RED ALL OVER

Whacky Idea

November/December 2006

Reading time min

Whacky Idea

All I want for Christmas is my rhombic triacontahedron. That’s what author and inventor Roger von Oech hopes. He created the Ball of Whacks—30 magnetic pyramids that join into a, well, fuzzies would say a sphere. Pieces can be pulled apart and configured into various shapes.Some studies show, von Oech, PhD ’75, says, that activating your basic motor functions can improve mental performance. The $29.95 “creativity workshop in a ball” comes with a guidebook that features possible configurations for the pieces. Players can also just goof around with the toy (we enjoyed crushing it in our palms until the pieces flew all over the room).

Trending Stories

  1. Let It Glow

    Advice & Insights

  2. Meet Ryan Agarwal

    Student Life

  3. Neurosurgeon Who Walked Out on Sexism

    Medicine

  4. Art and Soul

    School of Humanities & Sciences

  5. Three Cheers

    Alumni Community

You May Also Like

© Stanford University. Stanford, California 94305.