Everything is inside the box in a plastic insert, which can be used for storage afterwards, although realistically it's a big box and these are handy pocket-sized items which my son has instead stored in his treasure drawer. The Binoculars, Compass and Microscope all have a carry strap with a safety release, so you are less likely to have to pick them out of the mud when on explorations.
The Binoculars are a lovely weight, easy to focus and come complete with their own mini compass, which I love. It's a multi-tool for kids. I'm not entirely sure how effective the compass is alas, because it doesn't always face North however careful I am. There are rubber grips for comfort during those long hours spying on your brother in the garden...
The Binoculars fold and are just small enough for a pocket on an 8 year old's raincoat or jacket. They have 30mm Objective Lenses and 4 x magnification eyepieces. This is adequate for watching the birds in our garden trees and it means that although you won't see very far with clarity, your child can learn to use binoculars without constantly getting messed up and out of focus.
The Field Microscope is very well-designed. It has a fairly low magnification, but plenty enough to look at the surface of anything when you are 10. At the bottom is a wide base which is shaped to prevent the child hitting the object with the lens and a bright LED light powered by 3x LR44 batteries (which are included).
I'm really impressed with this, and so are my children. It's been very well-used. We've examined everything, including our own hair!
Here we have a plain looking tree leaf and a dried autumnal tree leaf from our garden, my son's hair and a close up of the lines printed on our table!
The Notebook and Pencil are very cute and a good addition for children of this age, who are interested in recording their discoveries. They could have sharpened the pencil though - everyone knows pencil sharpeners go to that secret hiding place with the odd socks and only reappear when you don't need them.
The Compass is actually a really nice children's compass. It's a good size and is beautifully free-moving, with a plastic case, It doesn't have a pin, the entire compass face turns, so children can easily see which way is which. It seems to work pretty well and is reliable.
The Discovery Young Explorer Kit is a really nice set. It's plastic, but not cheaply made and it's very light and compact, so perfect for a child's bag or pockets. The scopes and other items are sturdy enough to survive a few drops, and effective enough that they are definitely well worth carrying.
The Discovery Young Explorer Kit is available now £19.99rrp from the Science or STEM Toys area of all good toyshops, including online at Amazon*. To find out more about the Discovery range of STEM toys for children, see the Trends UK website.
If you enjoy STEM, you might like my very easy 5 minute STEM activities.
Trends UK have kindly offered one of these sets as a prize, so that one of my readers could become a Young Explorer too! Entry to the giveaway ended at midnight Sunday 21st October.
For a link to a Gleam 'how-to' or to see my current UK giveaways, take a look at my Giveaways Page...
We were sent our Young Explorer Kit for review. *Amazon links are affiliate, which means I earn a few pence if you buy through my link, but you don't pay any more. It's a thank you for taking the time to add the link, but sadly will never make me wealthy.
I would like to examine small insects with my microscope and I would watch birds with the binoculars.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to examine leaves with my microscope - I love that some are furry and I think the veins and colours are wonderful! I would you peep at the birdies who visit out birdhouse for food with my binoculars! I saw a robin this morning....it's beginning to feel alot like Christmas!....
ReplyDeleteWith the microscope flowers
ReplyDeleteWith the binoculars the stars
this would be fab for our trips to our local rspb, the binoculars would be great for spotting different birds and we could take samples of leaves or even feathers to look at under the microscope x
ReplyDeleteLove to look closer at slugs - they fascinate me ( microscope)
ReplyDeleteBinoculars - we have lots of birds in a huge tree in the garden - would love to see what they constantly chatter about
ReplyDeleteI think it would be fun to examine some different foods with the microscope.
ReplyDeleteWe often have deer in the field by our house and we could peep at them with the binoculars!
we would take the binoculars bird watching, my daughter said rather randomly she would like to see food under the microscope
ReplyDeleteThe binoculars would be used to look at the birds around my garden and the microscope would be used for looking at grains of food, such as sugar and flour.
ReplyDeleteI would like to examine a wing of a fly under the microscope and a robin in the tree with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteI’d examine insects and bugs and I would use the binoculars to spy on hubby in the garage
ReplyDeleteWith the Microscope would like to look at a fly and with binoculars the sky
ReplyDeletei would examine some bugs, dont know what i would use the binoculars for x
ReplyDeletei would peep at the sky
ReplyDeleteWhat would you like to examine with your microscope . . . . blood to see what it really looks like
ReplyDeleteand what would you peep at with the binoculars? . . . . . birds in flight
I would look at mini beasts and spy on my neighbours who I recently caught in my garden with a chainsaw cutting down my shrubs!
ReplyDeleteWith the microscope a hair
ReplyDeleteWith the binnoculars birds
Ants. I love they way they work endlessley.
ReplyDeleteI would love to use the microscope to examine skin and see what's there lol! I'd use the binoculars to view the night sky, I think!
ReplyDeleteI'd examine bugs and use the binoculars for bird watching.
ReplyDeleteI would like to examine hair and blood samples
ReplyDeletemy dogs hair just out of interest and bit of birdwatching
ReplyDeletelook at Skin and ladybirds
ReplyDeleteWe've been talking about cells in the body recently so I think we'd use the microscope to look at hair and skin cells. We would use the binoculars to identify birds.
ReplyDeleteInsects and flowers with the microscope and looking at clouds with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteWe would like to look at creepy crawlies under the microscope and look for bats with our binoculars!
ReplyDeleteants, as i bet they look great when close up. i would watch the stars with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteThe fungi growing in my garden and I love to watch our blackbird eating the berries
ReplyDeleteWe'd love to examine our hair under the microscope and the binoculars would be great for watching the birds and squirrels in our garden
ReplyDeleteI would use the microscope to look at insects and the binoculars to look at the stars (or maybe to spy on the neighbours!)
ReplyDeletewe would love to examine little bugs and would spy on the birds in the garden
ReplyDeleteid love to watch birds with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteThe bugs in our back garden under the microscope & the birds in the forest behind our house with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteI'd look at bread and butter with the microscope and birds in the garden with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteMy son would be really excited about the compass, he loves exploring the woods and following directions. He would kook up at the trees with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteI would love to examine creepy crawlies with the microscope and look at birds with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteI would like to look at tiny bugs under the microscope and pleen too!
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to see what an eye lash looks like zoomed in & the birds with the binoculars.
ReplyDeleteI think my daughter would like close up views of an interesting rock and the moon.
ReplyDeleteHawks with my binoculars, and woodlice with the microscope!
ReplyDeleteWe would use the microscope for looking closely at everyday stuff such as bread, dust, insects and randomly a scab apparently! We would use the binoculars for looking at wildlife and transport
ReplyDeleteWith the microscope insects like an ant or ladybird
ReplyDeleteWith the binoculars the stars
I think I'd look at flowers close up with the microscope. I'd go birdwatching with the binoculars or spy on my cat Mia who often bird watches x
ReplyDeleteI would look at the busy ants with the microscope and I would love to see the view from the top of the mountain with the binoculars.
ReplyDeleteI would like to look at insects under the microscope and the stars with the binoculars.
ReplyDeleteI’d love to examin flowers up closely under a microscope their so intricate and delicate love to see them close ups and I’d love to go bird spotting with the binoculars
ReplyDeleteWith the microscope we would look at the different types of beetles
ReplyDeleteWith the binoculars we would look at the Birds
I would examine leaves with the microscope, and peep at the birds in my gardenwith the binoculars
ReplyDeleteI would examine bird feathers and would peep at the birds in the trees behind my garden.
ReplyDelete