12 best gifts for kids
With the holiday season fast approaching, you may be stumped on what to get the amateur science sleuth in your life. Look no further than Mini Museum's Best Gifts for Kids! From prehistoric sea creatures to the breadth of human history, Mini Museum has got you covered.
Here is a list of 12 of our favorite gifts for kids, from glowing UV rocks, to a future paleontologist fossil collection, to a piece of Walt Disney's Home. With authentic specimens from across time and space, these gifts are sure to spark the imagination of the young scientists in your life!
Fantastic Pocket Fossils!
1 - Mini Mesozoic Monsters Bundle $20
Mosasaur, Spino, T-Rex, oh my! Featuring our brand new Mosasaur and Spinosaurus tooth pocket fossils, as well as our exclusive 3D printed T-Rex Tooth, the Mini Mesozoic Monsters bundle is the perfect gift to take on the go.
Perfect for Fossil Finders
2 - Future Paleontologist Fossil Bundle $59
400 million years in the making! With specimens like the beautiful, spiral ammonite and our exclusive 3D printed T-Rex Tooth, this bundle is sure to be a grand introduction any budding paleontologist's collection. It's the perfect gift for someone starting their collection, or anyone interested in dinosaurs!
Science rocks!
3 - Shining Syenite - UV Glow Rocks - Starts at $10
At first glance, these specimens seem like regular stones, but shine a UV light on them, and they reveal their true colors! These syenite rocks are imbedded with sodalite, a substance that glows a fiery orange under UV light. A perfect gift for someone interested in geology, or who might want to learn about our amazing planet!
For the bookworm...
4 - RELICS: A HISTORY OF THE WORLD TOLD IN 133 OBJECTS - $29.00
Looking for a little reading material? We've got you covered with Relics, Mini Museum's first full-length book. Covering four billion years of history, from the meteorites that formed in the early solar system to the breadth of human history. Relics is a great gift for any science fan and is also a fantastic introduction to the specimens sold here at Mini Museum!
12 Specimens in One...
5 - Mini Museum, Fifth Edition Small $149
This bite-sized Mini Museum holds a lot of history! From the bones of an Alamosaurus to a piece of the Kennedy Space Center, the MM5 is a fantastic gift! It includes 12 specimens from across the history of solar system, our planet, and humanity itself.
For the Disney Aficianado...
6 - Walt Disney Disneyland Cranberry Room Carpet) - $99
The man behind the Mouse! The creator of Mickey Mouse and countless other beloved and world-famous characters and films, Walt Disney is an icon of American culture. A piece of the striking ruby carpet of the "Cranberry Room" of his apartment above the Disneyland firehouse, this specimen is a must-have for any Disney fan!
Science can be shiny...
7 - Bismuth Crystal with Iridescent Oxide - $19
Prepared by hand in Colorado, this eye-catching specimen is Bismuth, element 83 on the Periodic table. While it is best known for use in pharmaceuticals (think Pepto-Bismol!) specimens such as these are also used in jewelry making as the crystals have a unique iridescent shine. This is a perfect gift for a budding geologist or chemist!
Everybody Poops...
8 - Megalodon Poop - Starts at $29
The Megalodon shark dominated the oceans of the world for over 20 million years. Reaching sizes upwards of 59 feet in length, the largest Megalodon jaw reconstruction measures 9 ft tall. With teeth topping out at seven inches, these predators ruled the sees, chowing down on everything in their path.
This specimen, scientifically known as a "coprolite," is the fossilized excrement from a megalodon. These fossils are important indicators of the prehistoric shark's territory and diet, and leave us clues about the wider food chain of the ancient ocean. The megalodon poop specimen is a great gift for anyone interested in these enormous predators!
A real meteorite...
9 - Chelyabinsk Meteorite - Starting at $29
Bolting through the Russian sky on February 15th, 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteorite is one of the most witnessed meteorites in recorded history. It weighed an estimated 13,000 tons and had a 66 foot diameter before it exploded in Earth's atmosphere. This specimen is a piece of the remains of the meteorite, and is a perfect gift for any amateur astronomer or astronaut!
For the amatuer Architect...
10 - Empire State Building - Starts at $69
First opened in 1931, the Empire State building towered over the rapidly growing Manhattan skyline, and at the time was the tallest building in the world. A great gift for the architecture or history enthusiast in your life!
For the shell finder...
11 - SHE SOLD SEASHELLS: THE CURIOUS MARY ANNING. RE-IMAGINED - $15.00
Another fantastic entry in the Mini Museum Library, She Sold Seashells, a picture book about Mary Anning! Anning was a foundational figure in early paleontology, discovering some of the first plesiosaur and ichthyosaur specimens. Best of all, Anning started her work when she was a young girl, making this a great gift for the budding paleontolgist in your life!
Let their imagination soar...
12 - Amelia Earhart Vega 5B Red Fabric $199
Last, but certainly not least, an exceedingly rare specimen from the world of flight! The second person to ever cross the Atlantic Ocean on a solo flight as well as the first woman to do so, Amelia Earhart's story is the stuff of legend.
Representing over 400 million years of fascination with history and culture, these gifts are sure to inspire the young scientist or historian in your life. Whether it's the feats of engineering and archaeology, such as the Empire State Building, bastions of culture like Walt Disney, early life on Earth, such as trilobites, or even just shiny crystals like syenite, science and history have something for every interest, striking inspiration and awe in all of us.
Looking for something else?
Didn't quite find what you were looking for? No worries! Mini Museum has got you covered with our Gifts For Dinosaur Lovers guide!
If you head over to the Holiday Gift Center you'll also find Gifts for Future Scientists, Gifts for Astronauts as well as Gifts for Paleontologists. Or if you're looking for something for Mom and Dad, we got you covered with Gifts for Moms and Gifts for Dads!