Microscope for Peyton's Birthday

/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #1  

EddieWalker

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We've been all over the place on what to get Peyton for his 9th birthday. I was thinking of a dirt bike or dune buggy, but finally agreed with my wife that he's too young for this. It's not just his age, but the knowledge of who he is and what we realize will probably happen.

Since that decision, we've been bouncing off ideas of what to get him. A few weeks ago, I came up with the idea of a microscope. Steph thought it was a foolish idea, but I really liked it. I did some research on them and found Amazon.com to be very helpful with the reviews of different brands.

Amazon.com: My First Lab Microscope: Office Products

This is the model that I wanted, so then I did a search for it on Ebay. I found it there for $37 less. I boughti it there and received it this week.

Peyton opened it yesterday with his other gifts and was very excited to try it out. Since then, he's spent all his free time looking through it, hunting for new things to look at and creating slides. Steph found some sample slides, blank slides and all sorts of assesories for it.

We've looked at dozens and dozens of things, but found Rotifer in some water from the bird bath to be the most interesting. Searches online have shown detailed descriptions of them. What's really cool is that you can see right through them and their internal organs moving around. It's very interesting and fun to see!!!

In case somebody else is wondering about a neat gift for their kids, I wanted to recomend this to you. It's of a good quality with very clear lenses. It has 4x, 10x and 40x. The controls are precise and easy to use. The light is bright and there is a wheel that allows you to change the amount of light that comes through for brighter or dimmer viewings. It even came with an extra bulb.

Eddie
 

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/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #2  
Oh my gosh a microscope brings back so many memories!

What a great gift Eddie! Peyton will love it for years I bet.

I remember the one my brother and I had came in a little case and you had to reflect light off a mirror as there was no bulb on them at that time.

Awesome!
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #3  
microscopes offer visions into entirely new worlds...super gift idea!

I have a few of these that I keep handy...not exactly a microscope but they are great...more like a microscope than a magnifying glass

30X ILLUMINATED POCKET MAGNIFIER MAGNIFYING GLASS
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #4  
We have all kinds of rocks and crystals(well, your familiar with the Gold Country). They are pretty cool to look at.

Bugs are too... A bee looks a lot different up close.
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #6  
Excellent gift. Now you can start shopping for a nice telescope and he will have the whole universe covered. :D
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #7  
Eddie, that's a great indoor gift for all the times the weather is too bad to go outside. Now, you'll have to get Peyton a video eyepiece so he can hook the microscope to the TV and everyone can share the view.

Video Eyepiece
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #8  
Good Afternoon Eddie,
That was a great idea !!!

Peyton looks very interested in what Steph is looking at in those pics !

I had one as a kid, Im sure nothing as nice as that unit, but I had lots of fun with it just the same ! :)

Of course, I was also the same kid that accidentally lit off a smoke bomb in my parents basement on thanksgiving many years ago also..... :eek:


Im sure he will enjoy it for many years, especially when the weather is not so good !
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #9  
I had a microscope when I was a kid, and I thought it was a blast. Now I have a nice Millipore Stereo microscope, 10x eyepiece and 4x, 10x, 20x & 40x objective lens. Pretty neat stuff!
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #10  
I got a microscope as a kid. I surprising liked it. :D But it only had the reflecting mirror as well.

I did get a bunch of slide that had different blood to compare. If he got the slide making kit maybe he can collect some deer, pig or whatever gets hunted blood.

Later,
Dan
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #11  
I agree with you Eddie, it is a great gift and while she is at school you can use it. I keep saying that I am going to get one for myself, but I never do. There are too many to choose form.
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #12  
I got one too when I was a kid. I don't know whatever happened to it with all the moving we did as I was growing up. Father was in the military. I have a much better one now, which I enjoy and use from time to time. Now, I have been searching for a good dual optic dissecting scope. A microscope is one of the best things I remember getting besides a BB gun. And he will too, I think in his later years.

On the practical side...wait till Peyton learns how to check you and the dogs for worms with the microscope. And that's all I'm a goin' to say about that...
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday
  • Thread Starter
#13  
His birthday was Oct 30th, and today is the first time that he's decided to put it away. We just found a place in his room for it where it will be safe and out of the way. He handles it like it's very delicate, which it is, but still nice to see him taking the extra degree of caution with it.

He has been using it every day since the day he got it. He said he's just putting it away for now to help clean up the kitchen, where it's been set up. I'm curious to see how long he lets it sit. And how long until he finds some new samples to look at.

For me, I like the sample collecting the best. It's when we go around the land and find things that we never noticed before.

Eddie
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #14  
It's a great gift, but you have to be careful, I got one for my oldest daughter when she was about your son's age and she's now working on her PHD in biology.
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #15  
If it did not come with one, put a cover over it. It could be as simple as a small plastic bag. After every use...

Few things are worse for a microscope that dust ect from sitting out.

And, don't let the eyepiece get dirty. If it gets gunky, the gunk is right there next to your eyeball...

I took care of 25 or so microscopes in the lab I used to work in. They were dirty from use and sitting out. After having a microscope company service them, we kept them clean and covered. Made a HUGE difference. Of course, ours were a little more expensive, starting at about $1k and up to over $20k.

today is the first time that he's decided to put it away. We just found a place in his room for it where it will be safe and out of the way. He handles it like it's very delicate, which it is, but still nice to see him taking the extra degree of caution with it.
 
/ Microscope for Peyton's Birthday #16  
It's a great gift, but you have to be careful, I got one for my oldest daughter when she was about your son's age and she's now working on her PHD in biology.

Good for her, but that was a really expensive microscope I'll bet :D
Dave.
 

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