Every week, Child Care Resources will publish The Bored Jar blog, which will provide you with ideas of activities to do with the children in your care. We know that much of the correspondence we send has to do with rules and regulations, but The Bored Jar will only be filled with fun activities. Whenever you’re bored with your kids, try some of our Bored Jar ideas!

Triangle Gumdrops

To view this craft and others check out Wonder Time.

When your child is learning shapes, the triangle is pretty easy to identify — three corners, three sides. But the ho-hum triangle gets a whole lot more intriguing when you tell her it’s one of the strongest shapes on earth. Because each of its angles is fixed, it won’t change shape or size when pressure is applied to the points. You can prove it by going 3-D.

Make a triangle base from three small, thin pretzel sticks and three large gumdrops, flat sides down. (It helps to poke holes in the gumdrops before inserting the pretzels.) Add on three more triangle sides, joined at the top by a single gumdrop, flat side down — you’ve formed what’s called a tetrahedron.

To test the structure’s strength, build four tetrahedra and arrange them in a square formation. Now balance a book on top. Add another book, and another. How many can it hold? When you’re done, your child can eat the architecture, of course.

Keep the geometry lesson going by looking for triangles outside the house.