Easy DIY Geoboard (and a Lesson in Polygons)

Polygons, quadrilaterals, and parallelograms, oh my!

Anybody else get it all confused?

To help my oldest son practice polygons, I grabbed a busted bulletin board my husband had tossed in the trash (not quite dumpster diving, but I wouldn't put it past me to do that either for the sake of my kiddo's education!).

The bulletin board was a thin layer of cork paper over corrugated cardboard. I cut it and glued two plies together, making two smaller, albeit thicker, bulletin boards.

Now I carefully glued pushpins in place in a grid pattern. Use the strongest glue you can find, like super glue or gorilla glue. I printed a grid and with a ballpoint pen, punched the location of the dots into the cork, then dabbed glue in the imprints I'd made, and inserted a pushpin.

Put a heavy book on top for pressure and let dry.

Now grab a handful of rubberbands, print the 1-page PDF of polygon cards, cut out, and go get your child.

Before my oldest son started made polygons, he watched a 10-minute video about what a polygon is (and isn't). This video was made by a classroom of kids and perhaps because of its child "actors," he was captivated.

When finished, he went through the eight shapes on the polygon cards and did his best to stretch the rubberbands around the pushpins to emulate the number of sides and angles pictured. Some shapes were easier than others!

When little brother wanted to give it a try, we stuck to simpler shapes - the triangle, square, and rectangle.

Both boys had fun and were excited to show off the shapes they made!

WORD OF WARNING: If the rubberbands are tugged on aggressively, the pins may come loose and pop out. Always play along and encourage kids to slowly and gently remove the rubberbands to prevent a potential safety hazard.