And the Award for Favorite Platonic Solid Goes to....

After constructing all the Platonic solids out of straws and pipe cleaners (some with my daughter's help) our favorite platonic solid is hands-down the icosahedron.  I made this one with one green pentagon end, and one yellow pentagon end.  It 's strong and sturdy, spins well, like a top, and is fascinating to look at from every angle!

Here's another view:

In a past post, I observed that illustrations of these solids are rarely to scale.  I wondered how a icosahedron would compare to the unwieldy dodecahedron I made.  Here's a family portrait of all the platonic solids, all constructed with six inch edges.  See what you think:

Yup!  Looks like a family, to me (Papa solid, Mama solid, sister solids, baby solid, lol)!  But, clearly, the icosahedron, despite more faces and the same number of edges, is smaller than the dodecahedron.  For what it's worth, I guess I have my answer about the scale issue. 

Hmmm...I wonder what I should try next?  And, here's a question: if the kid's not involved in the making, would my obsession be considered parental neglect, do you think, or could I just call it 'enriching her learning environment'?   I'm thinking about one of these (source), something truncated or stellated...