All About Microscopes for Kids — with Free Printables

Using microscopes with kids — whether at home or in the classroom — is a lot of fun. It’s always cool to see how amazed they are by the things you can see under a microscope that you wouldn’t know were there otherwise. Just a drop of water from a nearby pond or creek can be full of interesting things to observe.

Entry-level microscopes for classroom or home use tend to be both durable and easy to use so they’re great for kids. You can choose plastic or metal models with various ranges of magnification. They often come with sample slides and other fun stuff for kids to explore.

This National Geographic branded microscope, for example, has large knobs that are easy for kids to manipulate. It magnifies up to 400 times and includes specimens from plants, rocks and minerals, as well as empty slides and the tools kids need to collect their own specimens. There’s also a lab guide full of activities for them to try.

If you like a more traditional microscope like the ones you might have used growing up, try this one from AmScope. It has up to 1200 times magnification and weighs less than three pounds. It includes everything you need to hatch and observe brine shrimp, as well as prepared and blank slides and supplies to collect specimens. It also includes a hard sided carrying case.

Whatever microscope you choose, be sure to grab our free printable microscope activity set. This set includes parts of the microscope (labeled and with labels for the student to add), a word search, writing page and several sheets for drawing observations from under the microscope. You can grab the printables from our online shop.

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Easy Ideas for Water Play with Kids

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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