Taking a look at Roger von Oech’s “Big Ball of Whacks”

Ran across a really fun-looking and math-related product in the store today – the Big Ball of Whacks:

Thought it would be something neat for the boys to play with. When I got home I left it out on the table and my younger son (just finished 4th grade) started exploring:

Younger son playing with @RogervonOech 's "big ball of whacks" pic.twitter.com/PoRmMZMQDy

— Mike Lawler (@mikeandallie) July 6, 2016

Here’s what he thought playing around with it in camera:

When my older son got home I had him play around on camera, too. It isn’t quite an apples to apples comparison since he’s really seeing it for the first time on camera, but you still can see how great the pieces are for getting kids to explore 3d geometry.

So – I really happy to have stumbled on this (toy / kit / activity) today. Can’t wait to have the boys play around with it a little more. It comes with a guide book that we haven’t really explored yet. Can’t wait to have them make a few more shapes.