Who's got some ideas for great little puzzles, games, or science toys for stocking stuffers? My kids love this kind of stuff.

What about those hexagon puzzles with like, half a colored bug/frog on each side and you have to match them up in the right way (eventually, you have to find pieces where two or more of the halves are matching up...)

cube snake or rubics cube if you don't have one.

I usually work out of my home office out in western fringes of NJ but when I do visit the 'office' near Rockefeller centre in NYC I head to the MOMA shop because they have a ton of well designed tchotchkes below 5 bux - little rings, prisms, finger puppets and other assorted baublry.

I remember never being able to do Rubik's cube when I was a kid! Not sure now how old I was when they came out. Is there a slighter easier version of that type of thing? (Kids are 9 and 5, albeit better at puzzling/spatial stuff than I am) Maybe the snake?

Any little science doohickies like prisms (good idea) are also great, but they have to work and not be lame/chintzy...you know how that can be...

I don't think this will be up the OP's alley, but for my dd I always find stuff on Etsy. One of the things she loved last year was a sticker that said "I'd rather be at Pemberley". This year she is getting a Marauder's Map in her stocking.

Actually my DD is totally obsesses with Harry POtter, so that's good for her. She's easier for stockings than the little guy, though, because she likes things like lip balm, lotion, etc.

Oh, believe me, they have Uno and 20 billion card games.

Arduino microcontroller for an older child? 12+? It is tiny

these are super cool, I just started working with ds13 on the Ard. Leonardo (check amazon, around $20)

There are so many choices! Personalized Hogwart's letters, Hogwarts ID cards, etc. Also HP inspired jewelry. Yes, my dd13 is the easiest and most fun for me to shop for.

Here ya go
http://www.puzl.co.uk/2x2x1-cube-p-346.html

Or slightly easier again
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Solve_The_1x1x1_Rubik%27s_Cube

Geeky card games:

Archaelogy: the card game
Bang!
R-Eco
Monkeys on the Moon

Uh...thanks. (You might want to tweak that tone a little.)

Monkeys on the Moon looks right up my kids' alley, but is pricey--must be out of print or something.

((Note to self: Attempts at light-hearted humor on the internet sometimes get taken the wrong way. ))

Monkeys on the Moon--i thought I saw it for $15 somewhere online when I googled. Otherwise it might be in the Marketplace on boardgamegeek.com (maybe used copy)

A Matryoshka stocking.

A small tripod magnifying glass. You can get some with the same magnifying power as commercial microscopes and sufficient space underneath to direct a flashlight at a specimen.

For younger children, prisms, rocks for a rock collection, magnets, Brain Quest cards, plastic test tubes/beakers/graduated cylinders (can wrap in a paper towel tube to disguise), flashlight, polyhedral dice for math games, Schleich figurines, a mini weigh scale, a desktop anatomy model (some come in 4-6" formats with removable pieces for ~$20), a stylus for drawing on an iPad, coins or stamps for collecting.

For all ages-- a membership card to a museum, tickets to a special concert or event, small books, chemicals and test strips for experiments, high quality binoculars, a travel Scrabble game, gift card for iPad apps, tools for people who like building electronics/robots, an iPhone or iPod, high quality headphones (Skull Candy sells a set I like for ~$25), art supplies (charcoal, turbillons, water colour pencil crayons, pastels, fountain pen and ink).

Ok, I see Portia and I were drafting at the same time. Love your ideas, Portia!

Sorry, 22B--I did think you were being snarky. The winky smiley always helps.

aquinas, you have great ideas but the iPhone is getting a bit outside my price range! Any leads on the desktop anatomy model? That does sound like something my kids would like. I would also like a rec on good magnets.

A step up from just a magnet is magnetic putty:
http://www.thegrommet.com/crazy-aaron-s-super-magnetics

Haven't tried it, but planning it for DS.

