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.

PYRAMID SCHEME: 30 magnetic pieces combine into endless shapes von Oech hopes will stimulate creativity.

Courtesy Roger von Oech

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).