12+

Marbles have amused and educated children’s hands for thousands of years. These spheres of stone, clay and glass invite play and experiment. Leonardo, Galileo, Newton and Ada Augusta Ada, Countess of Lovelace, used marbles to explain how the world works.

A classic Marble Down (or Marble Tree) is a perfect way to learn the physics of a rolling object and the effects of gravity and inertia. Couple that with the ability to plan three dimensionally and test things for accuracy, and you have an exceptionally enjoyable experiment.

Create your own world of Minecraft in three dimensions with our building blocks and glue. Make a character you choose (Steve? Creeper? Enderman?) to keep you company you when you're playing online.

Common Sense Media rates Minecraft as a game for 8 years old and up.

Experiments from Arvind Gupta. Gupta is a brilliant Indian educator who translates the big ideas of science into toys that excite curiosity. Construct a magnetic top that makes magnetic objects dance. Discover which materials that are magnetic and which are not.
Test to see which work best.