Photo Courtesy: Gizmodo.com
When I was a child, I was beyond thrilled when I received a microscope for my birthday. “Finally,” I thought, “I can be the scientist I’ve always dreamed of being my entire seven years of existence.” Six months later, exit microscope, insert Cabbage Patch Kids.
I imagine today’s youth have similar interests when it comes to scientific experiments. The difference, however, is the plethora of choices they have for devices to add to their birthday wish list. Case in point, a quick search of “science and discovery” on ToysRUs.com returns a list of over 1100 items. I can’t say for certain how many items were available when I was a child, but I’m guessing it was less than 1100.
Launching a New Idea
If you are looking for a unique gift idea for your scientific squirt these days, I advise taking a look at shuttling down the rental path instead of purchasing something that may quickly lose its appeal. Sound like I’m off my axis? I’m not. Kickstarter company, NanoSatisfi, will soon be offering satellite rentals to anyone of most any age and for most any experimental purpose. Interested? Read more about renting a satellite in the full story on The Verge.
In the meantime, I’m going to perfect my comeback of, “Oh yeah? Well, back in my day, I had to walk barefoot 5 miles up a hill in the snow to get home from school just so I could spend my evening conducting fake scientific experiments with some store-bought microscope. Those were some rough times.”
