider than they are. It sort of works for the 2 you fold, but the 3 smaller ones will just lay there. I suppose the crystals would grow no matter what but you know... its like the paper and the holder were made by different people on different continents perhaps perpetually translating between metric, English, and something else.And the instructions..."1. Fold the lines on the green paper slightly and insert the tabs into the slots on the other end, thus making a mountain."Thus making a mountain. Yep. And then we move on to..."2. Put the longest one of the five green strips along the outer groove of position C."Now. Review the 9, yes 9, illustrations in these instructions. Find position C. Where is it? Diagram 9. Right NOT AT ALL near step 2.This thing sucks. I'm going back to the crystal trees. I'll buy 6 or 7 of them. Thus making a forest.

We had one before that fell apart when we moved it, so we got another just for the fun of it. It is fun but very frustrating to try to get the pieces in the right sections. They don't fit, they keep falling over. Put a little of the water solution in the tray before you put in the pieces and they will stay standing better. Assemble it where you want to keep it -- moving it is impossible because any movement will cause it to fall apart. We walked past it and the little breeze of our movement caused it to fall apart. But, being careful, you can still have fun watching it grow.

The media could not be loaded. It's kind of a pain to setup as the paper pieces want to pop out of the little groves they are suppose to lay in. Also the mountain didn't fit quite right. I ended up rolling a little tape next to the pieces and they stayed where I needed them. Once the setup was done, the rest was easy, just dump the liquid in the trays and over the mountain and you are good to go. Works as described and was pretty impressive when completed. We took a time lapse video with a cellphone to show how it works. (note that the video was take over a 12 hour period.)

It was impossible to set up, nothing stayed in place.The crystals grew as expected and the parts I managed to wrestle and anchor into place worked fine. I had to get really creative about the set up, and some parts I gave up on altogether.Pretty, but not good quality.

I bought this for the heck of it. They usually don't work from my past experience and I wanted to try it out before buying one for my grandson. Well, not only did it work but it was FABULOUS !! The colors are amazing, it grows just like explained in the directions.....within 24 hours....and the effect is just as it is pictured. Everyone, especially me, are amazed with the results !