BEST SELLERS

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 small version (all-metal frame 6-1/2" high x 4" x 4-1/4") will collide about 30 times. The 7/8" dia balls in the large version (metal frame 5-1/4" high x 4" x 6", with a wooden base) will collide about 100 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.)

This reincarnation of the classic View-Master® is called (wait for it) the View-Master Classic®. As much fun as ever, and still battery-free. Comes with (3) reels with (21) 3-D images, including Age of Dinosaurs, Safari Adventure and Marine Life. Includes a case and, yes, it will accept all of the original film reels. For ages 3+.

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.

Special for your beginner tootler. Our black or ivory ABS plastic soprano recorder (Our choice) measures 12-5/8" long and includes a plastic carrying case, cleaning rod, and a sheet of fingering instructions.

Bigger than a baseball across the top, this is one ginormous jewel. You pick a clear or translucent-sky-blue, 24% lead crystal, cut-glass gem. It’s 3-1/8” dia at the top, tapering to point 2-1/8” deep. Could be mounted in a stunning, but really, really, really big engagement ring.

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when people could gauge your mood just by looking at your fingers. Our mood rings are tasteful, simple metal bands with mood-indicating stuff on the outside. We'll send you a trio from our bins of assorted sizes, and chances are they'll fit one or the other of your fingers or thumbs. (Or toes, which can get quite moody, too.)

Naked squirrels always trouble us. For your instagrammatic pleasure, this 7-3/4" tall laminated squirrel cut-out stands on a folding easel and comes with (39) assorted, reusable vinyl clothing stickers, including tighty whities, pearls, a propeller beanie, sneakers, an argyle sweater and a whole bunch of holiday costumes. Easter bunny with a chain saw, anyone?

We're proud to offer this actual, genuine, brand-name, not-a-knock-off Velcro® brand hook-n-loop strapping. Did we mention that Velcro® is a band name, like Kleenex®? Our each is (2) 18” x 1” all-purpose Velcro® straps in black with red tips. Dandy for holding all sorts of bundles of stuff like hoses and cords, but it's like they were made to roll up your yoga mat while you go have coffee with the other people recovering from being downward dogs all morning.

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.

Part of Dorling Kindersley’s Ultimate FACTIVITY Collection©, these 95-page, large-format paperbacks are chock full of fun facts, activities, pictures and more than (500) stickers for scientific tyros to stick on whatever they want to stick stuff on. You pick the BUGS book for an InsectaFest; or the ROCKS AND MINERALS book, geology with stops at archeology and paleontology thrown in for extra fun.

We love NASA and so do you, or someone you love does. And with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing this year (July 20), why not show your support by sticking a bunch of classic NASA “meatball” logos on your stuff? You know the one--the blue sphere and white stars with the NASA name in white, a red chevron slashing through it and a white orbiting swirl wrapping it all together. You’ll get (15) logo stickers in 1” dia ; a 3-1/2” logo sticker; a 3-1/2” window cling logo; and a good, old-fashioned 10" x 2-3/4" white bumper sticker with the logo and the following phrase: “IT’S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! (OH, WAIT, YES IT IS!)”. Hard not to love that aerospace-engineer humor.

It’s a short row, granted, but a row is a row. These are lesser rubber duckies, just like their larger cousins in the bathtub, but at a cute 2” x 2”. Think shower ducks—small enough to tuck in the soap dish. You’ll get (1) each in pink, blue, and yellow or the standard yellow 3-pack. our choice but we can tell you most of them are the colored ones. 

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.

It's a fun three-fer, a troika of terrific toys that we'd buy if we hadn't already bought a bunch of them. First up, a sticky-footed goofy-faced insectoid wall-walker. Throw it at the wall and watch it tumble down. Second, a mumble-mouth game with a plastic lip spreader and a deck of phrases that make you sound ridiculous while other players try to guess what you're saying. Finally, the piece de aero-amusement, a flying, singing penguin, exactly like our classic flying screaming monkey except it's a penguin and it sings. Also, we think it’s French because of the scarf. Shoot the little bugger across the room and it sings “I believe I can fly…I believe I can touch the sky...oh, no...maybe not.” Frankly, the penguin is worth the price of admission alone.

The Internets machine says the horned lizard is “not considered one of the all-time best lizard pets,” so if your mother won’t let you have one, we recommend this 6” long version in authentically colored polyresin. Sits there splayed out on its lizard belly staring semi-lovingly at you, but needing no aquarium, water or harvester ant dinners.

A plastic pistol shaped toy that shoots slugs of raw potato. Push the barrel into a potato, break off the slug, aim and shoot up to fifteen feet. Loads of fun, environmentally harmless, and about as safe as any "projectile" toy can be!! Pulls apart for cleaning. For kids ages 5 and up.

It’s Sandy the spinning seal! From Z Classic Wind Ups™, Sandy spins clockwise, bobs up and down and spins her ball on her nose. Arms and tail move, too. Measures approx 8" x 5" x 3", in teal and silver with a red ball adorned with a festive yellow star. All kids love wind-ups at some point in their lives. Great as kitschy adult decor, too.

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.