These little 2” pullback race cars are quick and extra-zippy--great for kids and foodies of all ages, as they’re all food-related. Come in a bunch of different styles, including a milk carton, corncob, BBQ chip bag, peanut butter jar, hunk of cheese, ketchup bottle, juice box, watermelon, egg, lemon and more. We’ll pick (4) different ones guaranteed to be cute. Or you can buy (28) at once and save lots of money that you can spend on trophies--or dinner. Ages 4+.

And we say that with a history of silly that’s virtually unmatched. You slip on this pair of lens-less glasses with the tiny bucket and ball on a string attached, and try, while looking like a demented chipmunk, to swing the little ball on its cord and drop it into the cup. In red and blue plastic, you will be filmed on a smart phone, it will be put on social media, and you will be famous for it for the rest of your life. Best to order a couple so you’re not alone.

About 30-40 highly polished stones, all shiny, translucent, or brightly colored, ranging from 3/4" long to 1/8" long. Great for mosaics, jewelry, or aquariums.

Or the Swanee whistle. Whatever you call it, this little slide whistle (just consider it the smallest trombone in the universe) has an outsized musical history. No elevator has ever fallen in a cartoon without its accompaniment, and no jug band is complete without one, but Louis Armstrong also played one on his Hot Five recordings, and Ravel even required one in an opera score. In assorted plastic colors with a steel slide, 6-7/8" long x 1/2" dia.

2" flywheel in well made metal frame. The trick is the same as it has been for 100 years. Wind the string through the spindle, pull it firmly to set the flywheel spinning, and perform effortless balancing magic on pencil tips, string tightropes, and the like. We tend to forget that bicycles and aircraft navigation both rely heavily on gyroscopic principles. It's never too early to tell the kids. Besides, it's fun.

Squeeze this squishy version of the eight-legged tardigrade, aks moss piglet, aka water bear, and it takes up to (9) seconds to slowly morph back into shape while you feel your stress disappear like the cashews in a bowl of mixed nuts. Measures 4-1/2” long in green with the squeezability of a marshmallow. You probably don’t even know you need it, but you’ll know you needed it once you start squeezing it.

Here's a little music box to crank. These are really cute, with a very nice sound, and they're in clear acrylic cases so you, or impressionable youngsters, can watch them work. They measure 2-1/4"x 2" x 1-1/4" with a 7/8" crank. We'll pick one that plays When You Wish upon a Star, Row, Row, Row your Boat, Brahms' Lullaby, or Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. We won't pick the one that plays the score from Die Walküre because the wheel is just enormous.

Stick a coin on top of the fishy plate on this plastic coin bank and it triggers a Hiya Kitty inside to mew some cat noises, then peeks out and reaches out a paw to snatch the coin. The box, which is mysteriously made to look like an fruit crate, measures 4-3/4" x 4" x 3-1/2". You’ll need to add a couple of “AA” batteries but that’s the standard price of kitten cuteness today. CLICK HERE for video.

Based on drawings from Da Vinci's Codex Atlanticus, this Pathfinders catapult kit uses a pair of bent wooden arms as springs to launch clay balls (included) over (4) meters at enemy fortifications (not included, go make your own enemies). The assembled model will be approx 9" tall on a 10" x 7-1/4" base. Made from pre-cut, untreated wood from sustainable forests, and built with pegs for added strength and verisimilitude. A 2013 Creative Child Magazine Top Toy of the Year Winner and a great resource for STEM activities. For ages 12 and up.

Cutest drone ever. Shaped, and sized, like a chicken egg, just over 2-1/2” tall . Opens up to a 5” wide quad-rotor drone with a range of approx 100 feet, and it’ll fly for approx 6 minutes on a 45-minute charge. Features auto-hover and 360-degree roll, headless remote and (3) speeds. Includes charging cord, spare blades and a small screwdriver. Has a 2.4 GHz transmitter that uses (2) “AAA” batteries.

Imagine a not-unteletubbyish space guy, but with a couple sets of rotors in his head, and the ability to hover. Has sensors on his feet so he knows where the ground (our your hand) is, and he’ll keep hovering. Plus his blue eyes flash on and off, like a short, intergalactic Frank Sinatra. Measures 5” tall with a 5-1/2” rotor-span. Powered by an internal battery, rechargeable via a USB port with the included 10” cord. Run time is 4-5 mins. Ages 6+.

The real deal. 2-1/2" long red egg-shaped container with a blob of Silly PuttyTM inside. Does anyone need me to explain all the fun you'll have with Silly Putty? I thought not. Just get some today!

This puzzle’s in our pocket, and yes, we’re excited to see it. You will be, too, because it will help you finally memorize the symbols for all of the lanthanides and actinides. Imagine a very detailed, full-color periodic table composed of (150) pieces, each of which would just about cover the thumbnail of an adult copywriter. Assembled, it’ll measure approx 6" x 4". Also comes with a 4-1/2" x 3-1/8" periodic table chart, and it all travels nicely in a clear 6” x 1” tube with a screwcap.

Very popular with elementary school teachers, these hardcover blank books let students create their own storybooks. (Middle-schoolers interviewing and making books for primary grade kids is a popular and civilizing project.) Also great for sketching, journaling or scrapbooking. Pure white blank covers with (14) sheets (28 pages) of 80-lb blank paper inside with a sewn-in binding. You pick the 6” x 8” books or the 8-1/2” x 11” versions.

THE American classic novelty item (even ahead of the whoopee cushion and rubber vomit, we think) is a set of chattering choppers. Auto-dentures. Invented by Eddy Goldfarb in 1949, a man who made the Toy Industry Hall of Fame ahead of Milton Bradley, these are, not to put too fine a point on it, the sine qua non of gagdom, the ne plus ultra of spring-driven frivolity. Ours are 2-1/2" dia, with a wind-up key.

Imagine the family competitions you could have with this floating ball game. Hours of fun, minutes at a time! The wooden pipe is approx 6” long, and the 1-3/8” Styrofoam balls are yours to levitate through the magic of steady breath and balance. Oh, the wonders! Ages 4+.

AKA hand boiler. An exotic bit of hand blown glass with a bulb at top and bottom connected by some zippy tubing that spirals, loops, and/or jogs. In the closed system is some colored liquid (methylene chloride) that is very light. Hold the lower bulb in your hand and as the liquid is warmed it pushes through the loops to the upper chamber. When all the liquid is pushed out of the lower bulb, expanding air will bubble through the tubing making it appear that the liquid is boiling. WARNING! The glass is fragile and the liquid is nasty. If you drop the thing on the kitchen tile, it will eat the finish off the tile and the stain in the liquid will permanently stain the floor, so don't let kids handle this item unsupervised. About 7" tall, it is a favorite in our stores.

No, it doesn't; it runs out. See for yourself with this hourglass full of iron filings. The steel base has a magnet, so time flies when the glass is on it, and the filings make pretty stalagmites. Stick a magnet on the neck, however, and you can stop time altogether. Glass is 5-1/2" tall on the base and filings run out in about 40 seconds (three trips make a two-minute egg) with the magnet, somewhat longer without it.