Talking Microscope

By Thin Air Brands
Price $39.99
Age 3+ yrs.

This beautifully-executed educational toy held a great deal of wonder for youngsters while serving to seriously pique their interest in science. Attractive and playful in appearance but modeled after the design and functionality of real lab equipment, the Talking Microscope comes with 20 prepared slides, each of which contains three related specimen images including sharks, toads, scorpions, mushrooms, Venus flytraps and much more. When placed in the viewing area, the microscope's audio feature correctly identifies the slide's specimen aloud and offers the option of exploring further in Knowledge Mode, which verbally provides fascinating facts about the chosen slide, or Quiz Mode, which asks questions kids respond to using buttons on the microscope's keypad. Since the quiz questions relate to information heard for that same specimen in Knowledge Mode, kids frequently move back and forth between modes, soaking up facts before enjoyably testing their absorption and recall. Further enhancing the fun and learning is the inclusion of a 23-page manual that provides color images for all 60 specimens along with the microscope's audio content for each specimen written out on the pages.