Camp Chaos- science gear advice for a curious kid
July 5, 2024 7:03 AM   Subscribe

Happy Summer everyone! I failed to plan the summer very well so I’m the entertainment and camp counselor for my kid for the next 2 months. Lil Catrae is a 10 year old with a deep love for science. We will be in the Catskills for part of the summer and I want to do science activities with her. I need advice for kid friendly yet quality gear (not toys) that I can order quickly and won’t break the bank.

I’m interested in recommendations for a microscope that can possibly hooked up to a laptop or iPad for imaging. Maybe a place to get slides and pétri dishes and things like that. We want to look at pond water, moss, snake scales, insects etc.

Also we would like some binoculars for our hikes- any favorites? There is an owl that lives next to us that we want to observe as well.

Lastly a telescope! We can’t really see the stars in NYC so it would be super cool to spend some time with the cosmos while in the mountains.

So hit me up with suggestions for places that sell quality science and optical gear that a serious science nerd kid could use for the next few years and not grow out of.
posted by catrae to Science & Nature (9 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: The Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley is a good online source of science toys, I've found. I bought my kid a telescope there among other things.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:13 AM on July 5, 2024


Best answer: You should hand lens for $10-$20, eg a doublet like this. Other important tools for field biologists include a nice bucket and a net. The iNaturalist app is what most scientists use to record observations and get help with ID. Seek uses the same technology and is more aimed at casual users.

Microscopes can be fun but they can also be a highly disappointing pain in the ass. For kids that age, the important thing to communicate is that science is primarily a method and mindset used to understand the world. To that end, I'd also recommend Temple Grandin's book for kids, The Outdoor Scientist, which talks about that stuff and has dozens of fun activities.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:44 AM on July 5, 2024 [3 favorites]


The Vortex Bantam are great binoculars for beginners. They are listed as being for youth but honestly I think they are great for adults as well. I bought mine from the local Bird Alliance nature stores (fka as Portland Audubon) and have been delighted!
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:18 AM on July 5, 2024


I'm also a home science summer camp parent this summer! In case other science activity ideas are helpful -

- When I was a kid I made a net out of pantyhose on a coat hanger attached to a broomstick, and my parents got me a large old fish tank from a garage sale, which we kept on a shady picnic table in the yard. I took a bucket to the creek and scooped up snails, water bugs, plants, rocks, etc. I quickly established a whole little ecosystem in the tank, which was absolutely riveting - I spent many hours watching it. I quickly learned to tell from the water's murkiness when I needed to quickly add more plants, fresh creek water, etc to help it balance. (Note that tadpoles, or too many minnows, will die in a tank like this, as they metabolize too much food, oxygen, and poop for a small stagnant volume of water. But lots of snails, a tiny crayfish, and just a couple of small minnows should do well!) My tank stayed happy and vibrant all summer and then I dumped everybody back into the creek.

- We listened to a fun episode of the podcast Tumble where 2 kids with a scientist dad did an experiment in the Galapagos (!) and got a paper published. My kid was into it so we're now doing our own experiment and writing up the results as a paper. Ours is whether sunflower seeds will grow best in a pot of soil, coffee grounds, or a mix of the two (which he hilariously called "Twist" like a soft serve ice cream). We record observations every few days which involves me writing and him drawing.

- We were gifted the game Circuit Maze which is SO COOL. Turing Tumble looks great too.

- An old phone for taking photos of natural finds might be fun.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 9:46 AM on July 5, 2024 [1 favorite]


Consider making some cyanotypes, if you’re interested in the botany of where you are (like Anna Atkins). The chemical kits are very cheap, most art stores have them.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 4:51 PM on July 5, 2024 [1 favorite]


Get topographic maps for the area, teach her how to read them, and use them to map your hikes. She can also draw copies of the maps and create a record of plants, animals, rocks, geological features, microclimates, bodies of water, and more.
posted by mareli at 7:26 PM on July 5, 2024 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thank you for the cool activity suggestions! I’m definitely going to try some of those out and I loved the story about making your own tiny ecosystem nouvelle-personne! I marked the two answers that gave advice about optical gear as best answers as I am still on the hunt specifically for instruments to purchase to extend the visual world (tiny, far away etc) and perhaps be able to capture things digitally. Thank you guys!
posted by catrae at 6:57 AM on July 6, 2024


Try and get a whole fish, which has not been gutted or processed and dissect that.

Take photographs with your phone and look at them closely. You'll see things in a still image that you won't notice with your eyes, like moisture beading, companion plants, patterns in decay and so on. They can be compared to printed images that describe the parts of the plant, or plant diseases, or books or images that identify silhouettes of birds.

Some good books or websites on botany, biology and ecology would be well worth it. You may want to buy these only after you get on site, and have an idea of exactly what is around your summer location. If you are having a damp summer in the shady woods and find the area is full of fungus a mycology book will be much more useful than if your spend your outdoor time in a windy field looking at meadow flowers and cloud formations because the woods are too full of mosquitoes.

Biology colouring books can be fun for evenings when you are not on field trips. Or just print some colouring pages. Provide coloured pencils so the images do not get obliterated. These books are sold for university level as well as for kids.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:54 AM on July 6, 2024


Best answer: Telescopes can be finicky and frustrating to use, particularly for kids. I’d recommend instead a good pair of astronomy binoculars - more portable, easier to use, and a good set will show you more than a low end telescope. Bonus can be used during the day for birds, animals, etc.

Here’s a good article with some recommendations: https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/best-binoculars-for-astronomy
posted by les34 at 1:18 PM on July 7, 2024


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