Bed is a quiet place to sleep – but this one is more like a treehouse, ball ramp and jungle gym combined. Eric Strong’s son didn’t want to move from his toddler crib into a big-boy bed, so Eric built the most awesome kid bed ever. Eric started with a loft bed, then added 3 cubbies and a slide onto the end. The bookcase swings open to a secret compartment, and a ball ramp drops golf balls into a bucket, which the kid can haul back up to the top using a rope. It’s awesome, but we wonder if he ever sleeps!
Wee ones: If the boy was 3 years old when the project started but has had a birthday since then, how old is he now?
Little kids: The ball ramp tilts and dumps out the balls when all 6 have landed in there. If right now it’s holding 4, how many more balls are needed to tilt it? Bonus: If instead there’s an odd number of balls in there, what numbers could that be, if there are 6 at most?
Big kids: If the dad put together 20 pieces to make the bed, 4 for the slide, and 15 for the secret compartment door, how many more pieces would have brought the total to 40? Bonus: If the boy can climb up and slide down the slide in just 20 seconds, how many times can he slide before bedtime 3 minutes from now? (Reminder: A minute has 60 seconds.)
Answers:
Wee ones: 4 years old.
Little kids: 2 more balls. Bonus: 1, 3 or 5 balls.
Big kids: 1 more piece, since there were 39. Bonus: 9 times, since he can fit in 3 rides per minute.
And thank you to Bedtime Math fan Cindy B. for sharing this story!
