Happy Solstice and Merry Perihelion! This year, let’s work together to give the gift of science. While we’ve done our best to share independent creators, but we know there are somethings that just need to come from the warehouse or big box store. For those things, we are using an Amazon Affiliate link. Every shop or item we mention is a favorite to someone on our team.
Note: We will be adding to this guide over time!
Art
GetYourNerdOn
Combining clean design and STEM ideas, this art fills your mind and eases the eyes. Pamela would like you to know, she wants them all and can’t pick just one (or even 5).
JustOneScarf
Let’s start dreaming of coming somewhere other than here! You may have seen some of these posters behind Fraser Cain on stream, and we hired this artist for our Marscraft illustration. We just love this stuff.
NASA JPL: Visions of the future
Let’s keep dreaming of going somewhere other than here! Released in 2020, these 14 posters can be downloaded for free and printed up to 20″ x 30″.
NerdyNoveltyDesign
Accessorize with science! Cats. The Cosmos. Bring them together on oven mitts with NerdyNoveltyDesign. Suggested by Veronica_Cure, this Etsy store can help you find your own blue box.
PopChart on Etsy
Data is beautiful. PopChart makes perfect infographics for a wall near you, and there scratch-off posters can set you up with some challenges for the year to come (National Parks, anyone?). Their “Solar System Exploration” poster (shown) hung in the CosmoQuest offices for years.
RetroRamics on Etsy
Science, Science Adjacent (and other just cool ceramics are just a click away. Artists Carlene and Amy are a mother – daughter team that mix their personal styles in amazing ways. You have likely seen Pamela using many mugs from this site while on stream.
Books
Backyard Guide to the Night Sky
Beautifully told as only NatGeo can. We knew Andrew Fazekas was a great writer. We knew NatGeo has great imagery. We didn’t know how stunning the combo could be.
A City on Mars
“Can we settle space, should we settle space, and have we really thought this through?” Kelly & Zach Weinersmith ask all the right questions as they talk through space exploration and the human side of things… including “all too human” failings. Pamela plans to read this and let it inform her Marscraft.
FOR KIDS! Hidden Figures
“The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race.” This true story was previously told in a novel for adults and a movie… now make it into a bedtime story for your kidling.
FOR KIDS! How to Teach Grown-ups about Pluto
It’s time for the adults to learn something from their kid! This book by CosmoQuest friend Dean Regas, helps kids learn the arguments they need to teach us grown-ups that Pluto really really not like the worlds we label planet.
Humble Pi
Learn from others mistakes just why doing the maths matters! Matt Parker takes he readers on a wild adventure through things gone wrong when people figured “Meh, how bad could it be?” Folks, don’t yolo your engineering; we’ve got calculators for reasons. Get this for anyone who said, “I don’t need math.”
FOR KIDS! The Moon
Put the Moon in perspective and dream of going there! Co-written by Pamela and CosmoQuest researcher Sanlyn Buxner with colleague Georgiana Kramer, this book is just pretty and factual.
What if? 2
Silly questions with serious answers. If you’ve watched our streams long enough, you’ve seen our team contemplate the science of really random what ifs. In this amazing book, Randell Munroe does beyond random and straight into the silly in the best possible way. Trust us: You want to read this book and laugh.
Under Alien Skies
A rip-roaring tour of the cosmos with the Bad Astronomer. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel the universe? How would Saturn’s rings look from a spaceship sailing just above them? While traveling in person to most of these amazing worlds may not be possible―yet―the would-be space traveler need not despair: you can still take the scenic route through the galaxy.
Games
The Captain is Dead
Cooperate to save your starship and escape alien onslaught! In the spirit of games like Pandemic, The Captain is Dead challenges each player to use the skills of a specific crew member to help everyone survive together. Playable for up to 7 players.
Cosmic Encounter
The aliens define you! This game is worth getting just to look at the artwork, but if the art was terrible it would also be worth getting it for the joy of building a civilization through your own skills at diplomacy or war. This is not (necessarily) cooperative! 3-5 players.
The Crew – Quest for Planet Nine
Collaborate to find Planet Nine! In this game, like in the real world, researchers struggle to find a theorized Planet Nine. Help them out by completing 50 different missions. As a reminder, space is hard. 3-5 players.
Fallout Shelter the Board Game
Isn’t fun to imagine a nuclear apocalypse? Um…. Not everyone on our team understands the escapism of the Fallout games, but several folks swear by this series and more than one person said this table-top edition is full of joy.
Space Base
Sometimes you just need to transport goods and mine a good asteroid. Space Base puts you in the command seat as you work to build up a fleet to serve your 12 sectors. Pamela & Veronica Cure both recommend this resource building game. 2-4 players.