Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on August 2009

Courtesy of Takara Tomy

We used to keep stick insects when we were kids, but we’d have traded those dreary twig-impersonating phasmids in a flash for one of these. The Ant’s Room educates children in the ways of the insect kingdom by letting a whole load of arthropods loose in a tub of fluorescent goo. Prepare said gloop by mixing the enclosed sachets with water and nuking everything in the microwave, then head to the park to rustle up a few ants. Once deposited in their new home, the insects should take between one and three weeks to turn it into a totally psychedelic colony of their own. Science lessons at school were never this fun… or trippy.
Ant’s Room, ¥1,575. Available from toy stores and Amazon Japan. www.takaratomy.co.jp/products/antsroom