Marbles: The Brain Store

The Sports Pro Gyro Exerciser (formerly known as Dynaflex) helps keep your brain and forearms from going to mush with repetitive hand motions that strengthen dexterity and coordination. But what the heck do your hands and forearms have to do with keeping your brain in tip-top shape, you ask? Good question. Your hands are critical receptor points for your brain and exercising them helps those receptor points stay sharp. Which means that the Sports Pro Gyro can help you strengthen your brain and build forearms like Popeye—all without downing obscene amounts of spinach! And the best part is you can do this fun wrist exercise while watching TV. Old school cartoons, anyone?

We think the makers of Linja should trademark the term “eco-brainy” to describe this game’s perfect combo of natural bamboo playing pieces and smart strategy elements that exercise the frontal cortex. Here’s how it works: Both players start with six pawns in their base and one pawn in each of the six spaces between both bases. The object of Linja is to place your pawns in your opponent’s home base or as close as possible to it. While this elegant game has simple rules, it forces players to think ahead and constantly calculate the highest value moves.

This book is packed with stimulating ideas to spark your creative imagination. You can complete the Mona Lisa's smile, or design your own Jackson Pollock-inspired work with a marble, a tray, some paint and paper. There are step-by-step instructions for how to draw a bird and how to give it an expression, as well a foolproof method for drawing a bicycle. For artists of all ages.

Let’s face it. You were never good at waiting your turn. So naturally, you spawned offspring with a penchant for impatience, too. Lucky for you and your impetuous progeny, both players get to play at the same time with Fastrack. This high-quality wooden game features strong elastic bands on each side of the racing-themed game board. Each player starts with five wooden disks and tries to fling them to their opponent’s side of the board using the aforementioned elastic bands and their very best hand-eye coordination skills. The first player to send all 10 disks to the other side wins the game.

If building a house of cards is more appealing to you than playing a full house on poker night, then the Skallops Starter Set is for you. Skallops are laser-cut clips made of high-quality sanded and finished birch plywood that let you connect any kind of playing card to make any kind of creation your mind can imagine. The set comes with 52 Skallops and a decks of playing cards. But if you have cards laying around the house with cartoon characters, kitty cats or other curiosities on the back, they’ll work just as well—not to mention add to the originality of your Skallops creations.<p><br/><em>Note: Card color varies.</em></p>