Looking for the perfect gift for a kid (or adult!) on your list who loves to fiddle with, build, or learn about things? Read on for some cool gifts for any science lovers…whether they actually realize it’s science or not!
Browse our best gifts for science lovers now or continue on for more exciting ideas!
Thinking Putty and Other Stocking Stuffers
No matter your budget, there are great gifts you can give! It doesn’t have to be a fancy microscope or big telescope – small gifts can mean the world, too.
Here’s an inexpensive but super fun gift that everyone will love to play with: Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty! This stretchy not-quite-slime putty demonstrates principles of a non-Newtonian substance – it can act more like a liquid as you hold it your hand, but then turn into a solid as soon as you try to tear off pieces. Add that it comes in color-changing and magnetic varieties, and you have a perfect gift for birthdays, stocking presents, and more.
Other creative low-cost gift ideas are a magnifying glass, Sea Monkeys, or a crystal garden.
Want even more clever gifts like these? Check out our Science Gift Guide! It’s filled with inspiring finds for curious minds of every age,
Best Gifts for Chemistry Lovers
One of the most exciting things about chemistry is how hands-on it can be. In fact, chemists (of all ages) love getting to mix up solutions in real glass beakers and test tubes. Even more exciting, they dream of creating fizzy, hissing, bubbling, color-changing reactions – which you can make possible with a complete chemistry experiment kit.
Here are a few options sure to satisfy the chemistry-loving ones on your gift list:
- A chemistry lab equipment kit with the real glassware and other tools to conduct their own experiments at home
- Molecular models for piecing together and picturing just how atoms bond
- Kits for doing specific really cool projects, such as Elephant Toothpaste or chemistry magic tricks.
Top Picks for Aspiring Geologists
If you’re shopping for someone more interested in the geology side of science, consider these “ground-breaking” (hee hee) options:
- A Rock Hound’s Backpack Kit with all the gear (including a rock pick) that they’ll need for hunting minerals in the wild
- A rock tumbler to polish up their finds and make rocks smooth and shiny
- Other cool gifts might be a deluxe mineral collection or crystally crack-open geodes (which also make an exciting gift for pretty much anyone)
Science Kits Make Cool Gifts
For the average science lovers, what could be better than a complete hands-on kit that comes with everything for conducting their own experiments?
Ones younger kids will delight in:
- Slime science kit (buy one or create your own slime-making kit with a bottle of glue, contact solution, food coloring, and containers)
- Anything involving magnets – or magnification
- Beginner robots (with some parental help) that they can program
Middle schoolers do tend to have definite opinions about what is or isn’t a cool gift, but here are a few we think they’ll love:
- Kits with everything for making their own rock crystal candy or gummy candy
- A robotic or cyborg hand they can build themselves
- Kits for making bath bombs, perfume, etc.
- A CSI kit for them to conduct their own investigations
And for older kids and adults try a paper making or microchemistry kit for fun but low-stress science gifts they can do after the kids go to bed.
Creative Picks for the Science Skeptic
The exciting thing about educational presents like these is that you can find cool gifts for even those who aren’t science lovers. At least, not yet!
For example, do you have an artistic person on your list? Sun print paper is sure to be a hit! What about someone with a sweet tooth? Give a make-your-own bubble gum kit! What about the LEGO enthusiast? Check out K’Nex or other building kits! You get the idea. (And going back to the beginning, Thinking Putty makes a fun gift for these folks, too!)
Of course for cool gifts for your true science lovers, there are these plus hundreds of other can’t-go-wrong-with options! From science-themed socks to beaker coffee mugs to rubber band race cars to deluxe chemistry kits, there is something for everyone to enjoy. You can even explore gifts for biologists or search for age-specific gift ideas.
