Giant Microbes Gifts Us Cuddly Viruses and Plush Toy Contagions

It's easy to imagine a scenario where even the lesser of Giant Microbes' plush toys might console a sick child. Your little one is curled up in bed, laid low with any of the common childhood illnesses, feeling terribly ill and woe-begotten.

They may know what's wrong with them, but what does that mean? Just a name attached to a fever, or spots, or a headache, or a pain in their tummy. In real terms, it's a bewildering moment, where everything has turned upside down. No wonder they need so much comfort and attention during this time.

But then you hand them a plush toy suffering from the same condition. At the very least, it's companionship. If they're not in it for the empathy, then it's something on which to take out a bit of frustration.

Then again, it could spark a whole new interest in science.

Where possible the Giant Microbe plush toys are based on the actual microbe causing the issues.

Obviously they've grown in size to cuddle proportions, and some artistic license is allowed on how they look. 

For example, that's the real world chicken pox microbe over there. Which is a bit like the white ball, orange-red ruff of the stuffed toy version. Though it looks more like a demonic mere-cat in profile to me.

Every Giant Microbe toy comes complete with a picture of the real microbe, along with information about it. Your child could cuddle the toy, study the condition, and feel the effects. That's one way to immerse them in a learning experience!

Just about every scientist friend that I know loves these toys. They are able to point to them and engage our attention at what's going on at a microscopic level. The most cursory glance at the comments from verified buyers shows how often the toy has inspired a broader interest in the science itself.

Nor is everything about the microbes that are detrimental to human health. There are cuddly representations of those miniature armies fighting disease for us too. You could head off all complaints about taking penicillin, if your child could see the pretty, blue tree going in to kick their sickness into touch.

Where I think the Giant Microbes range really comes into its own is when the condition isn't going to be resolved overnight. Let's face it, most childhood diseases are over in a week or two. The toy might not have even arrived by then, unless you chose a swift postal rate.

But when the sickness is on-going, then your child is truly forced to come to terms with it. Especially when it involves prolonged bouts in a hospital bed, or a whole life put on hold.

There are Giant Microbes cuddly toys to cover just about every eventuality, up to and including the aforementioned Great Plague.  Some of them are surprisingly endearing.

If you are in the unfortunate position where this is necessary, it's certainly worth checking out the full range. In the face of helplessness, it's somewhere to aim; a moment of amusement in an otherwise grim reality. It could well constitute the beginning of understanding, a gentle education just when it's needful.

And it's a cuddly toy too. For those times when a cuddle is just what the doctor ordered.