Submitted by TF

Brain Quest was a series of awesome, hyper-popular flashcards for kids. According to Wikipedia, the original version sold 4.2 million copies within its first 16 months — pretty impressive for, well, flashcards. Brain Quest was available for grades 1 through 7, and later had subject-specific sets as well. The people who make Trivial Pursuit could learn a thing or two from Brain Quest question writers. The game featured a brilliant combination of facts, brain teasers, and critical thinking. In fact, Brain Quest was epic enough to overlook the fact that it was educational.

Submitted by Trinity Fish

Ant Farms were totally fascinating – watching the ants build their little ant society through the provided sand. Unfortunately, watching them build their Ant Metropolis was not as fascinating as watching them rebuild it…
Don’t lie to us, it’s a commonly known fact that for children the temptation to shake the Ant Farm heavily outweighs the moral implications of doing it. It’s only messed up if you didn’t feel at least a little bit bad about it afterward. Seek help if you yelled, “pwned!” when you were done.

Submitted and written by Aaron G

Remember playing with these in elementary school? I learned more from this thing than I did from all my college professors combined.

Submitted by Lisa G

It’s a shame that the Fisher Price Record Player isn’t still in production, so it could teach the kids of today an appreciation for records. We remember putting a record on just like our parents and dancing to the music, although the nursery rhymes were much harder to dance to. It was still fun to pretend we were our parents.

Submitted by Kacie H

“Two kittehs, an apple and an ice cream cone? No sale, sir!”

Remember putting all the “coins” into the slot and then having it give you change? Or having to pop the drawer open to get the coins out again?