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.

Home robotics, bubeleh. Build a working hydraulic arm with this excellent 66-piece kit from Pathfinders' Simple Machine series. Structure is die-cut plywood and the kit includes tubing, (3) syringes and glue. You'll need a ruler and scissors. The finished arm will be approx 13-1/2" tall and will reach out over 16" and rotate 90° on an 8-5/8' x 6-7/8" base. Comes with a 12-page manual and uses water. Beautiful, too. For ages 8+.

An advanced kit compared to the others, a little more deluxe and a little more complicated. It is an AM/FM radio kit from Elenco with over 80 pieces divided into lesson groups. PC board shows component placement to help learning and to minimize errors. It has (14) transistors and (4) diodes and the case measures 11"x 5"x2-1/4" Soldering required.

Create your own crystal garden and you'll never again have to run out to the store in the middle of the night for more crystals. Put the approx (2) ounces of rocks from this kit in a bowl, add white vinegar, put it in a warm place, and wait for the vinegar to evaporate. You'll have crystals in (2) days to (2) weeks. Add food coloring if you want to change your tasteful monochromatic crystals into a phantasmagoric garden of color. You provide the bowl, vinegar, food coloring and warm place. For ages 8+ with adult supervision.

Pop one of these roughly 1-1/4" dia stones into the toe of a sock, smash it with a hammer, and be the first person ever to see your real-as-Nature-makes-it geode!! Ninety percent of them have the familiar beautiful white crystals inside. Formed by volcanic action, they are found all over the world, but ours are from Mexico. There is no way to tell from the outside if they have crystal centers, but we will send you two just to raise your odds, and we haven't had a dud yet in our stores!! Much much more fun and satisfaction than buying one already cracked.

Do your kids think the whole world snaps together? Time to get them the Steel Works, a classic steel construction set from Schylling not unlike those erecting sets of yore. Has more than (300) pieces, including beams, plates, angles, nuts, bolts, washers and more, along with instructions for making an airplane, helicopter, dump truck, satellite truck, fire truck, forklift, claw truck, gyrocopter, bulldozer and backhoe. Includes wrenches and a hex key. Models have mechanical actions triggered by wheel movement. Parts are interchangeable with any other Schylling Steel Works kit. For ages 8+.

We like anything in a can, of course, but these sets of (20) cards with science experiments, plus a few tricks, from The Crazy Scientist are right up our alley. (Science is our middle name, remember?) You pick: Indoor Science has (20) chemical and physics experiments with basic household items; The Magic of Science has (20) science-based magic tricks (duh); The Five Senses has (20) ways to mess with your senses; and Young Researchers has (20) experiments involving light, heat, liquids and gasses. All are made for ages 6+, and all include (1) card especially for the parents.

Don't panic. A meteorite is speeding toward you, but it will only hit your mailbox. These small hunks of genuine meteorites are approx 4,200 years old and have been harvested from Chaco, Argentina. (We never miss the meteorite harvest in Chaco.) Most will weigh 20-33 grams and measure approx 1-1/4" x 3/4" x 1/2", which is very dense. Carry one in your pocket and you'll never be hit by a large meteorite. (And if you are, we'll give you double your money back.)

This multi-bot solar kit includes a 1.5V solar cell, a small DC motor and gearbox and a boatload of parts that will let you make (14) different solar-powered projects including: a turtle-bot; walker bot; quadru bot; wheel bot; boat bot; beetle bot; dog bot; auto bot; carb bot; slither bot; roly poly bot; surf bot; and, you should pardon the pun, the row bot. No, really--there's a row bot. Projects come in (2) levels of difficulty and include an 81pp graphic manual. You'll need a hobby knife or a pair of side-cutters, and sunlight. Most projects will be approx 5" tall when assembled.

It’ll be much easier with this life-size human brain/skull model kit from Lindberg®. Stands 10-1/2” tall on a 4-3/4” tall stand with a 5” dia base. In bone-colored plastic (with a pink brain with red blood vessels, like yours), it includes a (5)-part skull, (4)-part brain, and (10)-piece set of teeth ready to assemble. You add the glue. The lower jaw is movable. A perfect addition to any lab, living room or themed party.

with our best selling electronics kit. Build 100 or more electronic projects from a Reflection Detector to a Simple Salt Water Alarm with Snap Circuits Jr. The Elenco kit, a Dr. Toy Winner, has a grid base and a selection of conductors, resistors, switches, integrated circuits and more, for a total of (30) color-coded snap-in parts. For ages 8 to 108, the easy-to-use components and well-designed instruction manual make this a perfect way to spend some quality time with a bright young child! AWARDS: The National Parenting Center-Seal of Approval, Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Products, Dr Toy Best Educational Products.

See our full line of Elenco Snap Circuits here! Click 

You supply the pot, we'll supply a dozen Venus Fly Trap seeds and a little sack of soil in a 4-3/8" x 2" dia plastic growing tube, plus an instruction sheet on the care and feeding of everyone's favorite meat-eating foliage. Gestation is about (14) weeks, so order early if you're planning a birthday surprise for someone.

Make like a miniature Martin Scorsese and create your own (stop-action) movie. Best part? The actors are all Lego® people, who work for free. You’ll get (36) assorted Lego® pieces, including mix-and-match characters and props. Includes a 78-page guide with advice for making credits, sound effects, lighting, camera techniques, set design, backdrops, storyboards and a bunch more. If Hitchcock had had this kit, Janet Leigh might have survived the shower scene.

Lovely to look at, delightful to make jewelry out of. Our (25) piece set of polished gemstones includes: amethyst; howlite; tiger eye; hematite; amazonite; carnelian; sodalite; turqurenite; plain and rose quartz; rhodonite; unakite; snowflake obsidian; orange calcite; lemon jade; four varieties of jasper (serpentine; red, brecciated, picture and blue dalmation); and more. All approx 5/8" across.

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.

Maybe. Could also be a stegosaurus, triceratops or something else--that’s part of the fun of paleontological parenthood. Just submerge the 4-1/2” tall ersatz dinosaur egg into cool water and wait 48-72 hours while it cracks like a real egg and the baby dino grows to a be a foot long. If your mother won’t let you skip your bath for a few days (they’re like that, mothers, no scientific discipline), just use any container bigger than a 12” dinosaur.

This little punch-out Triceratops puzzle can be a puzzle to assemble, with tiny pieces, but when done right will toddle along via the little wind-up gear motor. When done wrong, like we did, it will toddle in reverse, like a moon-walking dinosaur, which is even more fun. Measures approx 5" long when finished.

It's Colorful. It's Magic. That's what the package says about this 3-1/2" tall specimen, and that's more than you can say about those big, clunky un-magical trees. Just slide two parts together, stand them up in the little tray with the magical water in it, and watch your tiny tree begin to bloom with an array of multicolor crystals after an hour. Reaches full magical bloom in 12 hours. Just the thing to watch on those days when the cable goes out.