19 Unique Gifts for Chemists and Chemistry Lovers
Chemists and chemistry majors love to get nerdy chemistry-themed gifts that help display their passion for chemistry! That's why our top picks are this chemistry pocket tool and chemistry word magnets - both of which will let them celebrate chemistry in their every-day lives!
This list ties together our favorite gifts for scientists from around the internet. Some are our own Genius Lab Gear inventions and some we’re just jealous we didn’t think of first! Some links in this page contain affiliate links, which means that any purchase of the items after clicking the link will result in a small monetary referral fee paid back to Genius Lab Gear at no cost to you. We appreciate your support which allows us to continue inventing and testing the best tools for chemists on the planet!
Last updated: May 23rd, 2026
1. The Pocket Chemist - Molecule Stencil and Chemistry Pocket Reference
If you've already spent hours looking for gifts for chemists, chemistry teachers or chemistry students, you can stop here.
"This would have made my life 10x easier!" - said one chemist during our first Instagram giveaway. The only solvent-proof and wallet-sized organic chemistry stencil available, this little tool will help your favorite chemistry teacher or professor draw beautiful chemical reactions and save them time referencing important physical constants.
Not sure? It was even featured in the 2019 Holiday Gift Guide from the authority Chemical & Engineering News magazine!
You can also add a custom logo to this for events, networking, or promotional giveaways! Custom orders start at 100 pieces - just email us for more info.
To see how it's used, check the 45-second video below:
Get it with free shipping from our website or on Amazon using the links below!
The Pocket Chemist at Genius Lab Gear
The Pocket Chemist from Amazon
How to use The Pocket Chemist – Full Feature Guide
2. Chemistry Word Magnets for the fridge or fume hood
Science-themed gifts are rarely as entertaining and enduring as our science-themed word magnet sets! We recently launched these to encourage creativity and self-expression in labs, classrooms and offices. Each specialty pack comes with 144 tiles carefully designed by a PhD in that field for technical accuracy and tacit absurdity.
The Chemistry Word Magnet set was designed with help from professional chemists and chemistry teachers, who chose words to make it both science-y and humorous. These are just plain fun!
Also now available on Amazon.
3. The Periodic Table in real photos by Theodore Gray
Want to bring the Periodic Table to life in their office or workspace?
This iconic periodic table poster by author Theodore Gray shows real photos of every stable element painstakingly collected and photographed in high resolution. It's been seen in the chemistry lab of Hannah Montana, the office of the Mythbusters, and is in thousands of classrooms worldwide.
We have the exclusive license from Theo to print and ship these to our fans, so grab your Periodic Table poster from our store here.
4. Periodic Table of Elements Lanyard
Take your lanyard to the next level with this colorful and fun element theme! The lanyard's black background lets the periodic table of elements pop on each side. It's a little sciencey splash for your next conference or keeping your badge safe around the office.
5. Pipette Ninja or Marie Curie stickers
Are they a pipette ninja? Someone who deftly transfers precise volumes of liquids to and from a chemical reaction? Designate them an official Pipette Ninja with our Pipette Ninja sticker!
Marie Curie was a Nobel prize-winning chemist (and physicist) who shattered the glass ceiling and stayed true to her passions for scientific discovery. This Marie Curie silhouette sticker coveys a cute but meaningful message - "Stay Curie-ous" in honor of her life and mission.
Both of these are perfect for adding to a laptop, thermos or notebook!
6. Serotonin Molecule Necklace
Any chemistry teacher who loves nerdy jewelry will be overjoyed to have the molecular structure of the "happiness" chemical as a necklace! This particular one is the highest-reviewed on Amazon and comes in black, silver, gold and rose gold (shown below).
7. Culinary Reactions: The Everyday Chemistry of Cooking
This book finally made cooking enjoyable for me. It's always been one of those imprecise arts where you just follow the directions and hope to get it about right. As a scientist, understanding what I'm doing is paramount. This cookbook walks you through the chemistry behind your every-day cooking recipes so you can make adjustments and improvements by logic, not guesswork! Any chemistry teacher or professor would love to have this book to apply their advanced knowledge of chemistry to something they do every day.
8. New 100% Cotton Lab Coats designed for Scientists
If chemists work in a laboratory, they usually wear lab coats daily. And the truth is, most of them hate their lab coats. We even have data showing that poorly fitting lab coats can make young students feel like they "don't belong" in science.
