Sort of like Russian nesting dolls — if those dolls had an attitude and subsisted on one another – Foodchain Friends are adorably mean-spirited plush animals that (gulp!) really eat their own. Each Friend fits neatly into the maw of the one a step up the chain from it, and all three series in the line (”Alpha,” “Beta” and “Gamma”) can combine with one another. Unfortunately for the littler critters in each series, the outcome is always the same no matter how you pair them up.

$US19.99 (ages 3 and up) from ThinkGeek.

There’s still something to be said for smooshing together an entire tray of watercolors, but if you’re looking to teach the kids about colour mixing without making a mess, Water Blocks can make the job easier. The set includes square and half-circle blocks that hold water in the three primary colours — red, blue, and yellow — but when you hold the blocks together, you can watch the colours change and swirl while safely contained in their windows.

$39.99 from ThinkGeek.

For the Gen Y’ers out there, the Tauntaun was a creature slain by Han Solo during The Empire Strikes Back. Han saved Luke Skywalker from certain death in the freezing climate of Hoth by slitting open the belly of the dead beast and placing Luke inside the stinking (but warm) carcass. Gross, huh?

Well, the sleeping bag was only ever a joke prototype, which upset a whole lot of folks who wanted to wrap up their own little skywalkers in Tauntaun guts.

The good news is that ThinkGeek have bowed to geeky pressure and will attempt to create this wonderous piece of bed linen after all. You can register your interest here.

[Via Cakehead Loves Evil]

This Loading… Please Wait Maternity Shirt in black may be suitable for computer savvy women. Or not.

It’s not fashionable but I’m sure there are some expectant ladies out there who would wear this.

It’s $US23 at thinkgeek.com

Many a new parent has wondered why their new arrival didn’t come with a set of instructions. Why is it screaming? How do you make it stop? And what on earth is that smell?

If you know a geek who could benefit from such advice, presented with step-by-step instructions and helpful schematic diagrams, then check out the Baby Owner’s Manual by Louis Borgenicht, M.D. and Joe Borgenicht.

It’s available from Think Geek for $US13.99.

With older brothers like Gizmodo, Lifehacker and Kotaku, you could say that Babblebaby comes from a pretty geeky family. And I think I’m safe to assume many of our readers have nerd DNA too.

Which is why you might be just as excited as me to learn that shopping Nerdvana ThinkGeek.com has launched a kids section.

While there are some amusing onesies, our pick is this remote control solar system mobile. They say:

Now your kids (though it looks awesome in adult bedrooms, as well) can explore the wonders of the solar system right in their own room! They just have to look up at the ceiling and watch as all nine planets (well, eight planets and one sad ex-planet) orbit around the light-up sun. Your imps can listen as the audio CD takes them on a fascinating tour of our solar system. Use the included light-pointer to locate each planet and make comets and meteors streak through the night sky. And with the auto shut off feature, you can set it and forget it (while your little star babies drift off to sleep) and the planets will whirl and the sun will shine and the whole thing will stop after your children are in the land of nod. Zzzzzzzzz.

We say, w00t!