Thursday 5 May 2016

My Living World Pocket Microscope Review

I was really keen to review the My Living World Pocket Microscope, mainly because I have only very recently finally given up and thrown away the one which belonged to my second oldest son - now 18. After 10 years use, inspection and misuse it finally came apart never to be repaired. It'll have seen a few sights...


The My Living World Pocket Microscope is made by Interplay - the children's craft, nature, technology and science kit specialists. We've reviewed several of their kits, but this is our first in the My Living World range.


Inside the box you have everything a young scientist might need - collection jars and labels, tweezers, slides, cover slips, as well as the all important Pocket Microscope itself. The cover slips are circular plastic, so they are good for little hands in that they do 'stick' to your specimen, but they are very fiddly. The recommended age for this kit is 6+, so younger users might need a assistance with this bit.


The microscope really is pocket-sized, only 140x48mm, and it requires 2 AA batteries which aren't included. Once powered though it has a light which directs into the lens area, so that whatever you are looking at is lit up and can be seen really clearly.


Included are two slides with 4 specimens each. One Textiles and one Grasshopper. I'm not so keen on including animal specimens because I'm a bit of a veggie hippy, and you aren't really sure how they've been collected. It is however a brilliant educational tool.

 

Here is the Nylon through the microscope...


We noticed we also had a bit of 'fluff' on our lens. The Pocket Microscope has a 30x lens, with a rotating adjuster to change focus.


It didn't take either of my boys long to get the hang of looking through the microscope, and we'll be taking it outdoors this weekend to collect some more samples. My 6 particularly wants to find a 'dead ant'....I can barely contain my excitement at that one...


The My Living World Pocket Microscope has a suggested age of 6+, and a recommended bargain price of only £9.99. Every child can make use of it and learn with it, and they really are added fun to take with you on a day out practically anywhere. I can also vouch for the fact they can last 10 years, and the batteries will last longer than you think too. Available now from all good toyshops and online.

Interplay offered a Pocket Microscope for one of my readers. That giveaway ended at midnight Sunday 29th May 2016.

 

We were sent our Pocket Microscope for review.

80 comments:

  1. Wow. That's a really excellent price for a set like that. I think my son would love it.

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  2. A butterfly breaking from it's cocoon!

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  3. leaves @msedollyp

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  4. My 7yr old nephew and i love exploring the insect world  This really would be great fun to own

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  5. My children are learning about minibeasts, so we will probably look at those as well as other things from the garden.

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  6. I would like to see a ladybird

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  7. A ladybirds for the giveaway.

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  8. I would love to see a butterfly

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  9. Maybe my skin? To see what my finger prints look like up close! Also leaves and flowers!

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  10. I would like to see what my nails looking like under a microscope ☺

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  11. I would like to see one of my eyelashes. I understand that some people have microscopic organisms living on them.

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  12. I would love to show my grandson what lives under his nails, might encourage him to cut them

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  13. A bee as they look striped but I bet they're not

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  14. The best thing I have seen is a bee. I like looking at hair too

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  15. I would look at hair and insects
    Remember doing this with my microscope 40 years ago when I Wes given one for christmas always fascinates me

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  16. Aphids they are so tiny!

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  17. Leaves or sand is also very interesting

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  18. I'd love to have a real close up of a flea!

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  19. Tree bark would be quite interesting to examine

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  20. my nephew loves plants and insects

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  21. Probably the real life X-Files. I'd love to take a microscope to all that's hidden away in those secret warehouses ;)

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  22. A scab!

    @rachiegr

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  23. MY son is currently fascinated with bugs in the garden so would loves to s anything like that

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  24. Flowerheads

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  25. I'd love to see skin flake from a dinosaur

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  26. I would love to see a butterfly.

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  27. i would love to see a caterpillar and all its little legs.

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  28. My daughter loves flowers and leaves. So mostly it would be something from plant kingdom

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  29. I'd love to see a dragonfly

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  30. My son would love to look at the crystals he's grown

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  31. What would you like to see under the microscope? a human hair . . . . l'd find it interesting

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  32. my grandson loves creepy crawly's

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  33. my son likes looking at little bugs and would be very fascinated

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  34. My daughter said she would love to look at a fly under the microscope, she has seen it on the TV and wants to see for herself

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  35. I'd like to examine some plants.

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  36. A ladybird, thanks for the lovely giveaway.

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  37. A butterfly wing

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  38. Flowers and leaves would be cool

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  39. I'd like to see how clean our drinking water really is from the tap!

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  40. we would love to see flowers

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  41. A spiders nest that would be pretty cool

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  42. A snowflake I think would be amazing under a microscope x

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  43. I'd love to say we'd want to see something really interesting but my son is obsessed with slugs at the moment!! So we'd like to see a slug!

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  44. Oh got to be a butterfly they are beautiful

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  45. My little boy turns 6 in July and I know he would love this microscope. He would get a woodlouse and have a good look at it first!!

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