This big, colorful microscope was designed specifically to enable young kids to have successful microscopic viewing experiences, and to be a fun tool for early biological investigations. The 8x magnification power is appropriate for this age group, who often have trouble adjusting their eyes to see images at higher powers. The extra wide eyepiece and battery powered, light-up slide stage also make viewing images through the microscope easy. The microscope comes with a unique slide holder, 24 printed slides, and one blank slide. Each printed slide features one object at three magnification levels, so kids can relate a recognizable object, like a feather or bee, with two different magnified images of the object. The 72 slide images give kids a lot of things to investigate. The 32-page, full-color manual is set up as an illustrated storybook, making it fun for adults and children to read together, while also instructing them how to use the microscope. As you read the story, you can find the slides of the objects that appear in the story and view them through the microscope. The blank slide can be used to view other objects at 8x magnification. This introductory series of lessons is designed to give kids an effective and fun introduction to microscopy and microscopic biology. The manual explains the parts of the microscope, how to use it, and gives scientific explanations of the images on the printed slides. Observe biological specimens from animals like a feather, skin, hair, dragonfly wing, and fly eye; biological specimens from plants like a mushroom spore, kiwi seed, lichen, pollen in honey, and flower stamen; and other specimens from everyday life like table salt, sugar, and a zipper. For ages 4 and up. WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD - Small Parts. Not for children under 3yrs.