The second item in my series on Kids’ Toys from the Hardware Store requires no assembly. It’s simply a carpenter’s ruler—a ruler that not only measures, but folds into a variety of shapes certain to amuse and delight. My dad bought me one when I was young, and I had hours of fun with it. Now my son has an identical model, and makes handlebars, levers, firehoses, and sometimes hats. We practice counting using the printed numbers, and fold the entire ruler into each of the letters of the alphabet.

Make sure your child is old enough to handle a long object safely, of course. If you’re worried about the overall length for a younger child, you can cut off a section of four or five segments, and sand the rough edges.

It took my son a day or so to learn how to rotate the ruler to expand and collapse it. His first instinct was to pull it apart sideways. Once he figured it out, though, he hasn’t gone back.

Rulers rule!