The 2025 Holiday Gift Guide

Happy Thanksgiving from the CSWA. We hope this holiday weekend is full of family, fun, and gratitude. We are thankful for you.

As we begin the holiday shopping season, Emily Rice with STARtorialist is back with suggestions for gifts for every science fan in your life. STARtorialist is a women-owned shop founded by astronomers Emily Rice and Summer Ash. This season, spread joy and the love of science through these unique and fun gift ideas. STARtorialist is having a 20% sale through November 30.

For Kids:

Our favorite gift for kids is the perfect combination of learning & fun! A delightful space book written by a real scientist (or two), plus a cuddly pal that is surprisingly scientifically accurate! With 16 plush planets (and more) and 8 books to choose from, the possible combinations are astronomical! Bigger kids will also love our card games, which are fun for the whole family!

Photos courtesy of STARtorialist

Emily's featured family-owned small business: Celestial Buddies.

Find more space-themed plush toys, stickers, puzzles, and more for children. 

For Teens: 

Today's teens are rediscovering analog joys, and you can help them explore space the same way with a detailed coloring book of real space images and coordinating colored pencils in Metallic Mars or Space Swirls. We also offer dozens of notebooks and postcard sets for retro communication. 

They may groan, but no one is too cool for a fun pair of socks!

Photos Courtesy of STARtorialist

Emily's featured women-owned small business: Cepheid Studio. Find beautiful, handcrafted gifts for teens from a selection of jewelry, pillows, cards, and more. 

For Adults:

Every dedicated space fan needs authentic astronomical details in unexpected places, like these Cosmic Image knives and accessories. 

Give jewelry that is beautiful, meaningful, and unique with these classic and modern designs featuring authentic meteorites.

Photos Courtesy of STARtorialist

Emily's featured women-owned small business: Yugen Handmade. Yugen Handmade features stunning jewelry for the space enthusiasts in your life.

Other sites with gifts for science and space enthusiasts:

Kurzgesagt - the YouTube science channel - also has a shop full of fun and brightly colored "sciencey" gifts. 

Emily Calandrelli, aka the Space Gal, offers fun items focused on girls and women, including her own Space Gal plushie, Emily's Science Lab gifts, and More Women Astronauts gear.

A Mighty Girl offers a gift guide for babies, kids, and teens with fun gifts centered on empowering girls.

We hope you enjoy the holiday season and find a few special items to share science and astronomy with the special people in your life.

Happy Holidays!

Gratitude and Giving for the Holidays

A message to our readers from members of the CSWA and editors of AASWomen: As we enter the holiday season in the United States and other parts of the world, we wish everyone health and happiness.

In a tradition going back almost 10 years (and maybe longer), Women in Astronomy is providing a gift-giving guide to help you with your holiday shopping. Links and ideas are listed below and feel free to tell us about your favorite gifts in the Comments section.

STARtorialist continues to provide a universe of Astro-fashion! STARtorialist is a women-owned small business founded by professional astronomers to curate space- and science-themed products, support independent designers, and contribute to STEM education and outreach. New (to me) this year? JWST-themed drinking glasses (and more!), JWST-themed clothing, and Artemis items.

Image Credit: Dreamtime

Space.com recently posted its 2023 list of best telescopes. Check out the guide from Sky & Telescope first, though, so the telescope doesn't end up as a doorstop. 

Sky & Telescope magazine offers annual print and digital subscriptions and a variety of  maps and globes in its shop. Speaking of maps and globes, check out Mova's light-powered rotating globes! The lucky recipient will think them out of this world!

For the youngsters (and those young at heart), A Mightly Girl, which boasts "the world's largest collection of books, toys and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls", continues to have a wide selection of science toys and kits, free (yes, FREE!) posters celebrating women role models and mighty women in STEM, and children's book about girls and women in science. Crazed about Barbie? Mattel's Career Dolls series includes scientists, pilots, and doctors.

Penguin Random House publishers has a list of "Stellar Books That Take Place in Space"; space.com published its best books for 2023; and Goodreads has a list of popular space books. Are your favorite books on any of these lists? If not, add the title and author in the Comments section.

Perhaps you know someone who just needs to get away. Maybe that someone is you. Check out some locations that support astrotourism. Going Cosmic, "a one-stop global forum for all aspects of astrotourism... that provide[s] a range of unique features to help celebrate our world and others", has a list of unusual holiday ideas to add stargazing to your travel plans.

Image Credit: mamacheaps.com

Or maybe staying in is the holiday gift. Marie Claire published a list of the 44 best space movies of all time. Buy some space candy, make some galaxy popcorn, and settle in!

BTW, the Van Cleef and Arpels astronomical watch (with accurate orbits of the planets around the Sun), which we mentioned in our 2016 Holiday Gift Guide, is still available. Just sayin'.

Need more ideas? Check out GeekWrapped's best space & astronomy gifts, and NASA's on-line Space Shop lets you shop, well, for space things. Finally, an extensive list with other ideas was posted in our 2014 Holiday Gift-giving Guide, so check that out, too!