Wall Shapes

*This toy is based on the principle of shapes and combining simple shapes to make more complex shapes.

*One child or player will disconnect triangles from the wall in a certain shape. The other child does not look while the first player is punching triangles out of the wall. The second player will then look and have a certain amount of time (house rule for how much time) to make the shape punched out in the wall using the playing pieces. The first player then turns the crank and passes the wall by the playing pieces. If the wall touches the pieces or the pieces do not make the shape cut out of the wall, the player who set up the pieces loses.

* The entire toy would be made of molded hard plastic or rubber and thus be durable and cheap. Safety concerns include small parts (choking hazard) and moving parts. Metal could be used in the crank to make it turn smoother, however this would be more expensive and may present more of a safety issue. The metal could be molded or welded together.

*By thinking about toys with shapes I realized how important shapes and an understanding of how they fit together are. Shapes are important to engineering and design. As a child I learned about basic and complex shapes, but not how they fit together or their properties.