Today regular contributor, Ali Wright of At Home With Ali, shares a simple DIY tutorial for making a super cool mini microscope with kids.
My kids love the unexpected and this simple microscope made from a plastic cup delivers just that. I actually saw these microscopes being made by Girl Guides at a recent event my 7 year old attended. The children were all fascinated by these simple microscopes. With access to all sorts of crazy computer-based fun these days, I love that kids get so excited by making something themselves that they can use. My daughter took her microscope home and her little sister was as equally fascinated with it. So I thought that you might also like to give it a go. It is super easy.
Down to the nuts and bolts of making your microscope. The materials you need are:
- A plastic cup
- Cling wrap
- Rubber band
- And some interesting specimens to look at
And this is how you make a microscope:
1. Using the scissors cut a hole in the bottom of the plastic cup. This does not have to be neat – it is simply an access point to get your specimens into the bottom of the cup.
2. Stretch a piece of cling wrap over the top of the cup and secure it with a rubber band.
3. Find a specimen and place it through your cut-out hole in the bottom of the cup.
4. Pour a little water on top of the cling wrap – ideally you want a small pool of water.
5. Look at your specimen through the water. The water acts as a lens and makes your specimen look larger. This is the wow moment!!!
6. Find more specimens and look at them. You will probably have to keep adding water to the top of the cup as it will spill over.
This microscope is best used outside because of the water spillage. Getting outdoors with your microscope also gives you easy access to lots of nature based specimens.
I hope you have fun with this simple microscope – it is perfect for kids big and small.