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.

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.

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 blue, along with a lesson plan and suggested activities.

Neon strip cardboard spectacles with diffraction gratings as the lenses. You can see the regular world, but all light sources and bright objects appear in multiple rainbow hued images. The effect is a little as though the whole world were a giant hologram. Great stocking stuffer or birthday party item for grade school ages.

This 4-3/4" dia moon is so much more interesting than the real thing. This one has a 4-way dimmer, flash/strobe/fast and slow fade/steady-on modes, plus internal LEDs to make (15) colors in addition to traditional moonish white. It's also a great nightlight. Remote control comes with a battery but you'll need (3) "AAA" batteries to run the moon. Topographical, but the giant astronaut footprint suggests it's not quite to scale. Will sit up by itself or wall mount on a couple of finishing nails.

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. 

Yet another great Snap Circuits® kit, this one based on lighting and optics, with a bonus 3-dimensional circuit board. Includes (50) parts and over (150) projects. Special components include an infinity mirror; red, green, blue and white LEDs; 6-way gel wheel; photoresistor; and a diffusion lens. Parts compatible with all other Snap Circuits® kits, too.

Direct from Warner Bros' Polar Express, these old-style red lens/blue lens cardboard 3-D glasses are 5-3/4" across with 4-1/4" temples. You get (2) packages with (4) in each, for a total of (8). They carry a warning against using them as sunglasses, while performing physical activity or for extended wear or outside play, but you're also warned about choking on them. So let's not eat them during the movie, okay? And turn off your phone.

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.

The polymath from Vinci was the first to create anamorphic (intentionally distorted) art, but you can continue the fun with the Cosmic Zoom, a plastic parabolic mirror and a tube that will hold the (12) anamorphic pictures in the kit. Watch the mirror de-mystify the distorted images on the tube, and make them move. Includes images to draw and to color, plus a little history, and tips for making your own anamorphic art, including templates.Ages 6+.