Did you collect minerals and rough stones as a kid?

[serenitydiamonds]

When I was a kid I went to a local rock quarry for a field trip and brought home this large piece of grant with quartz crystals on the outside. Must''ve weighed 40 pounds. It was my lucky ''rock''. I also purchased quartz and other crystals growing up. When I was older I started collecting gems and stones, then I got addicted... and now, well I''m definitely addicted. lol.

--Joshua

 

[T L]

Did anyone ever get those little minerals/gems in a box kits from the science stores? I did, and I remember the mica in my little mineral kit, I used to think it was such a neat stone and I used to flake off pieces of the mineral as a kid.

Here''s the Moh''s scale of hardness kit. I had one of these as a kid and was slightly disappointed they didn''t include diamond for #10.

 

[Arkteia]

I still keep a similar box. I recently opened it and...to my horror, there was a huge chunk of asbestos lying there among other "exponats" (including mica). I got it as a gift, and it was rare. No one thought it was carcinogen at the time!

 

[Porridge]

Oh yes, I have all sorts of crap lying around in boxes now, and some decorating the garden! Mostly quartz. A cool amethyst geode. People would get me "rock" gifts from holidays, you know the tumbled stuff they have in giftstores. I loved it!

I also subscribed to a children''s rock and minerals magazine, they''d send one out each month with a new piece of rock to learn about. I used to love fools gold.

 

[morecarats]

Date: 1/12/2010 9:27:37 AM
Author: Fly Girl
I''ve always loved to pick up pretty stones. I had examples of quartz in about every shade as a kid. My favorites were the rose quarz and smoky quartz. When our kids were small we would often bring home rocks from our trips. I have some obsidian and some large mica chunks (the driveway at our B&B in South Dakota was covered with mica!) from those trips. When they had to put together a rock collection for school, they had a huge head start.


I remember being in Hawaii a few years ago, and there was a hands on mineral collection at a children''s museum at the airport. It was the first I realized that Hawaiian children would completely miss out on the rock collecting experiences that most children get. The lady at the museum agreed, and said the minerals were very popular since their children grow up on a volcanic island and all they can collect is lava.

Hawaii actually does have some interesting gemstones, some of them the result of volcanic action, such as peridot and obsidian. Hawaii also has a lot of coral, and I think black coral is the state gemstone.

 

[RockHugger]

Crono...I think your kids are all ready gemstone ''tainted'' lol. I know my youngest is! I got a lot of random stones before she could walk, and she would stand at the table playing with the reject ones. Now she takes the baggie full of now ''gemstone dust'' (after being shaken, and beaten by 2 kids, it is now a baggie full of chipps) whenever we go out to show it off.

 

[satine112]

lol funny you posted this. yes, yes i did. i had way too many. every weekend my dad and I would go to the rock store and i''d pick some out. and when we''d go to the beach or something, i was always looking for cool rocks in the sand.

as an adult i love fancy jewels, but can''t afford them. i still appreciate the tumbled rocks though, and have many from my childhood.

(even my science project in gradeschool was on crystals)

 

[GliderPoss]

OMG!!! I used to collect so many. I still have them all in a jar somewhere...

There was a "rock shop" in town and whenever we went shipping (not often I can tell you!) I would BEG my mum to take me there and buy me a tumbled rock. I''m sure that is how this all started. Cept now it''s just a tad more expensive....

 

[Harriet]

All I had was a sample set that was a souvenir from Australia.

 

[gardengloves]

oh yes, tried to start a thread on this, but it went bust. I love rough rocks, rock shops and all natural stones, they are so beautiful.. I love tourmaline specimens, included crystals and rocks.

 

[Lovebaubles]

I''ve always collected minerals and crystals as a kid. I was always drawn to them. I have a pretty substantial collection now