We know how important it is that someone's 1st lab coat makes them feel great, and enables their passion rather than causing frustration. That's why we spent 3 years designing and modifying a lab coat that scientists love! Released in 2024, the Louis and Curie lab coats are consistently reviewed as "the best lab coat I've ever had".
For Chemistry 101 students and those going to their first organic chemistry lab class, the quick-release snaps, higher collar, and extra wrist coverage give an extra level of safety compared to your average Amazon lab coat! The two versions are tailored to fit male and female builds differently, with a wide size range and adjustable belt so their 1st lab coat won't be their last.
9. The Chemistry Book by Derek B. Lowe
This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves chemistry. It chronologically steps you through 250 major achievements in chemistry with a single-page essay and accompanying image or artwork. It's a way for someone to relive the discovery and cheer on chemists of the past as the author winds you from the Bronze Age to modern times. Consider this an essential reference book for any chemistry educator's bookshelf.
10. Periodic Table Engraved Bamboo Cutting Board
Cooking has a lot of similarities to chemistry, and many chemistry teachers love to cook for the same reason. This Periodic Table Engraved Bamboo Cutting Board is specifically made for chemistry fans to use in the cooking experiments! We love that you can use the blank side to chop food then use the engraved side as a fun serving tray. Also, it is made of 100% natural bamboo so it’s more sustainable than other hardwoods.
11. Chemist's Spice Rack
This rack will spice up their life This chemistry spice rack comes with a 14-piece set that contains 9 test tubes for spices, 4 Erlenmeyer flasks for sugar, salt, pepper, and oil, and a carrying tray. It also comes with 36 stickers that label a variety of potential ingredients in a periodic table style, ranging from cinnamon (Ci) to turmeric (Tu), making it ideal for a culinary wizard.
12. Rocketbook Matrix cloud-connected reusable paper notebook
This is my favorite clever invention. It was inevitable. Rocketbook finally solved the problem of merging your hand-written notes into your favorite digital services. You simply use their app to take a photo of your pages of notes and the QR code and marked symbols on each page trigger the app to send the digitized page to any of the 9 pre-set digital destinations you choose. This includes OneNote, Evernote, Google Drive, Dropbox and even specific emails. Want a shortcut to send notes via email straight to your colleague or boss? This is what you’re looking for.
The Rocketbook Matrix is my personal favorite because it's designed for more technical work. It's got 30 pages of graphing paper and one regular lined page for taking notes, plus a built-in ruler on the inside cover. Did I mention they are reusable? Use their "Pilot Frixion" pens and then wipe the page with a damp cloth after uploading your notes to use it all over again (and win one for the environment!).
Check the price on Amazon.
13. Lab Coat Pocket Protector
The venerable Pocket Protector became a geeky cultural icon in the 1960's and 1970's, but somewhere along the way people forgot about them. Scientists and chemistry teachers need these to stay organized, stay efficient, and protect their lab coats. So we researched and tested every type ever made to methodically solve each problem and come up with this refreshed design.
Available in spruce green, sapphire blue, and faded pink - the top 3 colors voted on by our fans! You can even get it from our Amazon page if that's easier.
Check the price on Amazon.
14. Chemistry Gift Bundle
If you can't decide by now, I can still help! Consider this decision made. I put together a Chemistry Gift Bundle just to make it easy for you. It includes the Pocket tool and Word Magnets from above, plus a few fun science stickers. You'll save over 20% by bundling them together, so consider this decision made!
- Chemistry Word Magnets
- Science Basics Word Magnets
- Starter Word Magnets (144 tiles of connector words)
- The Pocket Chemist Organic Chemistry Stencil (Homework Edition)
- The Pocket Chemist Organic Chemistry Stencil (Exam Edition)
- Pipette Ninja sticker
- Science is for Everyone sticker
- Stay Curie-ous Marie Curie sticker
15. Subatomic Card Game
Chemists are some of the biggest deck-builders I know, even if they don't realize that's what bench science is. Subatomic is a deck-building game from Genius Games where players construct elements from quarks and photons, and you can hire scientists like Curie, Bohr, and Einstein to break the rules. Designed with input from working scientists. A satisfying gift for the chemist who can identify any structure on a chalkboard but rarely sits down to actually play with subatomic particles.
