No wires, no batteries. Amaze your kids with this actual wooden puzzle. Semi-Tetris-ish, with (40) pieces that will take them a week to fit back into the 10-1/2” x 7” frame, and can also be used to make a bunch of different things. Called the Genius Puzzle, probably for reasons listed above. For ages 6+.

Wee-gee, like the photographer, is the most common way and no, we won’t get into where it comes from, although oui (yes) + ja (yes) is an old wives’ tale, and those are just a bad as old husbands’ tales. Just be grateful that there’s a way to communicate with another dimension, and that you could own a thing called a planchette. So take this 15" x 10" laminated board and the aforementioned 5-3/4" x 4-1/4" planchette and wait for your nervous system to spell out something. Guaranteed to be even more accurate than a magic eight ball and not to lead to demonic possession. For soothsayers 8 years and older.

It's nice to know that some things don't change. One is the Jacob's Ladder. Still made with (6) slabs of wood, each about 2" x 2" x 1/2", each a bright combination of colors, and all connected by a contrasting ribbon. Hold one end up and let the string of slabs dangle. When you flop the top block end for end, each lower slab in turn will flop end for end. Fascinating. Particularly if you are about 5 to 9 years old.

Imagine a game app, but in wood. Measures 6” x 3-1/4” x 3/8”, like an iPhone 6-Plus, but you never have to charge it and there’s no glass to break. Has (42) colorful geometric shapes in a wooden frame, and all you have to do is take the shapes out and try to fit them back in again, which is harder than it sounds, but that’s what puzzles are for.

Put an arcade in your pocket with this tiny pinball game. Has (3) teensy BBs, a plunger, spinners, ledges and variable point scores, all in a 3-3/8” x 2-1/4” x 3/8” thick plastic housing. We’ll pick two different with a jungle hunt, Indy 500, space race or cowboy theme because we’ve played ’em all, from Soho down to Brighton.

The draw-it-yourself jigsaw puzzle, just begging to have an invitation written on it, and then be mailed to potential guests as a handful of pieces. But this 28-piece cardboard puzzle also measures a desktop or car-friendly 6-3/4" x 4-3/4" in plain white, so it's also begging to have kids add a picture for the fun of it. It's even suggesting that you mix the 336 blank pieces in a pile, explain it's a dozen pictures of an albino moose in a snowstorm puzzle, which it might very well be for all we know, and award a prize for the first finished puzzle. Note the classroom and party-friendly bulk price.

Wireless, too. Return with us now to the thrilling games of yesteryear, when children tested the steadiness of their hands and eyes by moving BBs around in hand-held mazes. These are the upgraded versions, where the mazes themselves also move to make you extra-crazy. Our each is (2) maddeningly difficult BB (or dice) maze games, approx 3-1/4” square. Ages 6+.

Numerate, are you? Find out with these Ninja Assassin Sudoku books of (248) puzzles--(2) per page, plus solutions--in 176-page paperbacks. You pick the White Belt (entry-level to medium), Yellow Belt (easy to easy-medium), or Green Belt (easy-medium to hard-medium). By Frank Longo from Puzzle Wright Press. Best part is you can ignore the $6.95 cover price.

Now comes this ball of geometric possibilities, from creativity guru Roger von Oech. Perfect for anyone with a 3-dimensional mind, from a precocious child to a bored nonagenarian, including your favorite artist, mathematician, designer, engineer, or whatever. The little red ball, 3-1/4" dia, comprises (30) magnetized right golden rhombic pyramids that will fit together in endless shapes, from a rhombic triacontahedron (see the pic), to stars, wreaths, animals, sunbursts, and endless others. Comes with a 96pp booklet on geometric possibilities and creativity. Plenty of desktop noodling fun, but a lot more than just a toy.

Yes, boys and girls, Fluxx, the card game with the rules that keep changing, now adds the Doctor (Who?) version, and they were made for each other. Includes, of course, plenty of time-travel and regenerations of the Doctor, K9, and Gallifreyan technology, but beware of Cybermen, Daleks, Weeping Angels and the Master. Includes the standard 100-card deck, and instructions for 2-6 players ages 8+.