[user_7832]

Lots of good suggestions in this thread here, I'd just like to add - see what she's interested in, from a topic point of view. A lot of the suggested things here are science based. Is that what she likes? Maybe history? Museums and exhibits may be much more appreciated and exiting than science kits. Or perhaps biology? Bug collecting? A basic microscope kit might be better.

It need not be educational in the traditional sense at all either. You could go on hikes, teach about camping/wilderness survival, knot tying/scouts activity stuff. It could even be handyman things if those are of interest to her (I know they would have been of interest to 11yo me) - basics of tools and tool safety (assuming you know it yourself, or perhaps a local course for kids if available). There are more "practical"/lifesaving options too like knowing how to change a tire, or how do perform CPR/Heimlich maneuver.

Additional on a tangential note there are lots of excellent books, but in particular I highly recommend the x Book series by DK (not just for kids but also for adults) (https://www.dk.com/ca/promotion/big-ideas-series/). Encyclopedias are also great, the more pictures the funner they are for some.

[dan-robertson]

Modern USB microscopes are extremely good. Not in the sense that the quality is somehow superb but in the sense that they can be had reasonably cheaply and give you a sufficiently magnified view to see lots of details that would not be visible to the naked eye. Importantly, they don’t require lots of the faff that a ‘proper’ microscope does, e.g. no messing around with dirty objectives or eyepieces or light sources or slides or covering slips or stains or preparing samples or two different focusing wheels or oils or whatever. And it can be a further pain if you want to get an image onto a computer whereas with a USB scope it’s already there. The point is that the lower barrier of entry can build interest and the low cost means you don’t feel so bad if you only use it once or twice.