16. Ion Card Game
Most chemists I know can name any compound on a whiteboard, but Ion gets even them stuck on the first play. It's a card-drafting game from Genius Games where you build real ionic compounds by combining cations and anions or completing noble gas sets. Every compound buildable in the game is one that actually exists, which is the kind of design choice that makes a chemist sit up. A great gift for the chemist on your list who wins every round of “name that compound” without trying.
17. Periodic Card Game
I'm recommending Periodic specifically for the chemist with strong opinions about Mendeleev, which is to say almost all of them. It's a strategy board game from Genius Games where players move across the actual periodic table, using atomic trends like radius and mass to claim element sets. Mensa Recommended, designed with input from working scientists. A natural pick for the chemist on your list who keeps a giant periodic table somewhere visible and wants a game that respects it.
18. Heritage Periodic Table (83 Element Embedments)
Did you know there's a framed periodic table that contains 83 real element samples, including antique radium-painted watch hands for radium and a ferrous meteorite for iron? The Heritage Periodic Table is exactly that: a handmade acrylic display with the alkali metals, gases, and halogens sealed in micro glass ampules within the acrylic. Several of the samples are themselves a bit of a flex (native gray diamonds for carbon, native sulfur crystals, pure europium ampules). Only the heavy radioactives past uranium are missing. A premium hero-tier gift, recently patent-filed, and the kind of object a chemist would have built themselves if they'd had the time.
Heritage Periodic Table at Genius Lab Gear
19. Element Cube Collector Set
Chemists are some of the most patient element-collectors I know, which is exactly why a starter set like this lands well. These three cubes are sealed in clear acrylic, sit comfortably on a desk, and each one has a real, distinct chemistry story you'll find yourself explaining to anyone who picks them up.
Three are especially worth gifting:
- Bismuth Element Cube: The rainbow one. The iridescent purple-and-gold pattern comes from a thin oxide layer that forms on the metal, which is the kind of fact a chemist enjoys explaining over coffee.
- Tellurium Element Cube: A rare metalloid you almost never see in solid form, with a silvery sheen and surprising heft for its size.
- Silicon Element Cube: The gray crystal that runs every chip in the building. Worth keeping just to remind yourself what civilization is sitting on.
Pick the one that fits their bench, or grab all three for a starter shelf that doesn't require a fume hood.
Bismuth Element Cube at Genius Lab Gear | Tellurium Element Cube at Genius Lab Gear | Silicon Element Cube at Genius Lab Gear
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
What's a good gift for a chemist?
Chemists appreciate gifts that respect what they actually do, like designing molecules, running reactions, and staring at the periodic table for hours. The Pocket Chemist is our top pick: a wallet-sized molecule stencil and chemistry pocket reference that comes in handy whenever they need to sketch a reaction or quote a constant on the fly.
What do you buy a chemistry major?
Chemistry majors are usually drowning in coursework. Gifts that quietly make their day easier, like The Pocket Chemist or a set of Chemistry Word Magnets, tend to land better than novelty gifts. For game night, the Genius Games chemistry titles bring real chemistry to the table without making it feel like homework.
What's a unique gift for a chemistry lover?
If you want something more memorable than a mug, the Subatomic, Ion, and Periodic games from Genius Games are designed with input from working scientists, so the molecules and reactions are real. They're a fun way to share what your chemist loves with people who don't have a chemistry background.
Most popular in Chemistry
Pocket Protector for Lab Coats
Keep ink stains away from your lab coat and keep your tools handy at all times to get your reactions started smoothly and efficiently.
Pocket Molecule Stencil
Draw perfect molecules every time with a stainless steel stencil that doubles as a ruler, protractor, and compass.
Chemistry Word Magnets for fun in lab
Leave mysterious rants or chemistry-themed poems on your lab fridge that will keep your lab mates guessing. Combine with other sets for your field!
$12.95 - $22.95$25.00
Fly through your chemistry homework with perfect molecules every time.
You're about to say goodbye to sloppy hexagons and wonky carbon chains. This organic chemistry stencil is perfection that fits in your wallet.
The only metal chem stencil and template - we decked it out with laser-cut chair confirmations, cyclobutane, cyclopropane, cyclopentane, a carbon chain, and a benzene ring (which covers cyclohexane)!
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