Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let's get one thing clear. This is a toy, or pretend, microscope. The 'prepared' slides are photos of stuff from real microscopes. It's not for looking at stuff your kid has found in the garden or wherever. However, that said and understood, this is a cool plaything that's enjoyed by both our three and five year olds. You can select audio facts, and everybody likes facts about spiders and blood and ants, or you can select an audio quiz to automatically play for each slide. Works like a charm keeping the pre-reading crowd interested in STEM. Construction is top notch, completely kid safe. Needs 3 AAA batteries that are not supplied. Slides a bit fiddly to put in, as they have to signal the 'microscope' what audio to play, but after a few tries we got it to work pretty good. Perfect for a three or four-yr-old. Older kids may get more value out of a kid-safe microscope that lets them look at stuff they find, and is half the cost of this one (Educational Insights GeoSafari Jr. My First Microscope), but then you do miss out on the audio facts and quiz. Anyway, either one is better than iPad​ time! Hope this review helps a bit.