I loved science when I was younger, in fact I loved it so much I ended up studying herbal medicine. If found it really interesting to find out how the human body worked as well as learning more about nature. My girls also seem to be displaying an interest in the human body and also the natural world and of course I want to encourage this as much as possible. We do go out and about looking at all sorts of things such as creepy crawlies, fungi of various types, animals/birds that we may come across. I remember one year we came across a field that had baby frogs. We stayed for hours, the girls would run around and try and catch them although their reaction was hilarious when they jumped at them. I remember as a child having my own microscope although what happened to that I haven’t a clue so when Interplay offered me the opportunity to review their pocket microscope of course I couldn’t refuse.
The microscope comes packaged with everything you might need to get started including a microscope, a sample slide with grasshopper parts, a sample slide with textiles, 3 blank microscope slides, 12 transparent sample covers, 12 labels for samples, 4 storage jars, tweezers and an instruction booklet.
You will need 2 AA batteries for this so if you are buying this for your children or as a gift bare that in mind it’s disappointing when you can’t play with your toys as you don’t have the necessary batteries.
Setting up the microscope is simple. All you need to do is put the batteries in pull the torch to turn it on and look through. The samples provided are great as they give little ones something to start looking at but it isn’t hard to find other things to pop under the microscope. Simply look around the house, you will find plenty of items in the kitchen such as salt, sugar, whole and ground pepper. Even something as simple as a hair from you hairbrush can be placed under the microscope.
There are plenty of items too that can be found outside to look at. Why not try looking at a leaf of a stem of a plant. Insects or parts of insects can also work well. Don’t forget it the insect is live it won’t keep still so it might be more of a challenge to focus on it with the microscope.
We headed off into the garden to see what we could get our hands on. The girls were very brave until we found a spider. Neither wanted to try and catch it so of course mummy (who really doesn’t like spiders) had to assist (eeeuuuuuggggghhhhhh). With our eight legged friend in tow we headed indoors to take a look and get some pictures to show everyone.
This looks like it could be a brown spider although I could be mistaken. It has plenty of larger relatives in our garden but thankfully we didn’t come across any of those otherwise I am sure you would have heard our screams across the UK. Although terrified of these we do also find them quite fascinating as long as they can’t touch us.
The microscope is small enough to fit into a pocket, handbag or back pack and is very light. It can be used on the go if you find anything exciting you want to take a closer look at. The microscope magnifies items to 30 times their actual size.
My girls are looking forward to discovering more creepy crawlies and looking at more things under the microscope too. This is a great way to encourage children to move away from computer screens and get outside more and it can also be educational as well as great fun!
What creepy crawlies or other items would you like to see under a microscope?
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My guys would love this. They are always drawn to nature and are asking lots of questions. What a great way for children to explore and learn from a young age x
This is such a wonderful way to learn and have fun at the same time! I wouldn’t be too happy to look at spiders or other creepy crawlers with it myself, but if that is what is interesting to the kids, that is great. It’s great that this can be used on the go, something to take on nature walks.
Those spiders look scary but fascinating to see them under the microscope, I loved Science when I was younger too x
This looks great. I used to love this sort of stuff when i was a kid x
I used to love science things like this when I was a kid, looks like lots of fun x
My boys have one and they adore it. A perfect gift for inquisitive minds at this age!
this is such a great way to get them interested in science. i loved using the microscope in school!
It really is a great way to spark an interest in science.
My niece and nephew would love this – they’re obsessed with things in the garden so would welcome the chance to view them under a microscope x
This looks like a great way to get kids exploring, fun and educational…but no spiders for me!
You can get so many little bugs to look at it doesn’t have to be spiders.
I wouldn’t have been brave enough to look at, let alone catch the spider! Well done ??
Lol, I was very brave as I knew they’d love a closer look 😉
What a fabulous yet educational toy/item! I think it is great to get children interested in science and nature when they are young, as this would have certainly encouraged me!
It is really good to get children excited about the natural work and they tend to find it very interesting.
This looks great for kids, I loved science when I wasn’t younger too. I definitely wouldn’t like looking at spiders, I’m terrified of them far away so you’d hear my screams if I saw them close up!
Lol, we were being very brave that day.
What great idea for kids to have this so that you can teach them science on the go.
It is really good. We need to get to the park to see what we can find there.
I never liked science as couldn’t understand it and frustrated me on most part. However used to and still love animals. Looking at spiders reminds me of when i collected things like ladybirds which i loved x
It is super fun isn’t it and imagine getting to look at things like plants and animal parts – from dead animals that is through a lens.
My nephew would absolutely love this for looking at bugs and creepy crawlies x
Mine love looking at bugs although they are scared of them.
This looks like very educational toy! My son like science and bugs so might just get him this
He will love this it sounds like it would be perfect for him.
I loved things like this when I was younger! I bet my Nephew would love it too.
He sure will it’s great fun mine love this.
Very cool! It’s awesome that such a tiny microscope can be so precise.
It’s really good the kids love it.
This sounds like a great product for children
It sure is it’s become a favourite very fast.
I would have loved this when I was a kid, it’s so fun!
It’s a great educational toy that can be used when out and about.
These are great. I love that it’s a fun toy but also educational too.
My girls really love using this.
Aww, my little cousins would love this and their birthdays are coming up! 🙂
It’s the perfect gift and well priced too.
My little lad has this and loves it, so much fun and educational too.
I know it’s great isn’t it 😉
This looks so much fun! I’d have loved this when I was a kid.
It is great fun and great for educating little ones.
looks very educational and interesting would have fun with the children with that
It is a great way to make learning fun.
we would go out hunting for ants and woodlouse
We need to do that too!
This looks great! My girls love this kind of stuff!
This is brilliant especially as you can take it out and about with you.
Looks great! Both my boys and girls would love this!
It does look good and is easy to use.
What a fab gift for national science week
It would make a wonderful gift.
All was going well and I really enjoyed the girl’s youtube video but that close-up of the spider did it for me…can’t stand them… ;(
Lol, trust me we were all scared of the spider!!!
This would make a great gift for those inquisitive kids like my great niece who is always wanting to discover things in the garden.
Plus, as they can be taken with them everywhere, it would be on the go learning.
It is perfect for that, we need to keep ours in the car in case we discover something interesting on our travels.
It’s really important to get girls interested in science from a young age – this would really impress my girls – they love going on garden hunts with their magnifying glasses and this would be even better
This is a great and easy way to encourage a love of science.