(Photo: Courtesy of Mathmos)

The Best Bet
Mathmos’s new soporific Space Projector is like a modern version of a magic lantern, and an enchanting way to soothe the kids to dreamland. A slowly rotating color wheel projects pleasantly hypnotic shapes, from airplanes to soothing amorphous blobs (like the one seen here), onto the nursery wall. Its trance-inducing properties work equally well as ambient psychedelic décor for grown-up parties, so plug it in, cue up the new Basement Jaxx, and chill out ($135 at Hasker, 333 Smith St., nr. Carroll St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn; 718-222-5756).