DS loves these - he has nerve, bone,e coli, t-4 and others , this year he is getting skin! Stuffies for the science crowd

Giant microbes

DeHe

These are the anatomy models I had in mind, ultramarina. There are 3 or 4 on offer in a 4.5" scale:

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/anatomical-models/c/174/

For magnets, I chose a wand for my little DS2. If he were a bit older, I'd choose a kit like this one and wrap each piece separately in a stocking:

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/super-science-magnet-kit/p/MG-SUPSCIE/

Shameless plug, but I'm selling my old iPhone. It's a 2nd gen 3G black 16 gig model with Fido, in pristine condition. It was my baby before my baby. I also have a 2nd gen iPos nano. At risk of turning this into an ad, PM me if you're interested. I'm selling them cheaply.

ooo, planaria!

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/live-culture%3A-planaria-brown/p/LD-PLANAR/

OKay, that hometrainingtools website is AWESOME--perfect stuff for my kids!

But baahhhh--I HATE that they have "gifts for girls" and "gifts for boys" on their front page! Ugh! Pet peeve!

Me too! It's such a meaningless division. It should say "gender normative stereotype: girls/boys".

we like the Squishy Human Body more than the Visible Man/Woman (brittle/less well made)... also those little desktop models are ALL great if they're the ones we have (can't remember - got ours a few years ago!)

I really enjoyed the Lego Coffee Cup shown on the link below, however, it looks like the website has all kinds great GeekThink ideas...

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ee3c/

I don't pay attention to that or anyone else's norms for that matter (what self respecting geek would?) most of the stuff my DD gets is 'boy' stuff

Oh, I don't pay attention to it when selecting gifts, of course. It just annoys the heck out of me.

Yersinia Pestis has been on my personal Christmas wishlist for many years.

{sigh}



Going into DD's stocking this year--

awww-- you didn't think that I was really going to spoil the surprise, right? She reads everywhere that I frequent, sadly. Teenagers.

Things which were popular with her in years past:

Dissection kits

Tape

Paper airplane book (with really awesome ideas and a discussion of the design/physics)

Crystal Radio kit

Solar insect/creature kits

Lego Minifigs

Playmobil minis-- especially quirky/ironic stuff. The Hazmat crew still lives on DH's desk at work. ROFL!

Gaming stuff-- minifigs, dice, etc.

Admission to a local exhibit or event

Software

The Pyraminx is quite a bit easier, but still hard enough to be interesting, I think.

Tantrix is a fun little puzzle that my daughter has enjoyed quite a bit.

We have hazmat too! And have you seen the new female scientist mini fig. Almost ordered it for myself

DeHe

My kids have been fighting over that minifig

Hexbugs are great fun, but it helps to have at least one "habitat" thing for them to run around in, and that part won't fit in the stocking.

I also got a set of Minecraft magnets -- 80 magnets on each of two sheets, in all the different types of blocks and mobs and stuff. I'm giving one sheet to each kid.

Yes!!

DD was ELATED to get that one.

When my son was somewhere around 8 or 9 (I can't remember) the favorite item Santa brought was a College Dictionary. And the first thing he did was take it to his bedroom and look up most of the "bad" words he could think of. The other adults thought I was nuts, but he got more millage out of that gift than anything else that year.

Speaking of crystal sets, there was a great bottle radio project on the make zine along with RadioShack components needed for it and instructions...

Have any of you been to RadioShack lately? they have seriously 'upgraded' with a ton of Arduino kits and other electrical toy/gizmo kits.

We got a lot of Hexbugs last year. They are fun. They like to make mazes out of blocks for them.

Radio Shack is right down the road from me! I'll have to stop by.

Oh, I thought of something else -- the book called "Pocket Ref" is just astounding.

Also, field guides for anything a person may be interested in -- birds, rocks, etc.

DS got rocks for several years when he was into them -- crystals, agates, geodes and such. And, of course, office supplies are a big hit with both of my kids -- markers, pens, stapler, and last year DS got two of those whiteout tape thingies from Office Depot, and for months DD wanted to go back and shop some more for herself. When the reading program prizes came along, she picked a gift certificate for The Depot (a hamburger place here) because she thought it was Office Depot.

I haven't really started on stockings yet this year, except for the Minecraft magnets.

The mention of Radio Shack makes me recall that one can find some cools things on jameco.com, and probably lots of other electronics websites. (little spider robot is an example of a low priced kit - $7.)

Not sure about Pocket Ref for the kids, but that is TOTALLY what I am getting my dad (and maybe DH)!!! Thanks!

