Has your Dad, grad, or kid always wanted to be a secret agent—or at least, MacGyver? Here are some books that will keep budding engineers, inveterate tinkerers and wannabe scientists busy entertaining themselves and their friends for months: the “Sneaky” series and Spitball Warfare.
Super Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things: Power Devices with Your Plants, Modify High-Tech Toys, Turn a Penny into a Battery, and More (4/5 stars, currently priced at $7.69)
Includes never-before-seen activities, including Sneaky Fashion such as Light-up Nails and Sneaky Belts and Bracelets.
Over 30 new inventions are outlined inside Super Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things, and most projects can be completed in just minutes using common items already found around the house.
Each activity begins with a complete list of materials and continues with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions paired with helpful illustrations.
Fans of all ages will use their ingenuity to turn ordinary, everyday objects into something extraordinary with the help of Super Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things.
Sneakiest Uses for Everyday Things: How to Make a Boomerang with a Business Card, Convert a Pencil into a Microphone and more (4/5 stars, currently priced at $7.69)
For folks who wonder why they keep tossing odds and ends in that junk drawer in the kitchen, Sneakiest Uses for Everyday Things offers evidence that technology doesn’t always have to come from Best Buy, Amazon.com, or Microsoft. –U.S. News and World Report
* Putterers, would-be inventers, and science-fair parents rejoice as Cy Tymony offers fifty new projects to bring out your inner MacGyver.
In the third book in Cy Tymony’s Sneaky Uses series you will learn how to turn a piece of paper into a Frisbee, a business card into a boomerang, a TV tray into a robot, and more.
* Beginning with a complete list of materials and continuing through easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions paired with helpful illustrations, most projects will be completed in just minutes using common items found around the house.
* Teachers, parents, scout leaders, and enterprising youngsters will use their ingenuity to turn ordinary, everyday objects into something extraordinary, like a pencil into a microphone, Walkman ear buds into an intercom, or a telephone cord into a motor. The book also includes bonus alternative-energy projects and a foreword by NPR’s Science Friday host Ira Flatow.
Sneaky Science Tricks: Perform Sneaky Mind-Over-Matter, Levitate Your Favorite Photos, Use Water to Detect Your Elevation (4/5 stars, currently priced at $7.69)
Author and delightfully mad scientist Cy Tymony combines the fun of his Sneaky Uses series with a host of fascinating science facts and resourceful tricks in Sneaky Science Tricks, a uniquely entertaining and educational how-to guide for the sly and curious among us.
This time, Tymony has concocted an ingenious bag of tricks that includes a helicopter, a hand-powered fan, a clever moon direction trick, and many, many other shrewd navigation tools and tons of sneaky trivia on plants and animals, geography, and physics.
Each nifty project in the book comes complete with detailed, easy-to-follow instructions and illustrations that fully demonstrate the step-by-step process, making Sneaky Science Tricks an ideal guidebook for sneaky scientists of all ages.
Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction: Build Implements of Spitball Warfare (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $8.55)
With the advent of modern household products and office supplies—binder clips, clothespins, rubber bands, ballpoint pens, toothpicks, paper clips, plastic utensils, and matches and barbeque lighters—troublemakers of all stripes have the components needed to build an impressive, if somewhat miniaturized, arsenal.
Detailed, step-by-step instructions for each project are provided, including materials and ammo lists, clear diagrams, and construction tips. The 35 devices include catapults, slingshots, minibombs, darts, and combustion shooters—build a tiny trebuchet from paper clips and a D-cell battery, wrap a penny in a string of paper caps to create a surprisingly impressive “bomb,” and convert champagne party poppers and pen casings into a three-barreled bazooka.
Finally, plans are provided for a top secret concealing book to hide your stash, as well as targets—cardboard critters, big-headed aliens, and zombies—for shooting practice. Never let your cubicle, home office, or personal space go undefended again!
“We love this MacGyverization of office supplies, and the book is probably the perfect Christmas gift for the man who has nothing, or the cubicle monkey in your life.” —Charlie Sorrel, Wired.com
“Mini Weapons is the Holy Grail: a beautifully illustrated guide for making all manner of miniature munitions, from slingshots and catapults to mines and bazookas, with supplies that can be found in any household, office, or classroom.” —Gizmodo.com
Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction 2: Build a Secret Agent Arsenal (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $8.51)
Culling common household items to create an uncommon arsenal of miniature gadgets and sidearms, this guidebook provides do-it-yourself spy enthusiasts with 35 different surveillance tools and weapons.
From a mini-catapult in a breath-mint tin to milk-jug cap blow-dart wristwatches, this handbook details how to achieve clandestine ends practically and inexpensively. In addition to creating weapons such as periscopes, bionic ears, and grappling hooks, spies-to-be will find ideas on how to hide their stash—a deck of cards, a false-bottom soda bottle, or a cereal box-brief case—and tips for target practice.
Clear diagrams and instructions make construction simple, while easy-to-follow safety tips help ensure DIY builders avoid injuries. Projects include a paper throwing star, a bowler hat launcher, and a Q-tip blow gun.