Our gift to you – a cracking Christmas gift guide

No one deserves the pain of trying to decide what to do with another gift card or plain old cash this Christmas. Give that special someone a little something from our Christmas gift guide that will ensure you can bask in the knowledge that you're the best gift giver of the season.

It’s that time of year again – you’re tossing up between cash in an envelope or a Coles Myer Gift card, trying to figure out which one best hides the fact that you’ve run out of gift ideas. But fear not! For we have the perfect list of Christmas gifts for lovers of science and ‘collectible things’… just for you.

For the cook: Molecular Gastronomy Kit

Want to turn your kitchen into a laboratory? Then the Molecular Gastronomy Kit is the perfect gift for you. Encouraging adults to play with their food, the kit allows you to deconstruct and modify the look and feel of any ingredient.

Espresso chocolate foam and kit showing additive packets, measuring spoons for creating molecular gastronomy.

Espresso pasta & foam with chocolate sponge cake – you’re limited only by your imagination.

For the kids: Make your own volcano + more

If you’re looking for something outside of the Minions/Frozen avalanche of gifts for your children, we have the store for you. From building their very own volcano, to a Tyrannosaurus Rex Excavation Kit and everything in between.

Build your own volcano box & trex excavation kit.

Not all good gifts are extinct.

For those that enjoy a [responsible] beverage: Surprise Flask

A surprise flask hidden in a chemistry book, what’s not to love? The bottle is etched with the molecular diagram of C₈H₈O_3,so you can really show off your science knowledge, drunky.

Liquor flask hidden in book — What Gutenberg probably envisioned when inventing the printing press.

For the family: Finska outdoor game

A simple yet addictive game that can be played outdoors with everyone? Such a thing does exist, and it’s called Finska. With a simple premise (first player or team to 50 points wins) but a healthy dose of strategy and skill required to get there, this game is perfect for all your upcoming barbecues and picnics with friends and family.

For people that need more T-Shirts: Mintage Vintage T-Shirts

Australian shop Mintage specialises in vintage look, unisex t-shirts. Featuring designs from a map of the stars to cute koalas, we think there is a tee here for everyone.

Scientist have actually proven you can never have too many t-shirts.

Scientists have actually proven you can never have too many t-shirts.

For everyone: A Colossal amount of gifts

Known as an art and design blog, The Colossal has branched out to a high quality gift shop online. From space tattoo sets and solar system lollypops, to a Fibonacci Dodecahedron print, The Colossal has a range of beautiful and detailed gifts to fit every science personality.

You can now have your planet and eat it too.

You can now have your planet and eat it too.

For really awesome people: Our 12 Books of Christmas

It’s not every day (or maybe it is… we don’t know your life) that someone handpicks a list of the most amazing and delightful books on offer from CSIRO Publishing – but in the true spirit of Christmas we have done just that.

While this isn’t our last post of year, we do hope you all have a wonderful and safe Christmas and New Year. And for those of you that might have missed some of the most draw dropping moments for science this year, we have helpfully compiled a list of our most prized posts for 2015 for your reading pleasure. Merry Christmas!

PS. For the adventurer: A Lifestraw (Personal Water Filter)

Unfortunately LifeStraw is closed for Christmas 2015, but we just couldn’t pass up telling you about it because it’s so cool. You can always think about it next year… if civilization makes it that far.

If you’re worried about lack of access to clean drinking water in the impending zombie apocalypse AND can’t think of what to ask for from (2016) Santa, then you need to check out the LifeStraw. This light-weight titanium straw can filter up to 1000L of water, transforming microbiologically contaminated water into clean drinking water. Perfect for campers, hikers and emergencies.