Wood or plastic pattern blocks and c rods?

[Prairie Dawn]

I'm not sure if I should buy wood or plastic... what have you found to be pros and cons of each, and which do you prefer?

 

Also, for the pattern blocks, what thickness is better, 1 cm or .5?

[Rosie]

Wooden C-rods. Either wood or plastic for the pattern blocks. I think we have 1cm wood, but I've seen .5cm plastic and they seem fine, too. My personal preference is wood, though. I like the feel of them and I think they're easier to pick up.

[craftyerin]

I have wood pattern blocks from discountschoolsupply.com and they've been great. Their website says they're 3/8" thick, so I guess that's not quite 1cm?

 

I have plastic c-rods, but am going to switch my stash over to wood. There is some hot debate over that, though. http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/showthread.php?t=411532&highlight=wood+c-rods

[AnnaM]

Wooden. I have both and the wooden are MUCH better. I have no idea how thick they are.

[Dinsfamily]

I have wooden c-rods and love them. I got plastic pattern blocks and wish they were wooden. It's just a textural, natural-preference issue. The plastics ones are perfectly functional.

[Sahamamama]

Wooden, and here's why: http://www.educationunboxed.com/what_do_i_need_to_buy.html

[PeterPan]

Well I have plastic (Learning Resources brand) that bulge slightly in the middle and aren't accurate enough to do math with. You can make pictures with them, but not do actual math. I ordered last week wood rods directly from ETA/hand2mind. They were super-fast on shipping, and the wood rods from them are perfectly accurate. I have no clue how accurate the ETA plastic rods are.

[nrself]

Well, one con for wood might be...beavers? Or children and/or dogs who chew them.

 

:tongue_smilie:

 

Nicole

[PeterPan]

You know whoever that was in that video link mentioned chewing, and I just don't get it. They're way too small to be safe for babies, and I don't put my math manipulatives on the floor to give them to my dog, kwim? (my dog died, so not an issue not anyway, sniff) And when my ds went through an extreme chewing phase due to sensory, I gave him cardboard and larger things, not skinny little choking hazard math manipulatives.

 

But whatever, clearly I'm missing the boat there.

 

I love the silky, smooth feel of the plastic. If *I* were going to chew, that's what I'd chew, not the nasty, grainy painted surface of the wood ones. :D

[edeemarie]

Well, one con for wood might be...beavers? Or children and/or dogs who chew them.

 

:tongue_smilie:

 

Nicole

 

:lol: I love it! While I don't have beavers in the house, I do have children (not so worried about them) and a dog (very worried about her- she loves chewing things like crayons!). We have plastic but I may get some wood ones for when we need them to be exact. For now the kids are having lots of fun just playing around with the c-rods.

[Dinsfamily]

You know whoever that was in that video link mentioned chewing, and I just don't get it. They're way too small to be safe for babies, and I don't put my math manipulatives on the floor to give them to my dog, kwim? (my dog died, so not an issue not anyway, sniff) And when my ds went through an extreme chewing phase due to sensory, I gave him cardboard and larger things, not skinny little choking hazard math manipulatives.

 

But whatever, clearly I'm missing the boat there.

 

I love the silky, smooth feel of the plastic. If *I* were going to chew, that's what I'd chew, not the nasty, grainy painted surface of the wood ones. :D

 

Sorry about your dog :grouphug:. We have a new-to-us 1yr old puppy and he is ready to chew on anything the boys accidentally drop on the floor. He's made dents in a few C-Rods, but nothing bad enough to make them unusable or even inaccurate since we were right there. Granted, he would not care if they were wooden or plastic. He's an equal opportunity chewer and even the toughest plastics wouldn't have a chance.