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.

Leif Erikson Day is celebrated on Oct. 9, and it’s a great time to learn more about the Vikings and why we still remember Erikson all these years later.

If you don’t know about Leif Erikson (sometimes spelled Eriksson), he’s believed to have been born in Iceland, and is considered the first European to set foot on continental America, more than 500 years before Christopher Columbus.

123 Homeschool 4 Me has a printable mini book about Leif Erikson and the Vikings for kids to read and color. It talks about who the Vikings were, what kind of ships they used, how they got to America and more. It’s a good overview for younger kids to use.

A good unit study is available from Simple Living Creative Learning, which includes a page where kids can write what they know, what they want to learn and what they learned through the unit, as well as information on the Vikings, longships, helmets, clothing and more.

Get a printable Viking unit study with reading passages, comprehension questions and other activities aimed at grades 4-8 from Creative Classroom Core at Teachers Pay Teachers. (And see more Vikings content from TPT here.)

Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus has some great unit study ideas, too, including suggested books and videos. The post includes information about the Viking voyages, society, mythology and ships, as well as some vocabulary and a list of famous Vikings. While you’re over there also check out her free printable lapbook, which includes mini books on ships, a timeline, a Viking women coloring page, draw your own Vikings, geography, ancient runes and more.

Piqolo Kids has a lesson on Viking women with (available for purchase) worksheets about a day in the life of Viking women. Even if you don’t grab the printables there’s some good resources on that page and a link to a video on Viking women.

Learn how to draw a Viking ship with instructions from Drawing How to Draw, or grab Vikings coloring and labeling worksheets from Kids Puzzles and Games.

There’s a Leif Erikson Festival annually in Norway, Michigan, which you can learn more about here.

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