Snap Circuits™ has added Brics, their name for little plastic building blocks that are, luckily, compatible with those other little, inerlocking plastic building blocks you have. This award-winning 200-piece Bric Structures set has sheets and blocks plus Snap Circuits connectors, blinking and steady LEDs, a slide switch, a fiber-optic bundle, an incandescent bulb and a melody integrated circuit, along with adapter blocks to mate the Snap Circuits components with the brics. Has instructions to make (26) electrified models, including a house and a tower, on the 10” x 5” base. You add a trio of “AA” batteries. For ages 8+. Winner of Six Toy of the Year Awards!

Too many of your wacky marble-run contraptions are tiny and made to stick on refrigerators, we think. Herewith, the solution: a 60-piece kit with ramps, tracks, funnels, stops, gears, levers, cups, animals and steel balls. Create your own endless versions of wacky contraptions and stick them on the free-standing, 28” x 12” hook-and-loop board. Includes a tip sheet. For ages 8+.

Make a whole bunch of fun and instructive Lego® machines/chain reaction models like marble runs and mousetraps involving ramps, buckets, funnels balances and much more. Comes with (33) Lego® elements, (6) Lego® balls, a dozen paper props, and a 78-page instruction booklet for (10) machines. You add a few common household items. Includes suggestions for more complicated devices if you have your own Lego® pieces, and if you don't, what are you waiting for? Ages 8+.

Right after you build your own working medieval catapult or trebuchet. All you’ll need is glue, scissors and a steady hand (plus a small bag of marbles or rocks or something as a counterweight for the trebuchet) to construct these wooden, Canadian-made siege engine kits. The catapult stands 6” tall x 5” wide x 10” long and will toss assorted stuff 15 feet or farther, depending upon the stuff. The finished trebuchet will be 26” long x 18” wide x 24” tall and will propel small objects (meatballs?) 20 feet or more. Both include detailed instructions and are great resources for STEM activities. For ages 9+. Note: Please don’t propel small mammals, and please don’t put anyone’s eye out.

This Lego® set from Klutz has (58) pieces, including gear wheels, bricks, axles and connectors to build (11) gadgets, including a claw, catapult, assorted vehicles, robots, a fan and a hand-held blender thingy. Includes a 78-page manual with detailed instructions and a plethora of punch-out paper parts for added verisimilitude. For ages 8+, or anyone else who knows what plethora and verisimilitude mean.

Wood or wooden you like to never see another pun on wood or wooden? Too bad--we’re not even trying to quit. Meanwhile, you can select your favorite from our collection of wooden automatons that you crank to move, all made from laser-cut pieces that you peg or glue together. You pick: the wooden clapping monkey, approx 6" x 3" when assembled; the wooden wiggling fish, 10-1/4” x 8-1/4” x 4-3/8”; or the wooden drummer drumming, 6-3/4” x 4-1/4” x 2-3/4”. All come with instruction booklets, glue, sandpaper and wax, and are for ages 9+.

Sounds like a Europop group, but it’s actually your new tumbling pet. Also bristles his spines, rolls, spins and scurries. He’ll be a tad bigger than a baseball when assembled. The prewired circuitry is triggered by an audio sensor that will make him do multiple tricks when you applaud, and who else do you know who’ll do that? The solderless assembly, with over (170) parts, might be a tad challenging for the listed 7-10+ age, so we suggest some supervision. From Thames & Kosmos. You add (4) “AAA”s. (And he’s a hedgehog, so don’t expect him to share the hedge if you have one.)

Start your children on the path to learning the basic concepts of solar tech. This multi-bot STEM education 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 comical and functional land and water solar-powered projects including: TortoiseBOT; SlinkerBOT; FourBOT; SurferBOT; PaddleBOT; WalkR-BOT; Big Wheeler BOT; CarBOT; TumblerBOT; BugBOT; K9BOT; MonsterBOT; CrabbyBOT and, you should pardon the pun, the RowingBOT. 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.

Return with us now to those thrilling days of the 15th century, when Leonardo was designing stuff you wouldn't have thought of even if you'd paid attention in class and applied yourself. You choose from these wooden models of his genius designs. His unrealized aerial screw (think helicopter) stands approx 15" tall on a 9" square base and has a canvas canopy. Includes a 12-page manual and all the parts. For ages 9+. You’ll need glue, scissors and a ruler. The trebuchet (think catapult) is based on his original 1482 design, stands approx 24" tall x 12-3/4" x 4-1/2" and comes with all the parts, including a clay ball to launch at your favorite model castle, or your sister. Includes an 8-page instruction book and is for ages 12+. Bring glue, scissors, a ruler and some small clamps.Great resources for STEM activities.

In the mood for a little light levitation? Try this magnet-based kit from KidzLabs® and make a pencil float in mid-air or tell your fortune, all through the captivating power of magnets. You can even build a mag-lev robot, and who doesn't want one of those? The (7) projects are based on the (7) plastic-coated, 1-5/16" dia bored disc magnets and assorted other parts. Projects include anti-gravity sculpture, floating spinner, magnetic compass, spring and weight scale, propelling machine and a mag-lev transporter.