“If all else fails, break open a puzzle” should be the mantra this winter when you’re looking for a way to unwind. Putting a puzzle together, or even just starting one, is the perfect weekend activity when you want to tune out the noise and focus in. For your screen-free enjoyment, Toy Chest in North Conway recommends products made by White Mountain Puzzle Company. They say the Jackson business makes top-notch puzzles, and many of their titles are New Hampshire-themed. For kids who enjoy science in action, the Pinball Machine Maker: Gumball Rally by Thames & Kosmos will make for an exciting gift. The build-your-own pinball machine uses gumballs as pinballs, and lets kids explore physics and chemistry, while playing pinball!

Item description:

A fun approach that combines sweet treats with cool science.

Explore lessons in physics and mechanical engineering with the sweetest pinball machine ever! Build your own customizable pinball machine that uses edible gumballs as the pinballs. Learn about force, motion, collisions, gravity, simple machines, and more as the gumballs bounce off bumpers, slingshot around spinners, ring bells, slide down tracks, and whiz around the obstacle course you create. The targets and accessories can be quickly repositioned into countless configurations, making it easy to test and refine your designs. The pinball machine’s spring-powered launcher and responsive flippers work like their real-life counterparts, propelling the gumball pinballs up, down, and all around! A central ramp rotates to direct the projectiles into three elevated playing areas and ultimately down the winning ramp, where the gumball can be claimed as a sweet prize. Did you miss your mark? Don’t worry! When gumballs fall out of play, a cool mechanism called an Archimedes screw stores them and moves them back toward the launcher again for a new game.

Special discount for New Hampshire Magazine readers:

Use code NHMGIFTGUIDE at checkout for 10% off The Pinball Machine Maker: Gumball Rally