Toy Fair: Science!

By Lisa Fary

One year I begged for a chemistry set for my birthday or for Christmas of just to prove that my parents loved me. This was back before I learned that xx chromosomes were an obstacle to science and that my life was predestined for English studies and a traditionally feminine helping profession.

I was also, however, a klutz of unmeasurable proportions. Any toy involving liquids, powders, glass test tubes and beakers was predestined to wind up on my mom’s braided area rug, in the fish tank, and in my hair (along with my bubble gum). Obviously, I didn’t get a chemistry set.

There was no childhood ant farm in my life, either. We lived in San Diego back then and had kitchen ant infestations about twice a year. Who needs an ant farm when you had a regular ant ranch in the kitchen?

Since then, the classic chemistry set and ant farm have come a long way. I jiggled with glee whenever I saw one at Toy Fair last week – since there were so many of them, I must have looked like I was having a seizure. Seriously, there were a lot of science kits on display, covering everything from cosmetics to global warming to astronomy. These are some of my favorites:

(Note: the pics were taken on my cell phone and the lighting inside Javits Center was pretty awful.)

Uncle Milton, the company that brought us the classic ant farm, has a ling of Star Wars science kits. These are the new products for this year.

Ant Farm Habitat

Your classic ant farm with a Geonosis or Felucia backdrop.

Death Star Planetarium

Projects the Milky Way galaxy on your ceiling. On another setting, the planetarium projects the Star Wars galaxy.

Holographic Animation Lab

A modern take on the zoetrope, this kit demonstrates how animation works with pre-printed disks and gives kids a chance to try it themselves with their own drawings.

Mini-Lightsaber Tech Lab

This one is fairly self-explanatory: build a mini-lightsaber.

Clone Trooper Recon Kit

Designed for backyard science adventures. The kit comes with a transparent collection tube, a soil sifter, a magnifier, and “special reconnaissance tool” (oversized plastic tweezers for picking up bugs and such).

I typically don’t think “science” when I think of Star Wars (my SW thoughts are “WHYYYYYY?”). And while the SW beast has been marketed practically to the cellular level, I really like the SW science kits because they make science accessible to kids by putting it in a recognizable context.

Thames and Kosmos has some of the most awesome and varied science lab kits for every age level. You can see their website for the full range of products, but these are my favorites from Toy Fair.

Sophisticated Science

What I like about the perfume and cosmetics kits is that these traditionally girly things are, in fact, science. The Perfume Science kit has 22 experiments. The Creative Cosmetics kit has 30 experiments.

Environmental

The Global Warming kit has 23 experiments about the Earth’s climate, why it changes, and how human action affects it.

Also in this line are the Wind Power Lab, Hydropower Lab, Sustainable Earth Lab, and Power House Lab. Obviously, I really dig this line.

Electronics

The intro workshop (green packaging) includes 148 experiments set within a storyline on board a space station, which is a really cool way to learn science. The advanced kit (purple packaging) has 313 independent experiments.

Genetics and DNA

20 experiments for the girl who’s eager to build her own clone army. And what girl isn’t?

Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s almost 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.

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