I-explore Scope 

"We home school, and this was recommended to us as a first microscope. It is invaluable. We take it to the park and look at all kinds of things on field trips."

Amazon Customer

"I ordered this scope shortly after my daughter's third birthday to help feed her curiosity about the world around her. As a laboratory professional who has used microscopes in real-world conditions, I must say I am quite pleased with this product. The optics are excellent, especially considering the price; and the microscope body, while not quite industrial-strength, seems sturdy enough to hold up under normal parent-supervised use by all ages. I also like the fact that the objective light is an LED, which allows for long battery life. So-called dissecting scopes such as this item are one of the best instruments of scientific exploration that a child can have. The magnification is sufficient to reveal amazing detail in everyday objects (try having a look at your own fingerprint, or the compound eye of any dead bug you find around the house). And the benefit is that any item can be tossed on the stage for quick inspection without having to be cut or compressed onto a slide. A binocular head also improves the experience by providing a true 3D view. In short, I can't recommend this scope enough, and haven't seen anything comparable out there for the price!"

Amazon Customer

"I bought this scope for my 4 year old after buying the duo-scope for my 5 year old. Being a physician, I like love exploring science with my kids. This scope was really surprising. The construction is solid, it is easy to focus, the optics are sound but most importantly, the kids love to use it. Anything can be thrown under the scope and a whole new world is available to them. We have looked at leaves, dead bugs, hair, moss, anything they want. At first I kept it put away for fear they would damage it but it is well enough built, I can leave it out. I often find them looking at all manner of things under it on their own. Highly recommend it."

Amazon Customer

"Got this for my daughter's 5th birthday and it PERFECT for a budding scientist. We have this set up in our school room and both kids love looking at various things with it. The first week we had it, it was hard to tell who enjoyed it more, me or the kids. Perfect for younger kids, and big ones too."

Amazon Customer

"This has inspired hours of child-led learning. My kids have really enjoyed this over the past year. It is portable, and has been with us to the park and on field trips. We have had a great time looking everything from snowflakes to geodes. It is easy to use, and with a little practice we can even take pictures through the lens."

Luci Faucher

"We have been looking at all kinds of everyday objects in the scope, and this unit gets a big high-five for having TWO eyepieces. These make viewing so much better! I love the 20x magnification; it's high enough for looking at details like fingerprint ridges on your fingertips -- the ridges look so tall under magnification! I think that's a great learning experience for young kids who are just learning to understand that things are not always visible and that you can't miss the details in life. This unit is easy to use, it's highly portable (no cord), and it works brilliantly -- great clarity of detail. No complaints. I would recommend this unit to anyone looking for a starter scope."

Amazon Customer

"I've had several of my children ask for microscopes for birthdays or Christmas. They're a frustrating gift to buy because kids don't want to prepare slides or look at one cell width of an onion. They want to look at things really close up. That's why this microscope is so fantastic. You can put just about anything underneath it and look at it in detail. And you don't have to worry about keeping one eye closed (which is harder than you might think for kids to do). Both eyes see through the microscope together. This has been used a million times at our house vs. the traditional microscopes which just sit on the shelf collecting dust because they have such a narrow use. I can't recommend it enough."

J. Westenhaver

"My grandsons (3, 6, 8) absolutely adore this! Best gift I have EVER BOUGHT. They capture bugs and bring them to their big microscope, they have learned to focus. These boys were SCARED of bugs! I live in the country but my little ones were city boys, and I was worried about their disinterest in Nature. Problem solved! They are young naturalists now, and I am the coolest Nana ever."

Amazon Customer

"I've used a couple of these scopes in summer programs for kids over the past 3 or 4 years. The optics are clear and it provides a 20x 3d stereo image with reasonable depth. In our summer programs we have used it to look at critters that live in river and pond water and in soil. This little scope opens a window on the world for kid or adult--a window that might just introduce to them to scientific curiosity in a way that classroom activities cannot. It is definitely worth it."

Amazon Customer

"I am a pathologist, which means I use microscopes for a living, and I recommend this to any parent who wants an introductory scope for a child, age 5-12. Compound scopes, which transmit light through a slide on a stage, have disadvantages in this age group - 1) to get decent optics you really have to spend more than a couple hundred dollars; the cheap ones are just a disappointment, 2) you have to buy slides to have things to look at, because it is hard to create your own slices of things that are thin enough to see through, and you don't have the means to stain them at home, and 3) the view is better with two eyepieces but that gets very expensive with a compound scope. This product is a stereoscope, which means there are two powerful magnifying lenses pointed at your subject. Having two eyepieces means you can see the object in 3 dimensions, with depth perception. The object sits on a platform, which can be reversed to a black field if your object is light in color, and a small LED provides the light source (battery powered). You can put anything on here and see it at high magnification, in good detail - the optics are great for the price. For example, bugs, leaves, rocks, circuit boards, even living things like worms or pond bugs in water. It's very kid friendly, no preparation needed, just find something interesting and put it on the stage."

Amazon Customer