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.

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 black spy sunglasses with rear-view mirrors at the edges of both lenses. The flexible frame means one size fits all noggins. For ages 5+.

Forget that the 6-3/4" long body is festooned with Latin phrases and old maps. The stones/beads/glass inside the tube would make designing windows in cathedrals a snap. And hey, that's good work if you can get it. A nice gift for Rosetta window fans, and a must for that special bishop in your life.

You've seen everybody's favorite desk toy. The one that makes you swear you can pick up the coin that's right inside it. Too bad it's really a hologram you're looking at! Now you can own this petite version of the popular "illusion" toy. This one, 6" dia x 2" tall, with a 1-5/8" opening on the top, leaves more money in your wallet and more room on your desktop. And try to touch that little rubber frog that comes with it. It's either enchanting - or enchanted!

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+.

Rattlebacks are plastic semi-elliptical shapes, 3-7/8" long, that illustrate Newton's laws of motion, while mystifying kids. Set them down (the rattlebacks, not the kids) and their offset center of gravity makes them spin. Spin them in one direction and they stop and reverse themselves. You get a package of (10) in assorted colors, along with a lesson plan and suggested activities.

The world is your kaleidoscope with a teleidoscope, which is to say that instead of a bunch of little pieces of glass and beads in a rotating case, there's a lens at the other end, in this case a big, clear glass marble making lovely patterns based on whatever you point it at. (Try it on a printed page.) Measures 1" dia x 8-1/4" long. The cardboard tube is covered with diffraction paper for a cool look. Assorted colors

Our Associate VP for Clever Toys called this optical toy (the eyeMo™) “a cross between a linear zoetrope and a harmonica.” You put one of the (18) paper film strips in, slide the device past one eye and watch the movie action. The best part is that kids can make their own stop-action strips from their drawings. For ages 6 and up.

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. 

Our set of 3D nature cards, 3-1/2" x 2-1/2", is packed with facts on the back side, and has full-color images of (7) critters: red-eyed tree frog, bottle-nose dolphin, gray wolf, humpback whale, polar bear, keel-billed toucan and giant panda. Great for learning and general time-passing. You’ll get a package of (10) with (3) different cards in it.