A close-up of some Polydron pieces showing their unusual connection method. It allows you to attach the pieces at many different angles.
Polydron is a brand of building sets. Most of the sets by this manufacturer have frames or tiles as the main pieces. Magnetic tiles are common among the building sets, but the non-magnetic tiles are much rarer. Polydron, however, has many building kits with plastic flat polygons that connect without magnets.
These pieces have serrated edges that lock together almost like pieces of a puzzle. Small pins slide to the side just enough to make space for the parts of another piece. They work like locks, holding the pieces firmly in place. This system allows you to connect the pieces at different angles and make flat surfaces or geometric sculptures.
The pieces of these sets are big – even the smallest of them are a few inches long. Because of this size and lack of any magnets, they are very safe to play with – though they may be too abstract for the smaller kids. They have different colors and shapes – triangles, squares, pentagons, hexagons, and so on. Some of the biggest tiles have openings in them, so you can also connect something to their centers.
These sets have almost no decorations or moving pieces like wheels, so the abstract geometric shapes are the specialty of Polydron. These sets are great for explaining kids mathematical concepts, so they can be used in schools.
