Hoberman Expanding Mini Sphere Toy

Gave this to my granddaughter for Christmas and it was the hit

Bought this for my nephew who has autism works great he enjoys it

Fun for office desk!

Great for helping my son take deep breaths!Got another one for his kinder teacher to put in a peace corner.How I use: as you take a deep breath, open/expand the ball. As you exhale, close the ball. I recommend (I’m just a mom and not an expert). Practicing this several times when child is in good mood. When child becomes upset, acknowledge their emotion. I see you are upset. It is okay to feel upset. Would you like some time for yourself? When child is still upset but not completely through the emotion, bring in the ball and do it together. I usually start off by repeating that what we feel is okay and important. Then I go on to sharing a time when I get upset and how it feels in my body and how breathing helps me. After a few times, add to it by ask your child how their body feels. Always always be down on their level or lower and keep eye contact even if they don’t. By doing this, you are showing their feelings and what matters to them is also important to you.

I work at a school and I use this with students. The last one I had was finally falling apart from much use, but the kids really like it. I wish I could buy it in a store but couldn't find it, thus had to order it Kids are hard on it, and sometimes try to bounce it which shortens its life. Given its price, I had to consider that before deciding to buy.

I use these for adaptive yoga classes, where they are used as breathing balls. The mini sphere is the perfect classroom size, and I use the bigger one as the instructor. The way we use these is to move them in and out as you breathe. This allows students to be aware of their breath and movement. They love the bright colors and after class it is hard to get them to give them back. I ordered a half a dozen they are so well liked by the clients. The plastic is durable, no problems with OCD students, etc. no smell of plastic, etc. The centers I teach at have ordered these for students to use with 'time outs' to control their moods and tempers. A big psychological whammy in a small package. I have them in the bright colors, but also in the black with neon. Autistic students sometimes have difficulty with too much stimulation.

My son absolutely loves this. I bought it for him for his second birthday to teach him about small and big and he got the concept of big and small very quick. He loves running around the house with it expanding it and saying "big", and then collapsing it and saying "small". We play a lot of games with it and I am quite frankly surprised that we haven't broken it yet! Yes, my 2 year old has had it for almost 6 months and uses it daily and hasn't broken it yet! I am impressed. It's a great learning toy that is also great for games and physical activity. I would suggest this toy to other parents of small children. My son loves it and I am very happy with this purchase.

Great for kids classes and because it’s so delicate i don’t let the kids “play” with it but they do use it for breathing and it’s been very durable.