While studying the physics behind the classic drinking bird can be a challenging task, as far as science toys go this little guy can’t be beat. This thermodynamic toy (sometimes called a dippy bird) has been around for at least five decades. If you’ve never seen one in action, do a quick search on youtube […]

If you haven’t played with one of these in a while, you may have forgotten just how cool this toy is. As far as educational toys go, there really are a lot of scientific principles at work here. Angular momentum, centripetal force, precession, and quite a few more. Here’s a crafty little youtube video showing […]

I’ve never been what folks in the industry call a gamer. I’m dating myself a bit, but the only two gaming systems I’ve ever owned were the Atari 2600 (in middle school) and a Sega Genesis (right after college). I’ve certainly been tempted to pick up one of the new systems whenever the newest, latest […]

This is one seriously advanced experimental science kit. If you’re thinking about introducing your child to a study of some of our more renewable energy sources, you can’t go wrong with this kit. In this, one of the coolest science kits available anywhere, you get to put a basic model car together- then add a […]

Like many of you, I like to read a few reviews about a product before commiting to a purchase. I did this with Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm Gel Colony and was surprised to see so many bad reviews at Amazon. But for me, the lure of this ant farm was just too cool to pass […]

While the toy industry is fairly seasonal and toy recalls can dominate the media during the holiday peak season, it helps consumers to remember that recalls happen throughout the rest of the year as well. This is another instance of– if an organization is doing their job well, we rarely hear about it. For example, […]

The toy industry is a multi-billion dollar market and consumers often find themselves bombarded with the latest and greatest toys from the major players in the industry. While I have never had anything against toy cars or dolls, and in fact my children have plenty of both, I am always on the quest to provide […]

In the interest of full disclosure, the author of this article is the owner of Atomic Elephant Toy, a store offering science kits and educational toys for children of all ages. — As parents, how many of us have been disappointed shortly after the purchase of a toy for our child that he or […]

For these live animal kits and other science kits, visit Atomic Elephant Science & Toy Co. — Now the long and short of it about Triops. Family: Triopsidae, Order: Notostraca, Class: Branchiopoda, Subphylum: Curstacea, Phylum: Arthropoda, Kingdom: Animalia. In simpler terms, they are crustaceans. They look almost like small horseshoe crabs but with three eyes. […]

Note: for similar science kits and toys mentioned in this article, visit Atomic Elephant Science & Toy Co. — For centuries, students and inventors alike have been intrigued by the idea of a perpetual motion machine. Alas, the second law of thermodynamics has held up to the test of time. It can be written in […]