Our daughter checking out a leaf with her pocket microscope.

Today’s ‘Favorite Thing Friday’ is actually a gift that I picked up for our 5 year-old daughter.  A few weekends ago I gave her a Carson Microbrite pocket microscope so she could explore the world around her.  I was going to be out of town for a few days and thought this little gift would give her something special to do while I was gone.  I had picked up the pocket microscope several months earlier on Amazon and had it stashed away for a special day.

My wife said that our daughter carried her pocket microscope everywhere that day.  She explored around the house looking at all sorts of things.  She then went out in the backyard looking at plants, bugs, chicken feathers…you name it.  Later she even went next door to my parent’s house and explored over there for a while. I believe that it is essential to feed the desire that we were created with to learn and explore.

My parents had bought a pocket microscope for me when I was a kid and I loved it!  I can see in my daughter the same curiosity that I had as a kid and still have today.  Before I left on my trip, we learned that all the beautiful printed pictures that we see in our books are actually made up of tiny dots of different colors.  She was amazed!

I purchased the Carson Microbrite because it was very affordable, under $10, and because of the good reviews it had on Amazon.  Remember, you get what you pay for.  At $10 you shouldn’t be expecting to see much more than a highly magnified version of what the eye can see.  Leaves are really cool to look at since you can see the vein structure and some of the finer detail.  Bugs are fun to look at if you can get them to stay still.  The Microbrite comes with some little slides that can hold specimens for observation.

The Carson Microbrite pocket microscope.

The pocket microscope is easy for small hands to operate.  There is a button that can be held down that turns on a little LED light to provide ideal viewing.  The Carson pocket microscope is made of plastic so it is super light, but feels pretty sturdy for a plastic object.  There is an easy to operate lever that fixes focus and a ring that can zoom from 20-40x magnification.  The magnified image is full, clear and bright when viewed through the pocket microscope.

Adults might find the pocket microscope handy to have around the house.  I have used ours to look at the faded maker’s mark on some antique glass I was selling online.  There are all sort of things we work with from time to time that could use a closer look.

I like anything that encourages exploration of the world around us.  Young minds are eager to learn and explore.  Finding things to look at through the Carson pocket microscope opens up a whole new world of exploration for our daughter.  This neat little tool allows a better glimpse into the things that man has made and the world that God has created.

Thanks for taking a look at my quick post today.  Remember that my ‘Favorite Things Friday’ posts are items that I have purchased that I found useful and thought you might too.  I have posted a link to the Carson Microbrite in my Amazon Affiliate account in the column to the right.  If you’re thinking about getting one for your family, use my link to get the best price and I’ll get a little cut for referring you.

Several people asked why there was no goal update on Monday?  I didn’t realize that anyone was serious enough about my goal updates to miss them for a week.  My post on Monday about how I make (and lose) money online turned out to be so long that I decided it shouldn’t be made any longer with a goal update.  Plus last week was a bad week for my goals 🙂

My painted and complete treadmill desk.

As the Spring schedule picks up, it has been a bit more challenging to eat well.  Last week was just not a good week and we’ll leave it at that.  This week has been much better.  It is interesting to note that my wife being out of town part of this week actually made me plan out eating and meals very carefully.  I wanted to make sure the girls and I had healthy meals in the house since I would be on my own for a while.  The only bad thing I’ve done this week was a stop at In n’ Out Burger with the teens from church on a ‘mystery road trip’ yesterday.  One meal of junk food falls well within my goals.  I also accomplished a new feat on the treadmill desk this week.  Tuesday morning I walked and worked 8.3 miles before lunch.  Some days I don’t even make it to 8 miles, so accomplishing this before lunch was a big deal.  I continue to love walking and working at my homemade treadmill desk.