BEST SELLERS

That special someone might light up your life but not your tent or trail, which is why you’ll want this 360º LED lantern, with (5) beam settings when you’re camping or hiking. Measures 4” dia x 7” tall, includes (6) “AA” batteries, and is available in romantic green or orange. Has a foldable metal hanging hook and handle. Settings range from ultra-bright (1000 lumens), to low (100 lumens). Toggle between them or hold the switch to gently dim. The warm nightlight option really sets the mood, and the lantern is splash-proof (IPX4 rated), in case things really heat up!

This very nicely detailed, toothy, textured, rubber T-Rex dinosaur hand puppet comes in (4) colors and we’ll pick one for you: dark green, light green, brown or red. They all look awesome, trust us. Measure approx 5” tall x 3” across, just the beast’s head, and you can make it talk or roar by controlling the bottom jaw with your thumb. Kids love these things. Some of your less-mature adults do, too.

It could have been called an Alabama Buzzer after Alabama Vest, the man who invented it. Or a Clegghorn, after Thaddeus Von Clegg, the clock master who fabricated the first one. But the hand-crafted 4-3/4" long steel instrument was a simple amusement, and the 1840s were a simple time. So it's simply a kazoo.

These gray plastic gargoyles, in creepily authentic detail, are great for cathedral models and graveyard dioramas as long as they’re miniature. Figurines measure about 1” tall. You’ll get (4) of them in an attractive 4” x 3” x 1-1/4” box with a flip-open top and a display window. Great for anyone who wants to add a little goth to a home or office. 

Decidedly clever little gizmo reminiscent of our ever popular tornado tube. It consists of a plastic sleeve into which one screws two empty 2-liter soda bottles. Inserted into the connecting tube are clear plastic "straws", one extending toward the bottom of each bottle. Fill one bottle 3/4" full of water, colored if you like, invert the duo, and watch water spew from the top end of the top "straw". It is all because of the vacuum created as the water drains from one bottle to the other and is a great physics demo item. It looks as though the water defies gravity. Instructions/description are on the package.

If you're devoted to explosions, and who isn't, you'll love the new expanded 2nd edition of William Gurstelle's Backyard Ballistics, now 25% longer, with 25% more ka-boomery. Still the go-to reference work for building rockets, cannons (carbide and potato), flingers, fire kites, electromagnetic pipe guns, tennis ball mortars, cleaner-bag balloons, ballistic pendula and petards. You simply can't have more fun with common household materials. The soft-cover, 210pp compendium includes detailed and illustrated instructions, parts lists and sensible ways not to be hoist on your own petard. Be careful out there.

Ten furlongs are condensed to (7) inches, with very small horses, in the Desktop Derby, a 6-horse straight track that lets you win money while you teach the children the evils of pari-mutuel betting. The electric track pulsates and moves the nags along at a pace of about 45 seconds per race, with heart-stopping lead changes. The best part is that they're un-handicapable: a different horse, in a different lane, seems to win every time. Measures 9-7/8" x 3-1/2" x 2" high and runs off (2) "AA" batteries, included. (Stable the horses in the base between races.)

These, squishy dinosaur eggs are egg-shaped and XL egg-size, but the thing that makes it so cool is when you squeeze them, a baby dino appears in the bubble that pops out of the “X” in the end. Our resident paleontologist and Amazing Critters Department Head, Grace, has personally identified grey, green and yellow eggs, all about 2-3/4” x 2”, containing baby triceratops, pteranodons and t-rexs. How fun are they to squeeze? We started writing this description 47 minutes ago. Just a few more squeezes and we’ll be done. There.

There's optical science and high school physics, and then there's making pretty colors with this little 4-1/2" x about 1" acrylic prism. It makes the same rainbows that the beveled edges on the glass in the French doors to your grandmother's living room used to make on the floor in the afternoon while she was making supper. If you had a grandmother with French doors with beveled glass, who made you supper. If not, you'd better buy this prism or you won't have anything to remember after she's gone.

Sure, you could probably call these magic mushrooms, but they’re legal. Measuring 2-1/4" x 2-1/2" they’re figurines consisting of a body in the lotus position with a mushroom cap for a head. They’re for meditating, which of course can lead to magic in your mind. Made of hard rubber in (2) versions—white body with red mushroom and beige body with green mushroom. We’ll pick the one we think will align best with your chakras. Not for children under 3 yrs.

Satchel Paige said never look back, something might be gaining on you, but he was a pitcher, not a spy. We recommend checking behind you with these stylish spy sunglasses with rear-view mirrors at the edges of both lenses. The flexible frame means one size fits all noggins. For ages 5+.

Newtonian demonstrator for science teachers. Mindless play for the rest of us. These are shiny, nicely balanced, high-performance examples of the classic Newton's Cradle - a ball on one end of a row of (5) suspended, barely touching balls swings into the others, and the ball at the opposite end reacts to the collision. The 11/16" dia balls in the all-metal frame 6-1/2" high x 4" x 4-1/4" will collide about 30 times. Awesome. Even more awesome that we paid someone to count the bounces just for you! (Unpacking note: Less awesome if you just yank it out by the suspension lines and pull a couple of balls loose. Be gentle.)

Geology for those with short attention spans? The original Magic Rocks®, of course! Mix the solution in a jar of water, drop in the pebbles, and watch them grow into a forest of multi-color stalagmites. Growth starts in 10 minutes, is impressive in 30 minutes, and complete (up to 4" tall) in 2 hours. Extra credit if you can make it grow stalactites by gluing the pebbles to the bottom of a jar, then pouring the solution in and turning it upside down. Who knows? Maybe it will work. Comes with a set of marine decals to decorate the jar. Definitely not for use with living fish. For ages 10 and up.

You must ache for this mustache kit! Go back and read that sentence again. Compare the spellings of the key words. Feel free to use that wordplay as your own—you’re welcome! You’re also welcome for this hairplay, our super snazzy Stick-On Mustache & Facial Hair Kit. Comes with (1) subtle handlebar ’stache, (2) bushy eyebrows, (2) sideburns and (1) soul patch, all adhesive-backed. Stock up on a few kits and you’ll never ache for them again.

Introducing the Aeromax 2000. This update of the classic parachute toy has mesh under the canopy instead of lines, so it's tangle-free. Big 20" chute floats the little 3-1/2" tall trooper gently to the ground. In assorted colors, which we'll pick because we have really good color sense.

At least you’ll be in control and your mind won’t be playing tricks on you. That’s at least 20 years away—or fewer if you’ve eaten poorly and neglected your sleep. For now, trick your eyes and still-reliable gray matter with this (50)-pack of Optical Illusions. With some, you’ll see things move or disappear. With others, you’ll wonder how the thing you’re looking at is even possible. Cards measure approx 3” x 5”. Ages 8+. 3 yrs.

Yes, we have The Amazing Live Sea Monkey® aquarium kit, just like the ones from the comic books. The (9) piece ocean zoo includes brine shrimp eggs, growth food, water purifier, plus an official plastic feeding spoon, 32-page handbook, life insurance policy, growth guarantee, and the plastic aquarium with built-in magnifiers for viewing your little friends, and a vented cover. We'll pick the aquarium color that best matches your decor. Great gift for those budding young marine biologists. Ages 6+.

From France comes this fun mechanical plastic bird that really flies by flapping its wings. It is about 8" long and has a wingspan of 16" tip to tip. Snap the wings in place, wind up the rubberband drive and toss it gently into the air on its maiden flight. It flies up to fifty yards with a satisfying fluttering sound.