Oh, DS fell in love with Pocket Ref when he was in 2nd grade and his math teacher gave him one.

Not gt-specific by any means, but puzzle erasers are a perennial hit around here.

If your child is picky, specific brands and styles of pencils or pens make an appearance in stockings at at birthdays, too.

Last year I got DD13 a bracelet usb-drive (32gb) and another one that was a really cute little owl.

She really liked that.

OT alert.

You guys got me curious about Playmobil minifigs so I googled. I suppose I do get the humor of some of them but I'm rather disturbed by some of the sets, especially by the Axe Man and The Policeman & Tramp. What were they thinking?

See, we like that kind of thing. It's admittedly odd, but then again, we're like that.

DD had Far Side collections before she was five, I think, and had seen The Holy Grail twice by the time she was 8 or 9.

Her favorite of the Minis from Playmobil (aside from the obvious winner of the fully tricked-out Hazmat team) is the Caesar one. Got that for her the year we saw Julius Caesar. {snicker} It sits on a shelf next to "Yorick" in her room.

Oh, I totally want the Hazmat team set, which seems to be a HTF retired item, and the Caesar is hilarious but the axeman pushes my limit of black humor for toys.

I can't decide if I want the Yoda Santa minifig. It's a bit creepy yet festive at the same time.

Aren't they a German company? They are not bound by American political correctness and shaped by German thought processes.

.I love playmobil, my kids never really got into it. One birthday I got a tiny set as a cake topper for my birthday cake (a shopping cart with a mom pushing it)...she has been called shopping cart mommy ever since...her shopping cart is long since lost. I also got a woman figure key chain with one of my orders and many times my younger son would play with her in waiting rooms and she started being called shopping cart mommy key chain.

Sweetie, yes, they are a German company. I'm not American but my SO often accuses me of American PC. :P

Going back to OT, this is not small enough as a stocking stuffer but me wants it:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/17...chtype=&gclid=CIOFqaeQr7sCFYVlfgod6CYAGQ

Take a look at some of the Lothar Meggendorfer stuff if you want to see disturbing LOL

Very ingenious mechanisms though - very Heath Robinson / Rube Goldberg.

SLOOH gift certs/cards. DD really enjoyed this during her astronomy/cosmology phase.

(not sure that she's entirely out of this phase, but she's not obsessed the way she was when she was 9-12)

We haven't done far side yet but DS just discovered our collection of Calvin and Hobbes. He is in heaven!

DeHe

We haven't tried far side yet although DH and I are big fans - DS just discovered Calvin and Hobbes - has been in hysterics for days!

DeHe

I am putting in a bookmark electronic dictionary, so DS can look up new words he comes across while reading, and a metal mini-puzzle. I bought both at Books A Million. The bookmark was around $20 and the puzzle maybe $5? A little pricey for a stocking, but I just put less stuff in to compensate. Oh! And, I also found a Minecraft mini-plush toy there that I'm putting in as well.

Is a harmonica geeky?

I don't know that I'd call it GEEKY, exactly. More like hipster.

In any event, DD8 sure loved hers.

DS loved his harmonica too. That was in the interested in music phase. But years later he still will dig it out - which is much more pleasant than when he digs out the accordion his grandmother gave him!

DeHe

I took a look and I wasn't exactly disturbed but fascinated. If I still could talk art history, I would have had something interesting to say but that part of my brain doesn't seem to work anymore.

*****

I couldn't think of anything especially geeky for DD for her stocking so she is getting mostly art supplies but I'm thinking of putting in a little card that says she now has a BrainPOP Jr subscription. She's been religiously watching the free videos for months and is always so sad that she can't access the other videos.

This tee shirt:-


Link

I just ordered some tardigrades from Carolina Science to go along with the new scope they are getting.

Mana, if your daughter happens to speak French, the French Brainpop site videos are free. It says they are free because it is the Beta version, but it has been around for a few years.

It's musical, and my DS loves his harmonicas. He started out by buying himself a nice starter one when he was 10, and then my parents started buying him good quality ones. At 14 he now has several as well as a good quality clarinet that he uses. Particularly when he is doing homework that required "thinking".

DD is beyond excited about finally being able to watch about all the planets and human body parts. She's already seen the digestion video 4 times. Thank you for saving me $85!!!