If you are a parent, you would understand how toys can take up too much space in your home. However, the LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope (opens in a new tab) impressed me. The fully-functioning microscope with a 2.4-inch screen camera is not your typical toy. It retails for $89.99 and can magnify up to 200 times for a better view of the samples. But, that’s not all.
This toy has a unique feature. It has buttons that kids can use to play educational games and access preloaded content from the BBC. It comes with eight double-sided smart slides that have various samples, including minerals, plant material, and human cells. The smart slides are like memory cards. They do not contain actual samples, but they offer themed content for kids to access.
Continuous use of the microscope as a regular in the toy box just shows how impressive it is.
If you’re wondering if this toy is worth your investment, read on for a detailed review.
With the LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope, kids can learn science while playing with toys.
Credit: SaVanna Shoemaker / Mashable
What Kids Like about It
Children would enjoy playing with the LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope. My first-grader who loves science was particularly impressed by the toy. He loved the adventure games and the slides packed with samples that matched his interests. The smart slides came with titles like Flying Insects, Parts of an Animal, Crawlers, Micro-Animals, and Human Cells.
He is also into Minecraft and has an interest in minerals. He practically screamed when he found out that one of the smart slides had gold samples in it. He kept shouting, “GOOOLD! Mom, they have GOLD!”
One of the essential features of this toy is that it works effectively. It has two empty slides, one flat slide(used for flat or liquid samples), and one tray-style slide (used for small objects like beads). It also has the illuminator for objects that do not need samples. Can we agree that it is impressive for a sub-$100 microscope toy?
The versatility and durability of the microscope made it a regular toy in our toy box, regardless of owning the toy for a few weeks.
What Parents Like about It
There is a lot to love about the LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope, especially when it comes to educational content. The microscope has preloaded images installed in the smart slides that kids can explore with. Kids can zoom in and out of the image and find prompts that offer information about the slide. There are also videos on the slides for kids to watch.
Furthermore, it offers kids an excellent opportunity to learn while inspecting samples that they collect. The microscope is also durable, which makes it reliable when kids are playing with it roughly.
However, the tool does have a few cons. One would be the lack of built-in storage for slides, making it easy to misplace them, as in our case. Besides that, we would love to see more smart slides with different themes in the future.
Young kids can learn a lot about science with the LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope.
Credit: SaVanna Shoemaker / Mashable
Should You Buy It?
Overall, the LeapFrog Magic Adventures Microscope is an excellent toy for kids and worth the purchase. It’s a great gift for kids who love science, and the opportunity to learn while playing with toys offers vast learning opportunities. Besides that, it is durable and reliable, making it a great toy for kids of all ages.
