THE FAMILY GIFT GUIDE

He used to ask for the tablet. Now he asks to go outside.

Finally, something that beats the screens.

Miss SarahBy Miss Sarah, after teaching kindergarten for fifteen years
A boy lying on the lawn, looking at a leaf through a pocket microscopeAn ant through the microscope

Remember when kids played outside until someone called them in for dinner?

This is the gift that brings that back. One look through the Miniscope and the backyard turns into the most exciting place they know. The tablet can wait.

The pocket microscope on a kitchen table next to a leaf and a dish of salt

Miniscope

A real microscope that turns the backyard into an adventure.

$29.90 $59.90 50% off

Get the Miniscope at 50% off

60 days to get your money back

Where would you rather see them?

A boy slumped on the couch staring at a tablet
A boy lying on the sidewalk with a pocket microscope pressed to the concrete

Ants, leaves, dirt, the cat's whiskers. Everything turns into something to look at, and they come running back in to show you.

Every walk turns into an expedition

A girl holding a pocket microscope to a leaf on a hedge

A leaf on the hedge, a ladybug on the fence. Each one is a little world of its own, so they keep looking for the next one.

Easy enough to use on their own

A boy laughs as he looks at salt through a pocket microscope at the kitchen table

They hold it against something and peek through the top. That's all it takes, so they can explore without a grown-up hovering.

It fits in a coat pocket

A boy at the park with a pocket microscope in his hand and his grandmother beside him

It comes along on every walk and every trip to the park, and it still works in the shade.

Good to know: It ships within 24 hours. If it isn't a hit, you have 60 days to send it back for your money, minus shipping.

What they find through it

Grains of salt, magnified
The cells of a leaf, magnified
A butterfly wing, magnified
A flower petal, magnified

Give them something better than another screen

A gift that gets them outside and keeps them curious all year.

$29.90 $59.90 50% off

Get the Miniscope at 50% off

60 days to get your money back

Shopping for more than one grandchild? Two Miniscopes are $49.90 and three are $64.90, so nobody has to take turns.

About the authorMiss Sarah taught kindergarten in Ohio public schools for six years, then trained as a Montessori guide. Fifteen years in toddler and primary classrooms so far. She runs weekend parent workshops from a studio above her garage outside Columbus, has a granddaughter who turned four in March, and writes these guides for the grandparents and parents who ask her the same question every November: what should I actually buy. More about Miss Sarah →