Gallery: Wish List: The Best Holiday Gifts for Embiggening Your Brain
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### Eames House of Cards Charles and Ray Eames were obsessed with modularity and spent long hours designing for kids. Those two passions are perfectly married in their House of Cards. Each brightly illustrated piece is cut with six slits so they can be slotted together. Pro tip: To build the best houses, you’re going to want more than one deck. *— Staff Pick: Cliff Kuang, Senior Editor, Design* $25 and up | [Eames House of Cards](http://eamesoffice.com/toys/)  Justin Fantl
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### Metaphys Locus 3Way Pen Yeah, you already carry a pen for signing checks or inking notes on your hand. But this multitool from Japanese design firm Metaphys flies in the face of writing-utensil status quo. The scribbler morphs between ballpoint pen, mechanical pencil, and soft eraser by simply rotating its mid-section. $54 | [Metaphys Locus 3Way Pen](http://www.metaphys.jp/product/en/)  Justin Fantl
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### Kaleidograph Flora and Crystal Something for the budding cubo-futurist on your gift list: these colorful die-cut cards, which you layer and arrange to create different patterns. The stacked groups of cards can be displayed as art or used for abstract inspiration. Even better: Bust out the markers and use individual cards as stencils for large-scale drawing projects. $15 per set | [Kaleidograph Flora and Crystal](http://www.kaleidographdesign.com/)  Justin Fantl
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### Formlabs Form 1 Real talk: You’re probably not going to 3-D-print your next phone. But the Form 1 is still great fun—especially since it’s ready to go right out of the box and comes with software even non-engineers can use. $3,300 | [Formlab Form 1](http://formlabs.com/products/our-printer)  Nadya Fujishiro
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### General Manufacturing Tybee Jump Rope Forget about those plastic, beaded death whips you used in grade school. The Tybee jump rope is constructed from a much more pleasing (and skin-friendly) combination of materials: a leather cord, walnut handles, and paracord grips strengthened in hot water. $65 | [General Manufacturing Tybee Jump Rope](http://www.genmfg.co/products/tybee-jump-rope-rainbow)  Nadya Fujishiro
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### Lego Mindstorms EV3 Normal Legos are great for building robot-shaped structures that don’t move. But with Lego Mindstorms you can build a motorized, programmable bot that walks, talks, and can be controlled via Bluetooth. A 3-D, interactive building app makes the creation process even cooler. Base Kit: $350. Additional sensors and motors cost extra | [Lego Mindstorms EV3](http://www.lego.com/en-us/mindstorms/products/ev3/31313/)  Justin Fantl
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### Areaware Puzzlehead The faces in this puzzle were inspired by the work of cartoonist Richard McGuire, who has drawn many a New Yorker cover. The monochrome design of the pieces makes assembling them into a 1-foot square fiberboard picture something like CrossFit for your visual cortex. $40 | [Areaware Puzzlehead](http://www.areaware.com/products/puzzlehead) ### Man Ray Chess Board And Pieces First released in 1920, this game set by avant-gardist Man Ray replaces ho-hum tokens with abstract stand-ins. Queens become conical head-dresses, curvy flasks represent bishops, and rooks are basic cubes. Hey, symbologists need some holiday cheer too. $590 | [Man Ray Chessboard and Pieces](http://www.amazon.com/Man-Ray-Chess-Board-Pieces/dp/B00AZNTHKG) ### Vintage Edition Scrabble This reimagining of the classic 1930s version of Scrabble sports a style that’s aged to perfection. It has all the same beloved gameplay plus a wooden base, metal tile racks, and a storage drawer in the main unit. Don’t worry, you can still upend the board when you lose. $200 | [Vintage Edition Scrabble](http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod190063)  Justin Fantl
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### NPW Pocket Microscope Studying grasshopper antennas and the vascular structure of leaves isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Unless, of course, the microscope you’re carrying was designed for portability. This 6-inch pocket model has a point-and-view design that delivers 30X magnification for highly mobile pollen perusal. $14 | [NPW Pocket Microscope](https://www.npw-usa.com/product/W6506/Pocket-Microscope)  Nadya Fujishiro
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### Sodastream Source Fans of bubbly water swear by SodaStream’s do-it-yourself system. The latest version has been fully reimagined by design boss Yves Béhar but still offers the same feel good message about saving money and the planet. It boasts a refashioned bottle, and you can dial in your desired level of fizziness via the LED interface. $130 | [Sodastream Source](http://www.sodastreamusa.com/Source-Machines-C67.aspx)  Nadya Fujishiro
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### LittleBits Deluxe Kit Ayah Bdeir wanted an easy way to teach engineering to kids. The result is littleBits, tiny electronic modules that snap together magnetically. They can be mixed and matched with household miscellanea to make everything from a Ferris wheel to a pizza-box phonograph. $200 | [LittleBits Deluxe Kit](http://littlebits.cc/kits/deluxe-kit)  Nadya Fujishiro
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### Super Mechanical Range Stick this in your turkey and monitor the breast meat’s progress toward perfection via the companion iOS app. Super- mechanical’s thermometer not only tells you the temperature of food but also lets you save the data from every trip through the oven—think of all the failed attempts at beef Wellington you can graph. $60 | [Super Mechanical Range](https://scooter.supermechanical.com/preorder)  Justin Fantl
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### On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee Blanching asparagus? Boring. Harold McGee’s classic cookbook offers a crash course on the chemistry and science behind food preparation. Learn about egg-yolk structure, sugar crystal formation, pepper production, beer brewing, and hundreds of other topics that’ll turn you into a culinary Curie. $40 | [On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee](http://www.amazon.com/On-Food-Cooking-Science-Kitchen/dp/0684800012)  Justin Fantl
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### 3-D Dinosaur Cookie Cutters Elementary schoolers will dig this edible paleontology construction project. Each set of cookie cutters includes multiple pieces to ensure that the prehistoric reptiles don’t topple over. Your kid will forgive the occasional liberty taken with dino anatomy if it’s slathered with frosting. $12 | [3-D Dinosaur Cookie Cutters](http://www.amazon.com/Dinosaur-Cookie-Cutters-Suck-UK/dp/B00AEC7KC0)  Justin Fantl
Photo: Kendrick Brinson/WIRED14wl-getsmart-14f
### Draw 50 Animals Iv'e been "learning" to draw forever, but my zoological pick mountains still doodles look like sundaes, and bunnies ... don’t ask. As a kid I always wanted the book Draw 50 Animals, which breaks down com- plex forms into simple elements. But I never got it. Then it went out of print. Hey, Mom: Guess what’s back in stores? $10 | [Draw 50 Animals](http://www.amazon.com/Draw-Animals-Step-Step-Elephants/dp/0823085783)  Justin Fantl
