Or want to teach kiddies to write like Dickens or draw like Michalengelo? Start with blank, staple-bound 28-page paperbacks with bright white, 80-lb paper stock pages and card-stock blank covers. You pick: the 7” x 8-1/2” books or the 8-1/2” x 11” book, both with un-ruled pages because when you're young, staying between the lines isn't the thing to do.

Or maybe a little fling zing, oft described as a Chinese yo-yo, although that’s not a name we’d use, being sensitive and enlightened, which you can tell by reading our catalog. A fling zing is a roll of colorful waxed paper on a stick. Snap your wrist and watch it shoot out more than a yard for oddly compelling fun. (These have much better flinging action than the fling zings we remember from our youth.)

A tiny touch of whimsy from your local scientific and surplus monger. You get a trio of 1-3/4" dia x approx 2-5/8" tall plastic tops in assorted colors, with the American Science & Surplus logo on the disc. The tops of the tops have a vaguely Constantinopolitan shape, and are a different color from the bottom. Just one more dazzling detail from Jarvis.

This is kind of like sneaking into the band room in junior high and honking and banging on all of the instruments. Except in this case you can’t get in trouble. You’ll get a steel kazoo, 4-3/4" long; a 4” long, three-octave Hohner harmonica in red, green, blue or yellow (we’ll pick) with a clear vinyl pouch; a 6-7/8” long plastic slide whistle with steel slide; a crank-operated mechanical music box, clear acrylic and measuring 2-1/4" x 2" x 1-1/4" (turning out “Brahms’ Lullaby,” “Row Your Boat” and other classics), and a nice, American-made 3-5/8" long steel jaw harp with playing instructions. Now you just need some bandmates. Buy them single by clicking here. 

Why not take two since they’re medium sized, from 20” to 28”, and shaped like the critters they represent. You’ll get a pair (two different) of very colorful nylon kites, complete with 65-foot lines and 8-foot tails, from our selection of ladybugs, frogs, turtles, butterflies, owls and dragons. Packed conveniently in a clear tube for carrying.

Fluxx®, the card game with rules that change while you play, has gone chemical. Cards feature your favorite elements, released from their table at last, plus sundry lab items. Includes our new favorite rule: draw the Helium card and you must speak in a falsetto voice. Ages 12+.

Why fork out thousands for what is, after all, just a battery-operated car, when you can own Nikola himself. Our plush Tesla doll is just over 13” tall and wears a little houndstooth jacket and matching vest. You’re going to love stroking his ultra-soft hair, and the BBs in his bottom assure that he’ll sit right up on your desk and keep you company.

Impressive, this 3-foot Lizard King. The 1:14 scale plastic model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton has 51 bones that snap together, then snap apart easily for later use, which is more than you can say about the original. Measures 36" long, and comes with a display stand. Bones are nicely aged for paleontological verisimilitude. Very nice kit, with legs, as they say! For ages 8 and up.

Please Note: Your entire order will ship standard ground when purchasing this item. Contact us for expedited shipping information. Thanks!

These glazed ceramic human skull banks are a nice desk size at just 4-3/4" x 3-1/4" x 3-1/4" with slots on their little crowns and rubber plugs at the brain-stem openings. We’ve got flat black and metallic-glazed in gold, silver or purple, and you’ll get (2) different, which you can tell people is your new skull set. If you’re not into saving money, they’re great for parties or just general home decor if that’s how you roll.

OMG, these elastic/bead Pet Palz with toy animal heads that can be extended to make bracelets that are so cute!!! If your kids don’t want to wear them on their wrists they can leave them as figures and organize them on their dressers or night stands, or in their secret hideaways. Measure about 3-1/2" long out of the box, extending to a little under 7". Styles include (2) different kitties (duh), a reindeer, an elephant and (2) different unicorns (double-duh). We’ll send you (2) different figures. Ages 4+.

We’re just sorry that Freddie Mercury didn’t live to see this product. The mysteriously named Holographic Mixed By Me Thinking Putty® Kit from Crazy Aaron includes (5) tins of clear, never drying putty; (3) packets of glitter concentrate and (3) of sparkle effects; (6) assorted color pencils and blank labels and an instructional mixing mat with suggestions.

Another oldie but goodie. 5" high evacuated clear glass bulb mounted in a black stand, 3" in diameter at the top. A four bladed vane is balanced on a needle inside the sphere. Because opposite surfaces of the vanes are black and white, incident radiant energy is absorbed or reflected to a different degree. The result is a spinning vane. The brighter the light, the faster it spins. Simple, but compelling. Brief explanatory instruction sheet included.

We have pieces from a Buck Rogers game called, we are told, “Buck Rogers Battle for the 25th Century.” Except for the Gun Pods, which are all dark grey, the pieces are all assortments of: green, yellow, blue, purple, brown and violet. The pieces: Gunpods, Fighter Planes, War Birds and Space Shuttles. Mostly they are around 1” in the largest dimension. Note: we show the quantity pre-packed in a bag in the listing. You get ten bags for the price shown.

Need some comfort? Want a prettier paperweight? These hunks of melted, smoked glass have pooled to approx  3-5/8" x 2-1/8" x 5/8" thick, and weigh about 1/3 lb. They're flat-bottomed with rounded tops, sort of like cool flip-phones that never ring. Bound to make you feel better.

Power Poppers™ are today's answer to the ping-pong ball guns of yesteryear, except these shoot smaller orange balls that look a little like cheesy snacks, but don't be fooled. You pick from an arsenal that includes the pump-action pistol, 9" long and shoots, yes, (6) balls; the foot-long+ popper rifle with a payload of a dozen rounds. Extra ammo available in packs of (12) 1-1/16" orange balls, because the cat will hide these. For ages 4 and up.

We feel your predicament. We’ve all suffered the heartbreak of an oversized yo-yo, too big to fit into your pocket, and bound to be confiscated by a fun-hating fifth-grade teacher, or the TSA. Best get our wooden mini yo-yo, a mere 1-7/8” dia x 1-1/8” wide with a full (3) feet of string for your yo-yo’ing pleasure.

A must-have for micro-warriors; Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction by John Austin (author of the best-selling Cubicle Warfare) is 241 pages of detailed instructions for building (42) implements of spitball warfare from ordinary household objects and office supplies. With the caveat that this is written for responsible individuals who take reasonable safety precautions (don't do anything your mother would scream at) we have to say that we love the binder-clip crossbow and the tongue-depressor catapult. Volume 2, which is 251 pages, has a secret-agent flair with new gadgets like the push-pin dart, toothpaste periscope and cereal briefcase. Volume 3, 267 pages, continues with a Medieval flavor and over a dozen catapults and ballistae, plus a buncha bows and crossbows. Oh, just buy the whole 3-volume Library of Destruction and get it over with.

These 5-5/8" wide cardboard solar viewing glasses filter out 99.999 percent of visible light, and 100 percent of harmful UV and IR light, which means they’re safe for direct solar viewing (and your sunglasses aren’t). A sharp, orange image of the sun will always be there because the lenses are scratch-resistant. You get (2) pairs because who wants to watch an eclipse alone? For you techie types who care, they’re rated for transmission under EN1836:2005 and AS/NZS 1338:1992. ISO 12312-2:2015. In other words, they're from a NASA approved manufacturer.