KidzLane Little Lab Microscope 🔬 Kids Science STEM Educational Toy

How fascinating it is to see the world of the unseen! Who would not be interested in seeing the whole new dimension unfold in something perceived so obvious and at the same time conspicuous? From ancient times, humans wanted to see things far smaller than could be perceived with the naked eye. In the XVIth century, such curiosity had led to the construction of a magnifier composed of a single convex lens, which in turn, led to the development of the duo scope microscope, as we know it today.  

While my daughter was first introduced to a microscope when she was four-and-a-half, Adrian had his first acquaintance when he was two years old. Oh, how I wish, I had the Kidzlane Little Lab Microscope! 

The truth is, children younger than four years old, have difficulties operating any Duo Scope microscopes, so prevalent on the market now, which have multiple objective lenses and various magnifications, since it is extremely hard for a younger child to focus on an object with just one eye.

Also, the more expensive microscopes have a "stage" where a child, while looking through the ocular lens, has to slowly move it up until the object is in focus. Let me tell you, these are a lot of steps for little ones as it is very easy to miss the "focus" point while staring at a blur. Well, the Kidzlane Microscope takes the hassle and complicated steps out of the equation, making the process doable even for smaller scientists. 

Although the instruction suggests this stem preschool toy is for three and four-year-olds, I suggest starting to introduce this Little Lab microscope to younger children as well!  Even a two-year-old can enter a world of science and discovery at a much earlier age as this toddler toy microscope! 

The Little Lab Microscope set contains: 

• Microscope toy
• Petri dish
• Tweezers
• Scalpel
• Fake Spider
• Fake Lizard
• requires 3 AAA batteries (not included).

Built with preschoolers in mind, this toddler toy microscope features large easy-to-use focus wheels, soft-framed eyecups, and a bright flashlight to illuminate the specimen of choice. It also comes with a guide and an activity book, which is sure to keep your child entertained for hours with stimulating activities.

And, a pretend specimens (a lizard and a spider) are included, so there is no need to search for dead bugs or caterpillars. 

Features:

• Working 8x magnification
• Large easy-turn focus wheels
• Big viewing cups with soft frames
• Illuminating flashlight.

Unlike other sets, this kids microscope features 8x magnification that really works, and a bright flashlight to illuminate the specimen of interest. Young scientists will have a blast analyzing the fake spider and a lizard included in this set, or any other object they can get their hands on!

Easy-to-turn focus wheels and large soft-frame eye cups support comfortable viewing in a fun monkey design. Your child would no longer have to patiently "focus" the stage, but rather enjoy seeing the mysterious world of magnification without the unnecessary frustration of complicated microscopes. Trust me, I remember Adrian (at around two years of age) looking through some of those ocular lenses, moving the stage up and down and still being unable to see anything discernible through the one eye ocular. Closing one eye sometimes help a child to focus and see the inside of the optic tube, however, at such a young age, Adrian could not get used to looking through the microscope's singular ocular lens. So, the "blur" and frustration persisted for a couple of years. Well, thanks to this Winner of the Creative Child Educational Toy Award, your child can have the excitement of seeing the object in focus magnified!
  

The Little Lab Microscope is a wonderful preschool science stem toy that will give your child a chance to see everyday objects in close-up detail while learning about our world! By analyzing ordinary objects, children develop fine motor skills essential in the completion of so many important tasks and hand-eye coordination while becoming familiar with the basic science tool, and supporting STEM learning. 

And if you are on a lookout for new specimens, look around the house or in your backyard. While specimens spark great interest in older children, younger ones might gravitate more towards objects that are familiar and/or found in nature. Some of the items we have been observing are sea shells, plant parts, flower petals and leaves (fresh or dry), pine cones, nut shells, shark teeth, coins.  Other interesting items might be tree bark, fruit peel, dirt speck, fabrics, salt, sand, etc... Also, ask your child: "What would s/he want to observe up close?" Maybe own hair, fingerprint, or a nail? 

Last note about the KidzLane™ ~ they strive to offer children more than just the entertainment factor of toys. This family-owned business endeavors children to enjoy happy playtime that is safe, age-appropriate, educational and affordable! KidzLane™ also focuses on quality over quantity, providing top-quality materials to ensure a sturdy built toy, which is sure to outlast your child's wear and tear while providing them with unlimited entertainment.

I hope you give it a try!

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Fun Facts about the history of the Microscope:

1. The earliest microscopes were known as “flea glasses” because they were used to study small insects.
2. The most famous early pioneers in the history of the microscope are Digges of England and Hans and Zcharias Janssen of Holland.
3. But it was Anton van Leeuwenhoek who became the first man to make and use a real microscope. He grounded and polished a small glass ball into a lens with a magnification of 270X, and used this lens to make the world's first practical microscope - a powerful lens that could see teeming bacteria in a drop of water. Because it had only one lens, Leeuwenhoek's microscope is now referred to as a single-lens microscope. Its convex glass lens was attached to a metal holder and was focused using screws. The magnification ratio of the single-lens microscope like the one invented by Leeuwenhoek is calculated in the same way as calculations are made for a simple magnifying glass. 250mm--accepted to be the distance of most distinct vision--is divided by the length of the lens.
4. The first compound microscope  (ones we use today), which incorporates more than one lens so that the image magnified by one lens can be further magnified by another, was created by a father-son duo, Zacharias and Han Jansen in the 1590s.
5. Robert Hooke discovered cells by studying the honeycomb structure of a cork under a microscope.
6. Marcello Marpighi, known as the father of microscopic anatomy, found taste buds and red blood cells.
7. Robert Koch used a compound microscope to discover tubercle and cholera bacilli.
8. German engineer Carl Zeiss revolutionized the quality of lenses in the 19th century.
9. The smallest object observed through a light microscope was 500 nanometers long.
10. In 2008 the TEAM 0.5 debuted. It is the world’s most powerful transmission electron microscope and is capable of producing images half a ten-billionth of a meter.
11. Researchers used microscopes in 2013 to demonstrate how life could have started.