Wild About Learning - Learning Resource My First Microscope Review and Giveaway

We were asked last month by Learning Resources if we would like to be involved with their Wild About Learning Campaign. We love getting out doors and its the perfect place to learn. How could we say no? 

I got to choose something from Learning Resources Primary Science Section and their GeoSafari Section on the website. 

It was so tricky what to choose and so I thought I would think of an activity that I could do outdoors and then looked to see what would help that activity. My activity I had in mind was going out and exploring and collecting things from nature. Learning about them as we went.

So I chose a Geo Safari Bug Viewer and a Primary Science Magnifier and Tweezers. I then spotted the Geo Safari My first Microscope and thought how good it would be to then look at all the items we found under the microscope and learn more about them. 

When they arrived they looked great and we could not wait to get started with them. 

So let me tell you a little more about each product. Lets start with the Bug Viewer. This little plastic jar encourages children to get closer to nature. With its screw top magnifying lid that magnifies at 3x the magnification its the perfect thing for children to be able to collect specimens for themselves and view it from above. The little jar comes with a plastic spider as example. It only costs £3.25 and so is great value for lots of bug learning fun.

The Magnifier Glass and Tweezers come together in one set. They are the perfect tools for your little one to start exploring the world around them. The set costs £6.50 which I think is excellent value for learning.  

The Magnifier glass is really chunky to hold which is great for little hands. It also features a built in stand for hands free observation. It has a clear 4.5x magnifier and it measures at 11cm's of viewing area. 

The tweezers are also extra chunky for small hands. They are brilliant for helping exercise fine motor skills while your child practices picking up objects. They measure at 15cm and have a special easy grip area where your fingers should be placed and extra grip to pick up your objects at the end of the tweezers. 

Then we have the My First Microscope. Perfect for children aged 3-7 years old who are just starting to learn to use equipment to aid their learning. Its chunky design makes it easy for children to use and has a non scary appearance to encourage them to want to try it out. Instead of a regular one eye piece that you normally get with a microscope, this one has 2 eye pieces which eliminates the need to close one eye. It has 8x magnification and has a large chunky knob on the side for simple focusing. It also includes a LED light which you can turn on with a button at the front. This requires 3 AAA batteries. When I saw the price of this microscope I really was shocked to see how good value for money it was. It retails at only £19.80 which I think is great to say it provides so much and is such good quality. 

That day we packed up our magnifying glass, bug tub and tweezers and decided to take them to our local park. Our local park is great and has loads of space to explore and has big tree's and plenty of plants. I knew we would find lots of interesting things there. Lily enjoyed carrying around her magnifying glass and understood that she had to hold it to her face and look through it.

We found all sorts in the park, it was mostly me finding them and then pointing them out to Lily to then look at through her magnifying glass. At first she would stand up looking down at objects but I encouraged her to bend down closer to it to look.

She then had a try with the tweezers, Lily caught on pretty quickly how to hold them and put her fingers into a pincer grip. She then learn't that she had to squeeze to be able to pick things up. But she did struggle to do it with smaller objects. She managed to pick up big things like a pine cone, but could not have the finger strength to pick up the feather. It was really good seeing her try though and something that practice will make perfect. Her strength will grow as she gets older. 

I spent ages trying to find Lily bugs and all I found was some spiders. I must admit I am not a big fan of spiders and neither is Lily. I did man up thought and did try and catch her a few big black spiders I found by the water. I failed though as I think I was to wimpy to actually catch them. For ages after I didn't find anything and then a teeny tiny spider crawled onto my bag. Lily spotted it with her eagle eyes and so we got it to crawl into the bug tub. The tubs lid is really easy to screw on and off which is great as a lot of bugs are fast. I handed it to Lily so she could have a good look through the top of it. She was really interested in watching it crawl around in there and the magnifying lid did make it look a lot bigger than it was. 

After we had collected everything we headed inside to take a look at what we had found and place it under the microscope. We had collected a really nice range of things that would all look different under it. We had some bark from a tree, some pine cones, leafs, petals, a feather, a stick and a some seeds from tree's. 

Lily understood that she had to put the items under the microscope and also that she could turn the knob to move it up and down. I don't quite think she understands focusing yet though and I also had to remind her to move the microscope up for bigger items. When she looked through at the items she would say "I see it". Lily placed each one under the microscope. She is a little young to start describing objects to me but she knew that it got bigger as the item went underneath and said to me "its bigger". She would look down with her 2 eyes and found it quite easy to turn the knob all by herself. 

After we had been through all the objects. She decided that she wanted to do it all over again and this time did it all by herself while I sat back and watched. 

Our second trip out to collect things was while we were on holiday in Weymouth. We headed to Chesil Beach and so we took our magnifying glass and tweezers with us to see what we could find. We mostly found a lot of interesting looking stones and a interesting looking shell. But the items were way to big to pick up with the tweezers. But the magnifying glass was perfect to look at the stones with as most of the stones all had sparkling crystals inside and so we could then see them in real detail. We also at this time propped up the magnifying glass and placed a stone under it to look. It stands really sturdy and doesn't fall down which is great.

We also took the bug tub incase we found any seaside critters. But we didn't unfortunately. But Lily did find a piece of wood that she decided she wanted to put inside to have a look at. The bug tub works really well for other things as well as bugs.

When we got home from Weymouth, I got the microscope back out so we could have a look at the things we found. We brought home with us some different shaped rocks and shells. Some which looked like they had fossils in them and also the ones with the crystals in. Lily remember exactly what to do with the microscope and got straight to it. Again telling me that it got bigger when she looked through.

We are so happy with this set of learning resources. I can see them being something we will use for years to come and I love that I now own items that are really going to help Lily learn more about the outdoors and science. If you are looking for some toys that are great fun but also really help your child learn then I can 100% recommend these to you. This set sure has made us go Wild About Learning! 

Head to the Learning Resource Website to see more toys to help your child learn. 

If you are eager to get your little one learning then you may want to enter this competition to win the entire Wild About Learning Set. That includes the My First Microscope, The Magnifying Glass and Tweezer Set and the Bug Viewing Tub.

For your chance to win, Enter on the Gleam App Below. 

Win a Set of Wild About Learning Toys Inc a Kids Micrscope