Pound a Ball - Toy Review
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This past holiday season involved a lot of hosting at the Guthrie house and a lot of decorating updates. My biggest vice when it comes to home decorating is pillows! Chris had to put a limit on how many throw pillows I could put on our bed and I have bags of pillows that I switch out around the house for every occasion. My go-to stop for pillows, and most of my decorating needs, is Home Goods. Before having E I never browsed their toy aisle, but let me tell you, it’s becoming one of my new favorite places to shop for toys! I was surprised by the variety and quality of toys that they offered. They had great choices for wooden toys and puzzles as well as art supplies and stuffed animals, all at a discount from their regular price. This is where I found the Pound a Ball toy that I loved so much I got one for E for his birthday and one for R for Christmas.
The Pound a Ball toy is very simple in concept, if you haven’t seen one before, it’s a base with four holes on the top and four balls that sit on each hole. Each toy comes with its own hammer/mallet for kids to pound the ball into the hole and the ball travels down multiple ramps to the bottom of the toy. There have been countless iterations of this same model made. Discovery Toys makes a version that looks like a boat that we have at the clinic that all of my kiddos loved, Melissa and Doug make a very nice wooden version and there are plenty of durable plastic options available. Best of all, this is a very affordable toy! Most versions cost below $20.
The Pound a Ball is always a big hit with the toddlers I work with - how many toys are kiddos given where they have free rein to pound on with a hammer?! The Pound a Ball toys are great for developing hand strength and fine motor skills by grasping and manipulating the hammer and helps kids develop hand-eye coordination as they have to manage hitting one ball at a time with the hammer. For slightly older kiddos (2+) the Pound a Ball can help kids work on color matching as you encourage them to match the ball to the correct color hole that it corresponds with. It also works on color identification as you ask, “Can you hit the red ball?”
If your child is anything like mine they may not have very good awareness of their bodies or how much speed they use when they are moving. I am constantly cuing E to “use kind hands” and “be gentle” when giving hugs, petting the cats and touching friends. The Pound a Ball toy is a great resource for teaching kids about regulating speed and controlling their bodies. You can uses cues like “Can you tap the ball softly?” or “Can you hit the ball hard?” Working on these tasks not only helps with recognition of the difference between slow/fast and soft/hard but also improves the fine motor and gross motor skills required to perform the actions.
The only downside with this toy is that it does give kids a small plastic hammer, which in our house has been used to hit everything from the cat to the TV if I’m not paying close attention. Otherwise, E has loved this toy and I think it will be one he can use for at least a few years!
