An executive toy is a novelty item that is usually a small mechanical gadget placed on the desk of a corporate executive or other office workers. They have no work-related function but are usually interesting to look at and entertaining.

The first executive toy may have been a gadget designed by the great mathematician and engineer Philo of Byzantium

Philo of Byzantium

Philo of Byzantium , also known as Philo Mechanicus, was a Greek engineer and writer on mechanics, who lived during the latter half of the 3rd century BC...

 (about 280 BC - about 220 BC), an octagon-shaped ink pot with openings on each side. One could turn the pot so that any face is on top and dip the pen in the opening, but the ink never ran out through the holes on other sides. The inkwell was suspended in the centre on a series of gimbal

Gimbal

A gimbal is a pivoted support that allows the rotation of an object about a single axis. A set of two gimbals, one mounted on the other with pivot axes orthogonal, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain immobile regardless of the motion of its support...

s and remained stationary in spite of any rotation.

Examples of executive toys include:

• Ant farm
• Baoding Balls
  Baoding Balls
  Baoding balls are also known as Chinese exercise balls, Chinese meditation balls, Chinese medicine balls, and healthy balls. They are a traditional product of Baoding, China, thought to have been created during the Ming dynasty...
  
  
• Crookes radiometer
  Crookes radiometer
  The Crookes radiometer, also known as the light mill, consists of an airtight glass bulb, containing a partial vacuum. Inside are a set of vanes which are mounted on a spindle. The vanes rotate when exposed to light, with faster rotation for more intense light, providing a quantitative measurement...
  
  
• EcoSphere (closed Aquarium)
• Etch A Sketch
  Etch A Sketch
  Etch A Sketch is a registered trademark for a mechanical drawing toy manufactured by the Ohio Art Company.An Etch A Sketch is a thick, flat gray screen in a plastic frame. There are two knobs on the front of the frame in the lower corners. Twisting the knobs moves a stylus that displaces aluminium...
  
  
• Hoberman sphere
  Hoberman sphere
  A Hoberman sphere is a structure invented by Chuck Hoberman that resembles a geodesic dome, but is capable of folding down to a fraction of its normal size by the scissor-like action of its joints...
  
  
• Liquid motion toy (Dripper or Wave Motion variants)
• Drinking bird
  Drinking bird
  Drinking birds, also known as dippy birds and dipping birds, are toy heat engines that mimic the motions of a bird drinking from a fountain or other water source. They are sometimes incorrectly considered examples of a perpetual motion device....
  
  
• Magic 8-Ball
  Magic 8-ball
  The Magic 8 Ball is a toy used for fortune-telling or seeking advice, manufactured by Mattel.-Origin:While Magic 8-Ball did not exist in its current form until 1950, the functional component was invented by Albert C. Carter, who was inspired by a "spirit writing" device used by his mother, Mary, a...
  
  
• Mechanical puzzle
  Mechanical puzzle
  A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces.- History :The oldest known mechanical puzzle comes from Greece and appeared in the 3rd century BC....
  
  
• Musical box
  Musical box
  A music box is a 19th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique...
  
  
• Nanoblocks, a system of plastic building blocks similar to Lego
  Lego
  Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
  
   but about half the linear dimensions. Most finished models are designed to be tiny, of a size suitable for an office desk decoration.
• Newton's cradle
  Newton's cradle
  Newton's cradle, named after Sir Isaac Newton, is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres. When one on the end is lifted and released, the resulting force travels through the line and pushes the last one upward...
  
  , where a set of metal balls are suspended from above, one is pulled from the rest and kicks them, transferring the kinetic energy to the last one.
• Perpetual pendulum
  Pendulum
  A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced from its resting equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the equilibrium position...
  
  , which doesn't stop due to an electric magnet in the base of the toy
  Toy
  A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
  
  .
• Pin Art
  Pin Art
  Pin Art or Pinscreen is an executive toy patented by Ward Fleming. It consists of a boxed surface made of a crowded array of pins that are free to slide in and out independently in a screen to create a three-dimensional relief. Other similar product names are "PinPressions" and "Pinhead"...
  
  , a box with thousands of small pins of equal length inserted into a board, that can be pressed from one side with any object so that the other ends of the pins form a three-dimensional image of the object on the other side of the board.
• USB toys
  USB toys
  USB toys are toys or gadgets which draw their electrical power from the USB or Universal serial bus on a computer. They are also known as "office toys" or "cubicle toys".-Types:There are, broadly, 2 categories for USB toys, useful toys and fun toys...
  
  , small gadgets or toys which draw their electrical power from the USB or Universal serial bus on a computer.
• Rubik's Cube
  Rubik's Cube
  Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...
  
  
• Novelty lighter
  Novelty lighter
  Novelty Lighters are lighters, typically used to light tobacco products, that are shaped like objects. Novelty Lighters can have audio or visual effects, and oftentimes look like toys.-Controversy Surrounding Novelty Lighters:...
  
  
• Novelty Magnet
  Magnet
  A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...
  
  
• Small plastic magnetic pigs, sheep, etc.
• Top
  Top
  A top is a toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. This motion is produced in the most simple forms of top by twirling the stem using the fingers. More sophisticated tops are spun by by holding the axis firmly while pulling a string or twisting a stick or pushing an auger as shown...
  
  
• Yo-yo
  Yo-yo
  The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
  
  
• Paddle ball
  Paddle ball
  Paddle ball is a one-person game played with an attached ball and paddle. Using a flat paddle with a small rubber ball attached at the center via an elastic string, the player tries to hit the ball with the paddle in succession as many times as possible. The paddle is usually made from either...
  
  
• Squirt gun
  Water gun
  A water gun is a type of toy designed to shoot water. Similar to water balloons, the primary purpose of the toy is to soak another person in a game such as water warfare....
  
  
• Snow globe
  Snow globe
  A snow globe is a transparent sphere, usually made of glass, enclosing a miniaturized scene of some sort, often together with a model of a landscape. The sphere also encloses the water in the globe; the water serves as the medium through which the "snow" falls. To activate the snow, the globe is...
  
  
• Lava lamp
  Lava lamp
  A lava lamp is a decorative novelty item that contains blobs of colored wax inside a glass vessel filled with clear liquid; the wax rises and falls as its density changes due to heating from a incandescent light bulb underneath the vessel. The appearance of the wax is suggestive of pāhoehoe lava,...
  
  
• Plasma globe
• Decorative paperweight
• Neodymium magnet toys
  Neodymium magnet toys
  Neodymium magnet toys are toys consisting of or incorporating neodymium magnets. Most commonly they are magnetic construction sets or magnetic sphere building toys. They are sometimes marketed as executive toys. The first neodymium magnet toy set was Neocube, developed by Chris Reda from...
  
  
• Magnetic face toy (Fuzzy Face, Wooly Willy, etc.)
• Mechanical bank
  Mechanical bank
  Cast iron mechanical banks have been a collectors item since the mid-19th century. They were originally designed to promote saving among children. To make these banks appealing to kids, they were cleverly designed, often depicting historical, legendary or everyday events. Each bank performs a...
  
  
• Fake Aquarium
  Aquarium
  An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...
  
  
• Stress ball
  Stress ball
  A stress ball is a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter. It is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to either help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand....
  
  
• Ferrofluid toy
• Zen Garden
• Sand Pendulum