Ball game: knowing where your feet are through the input of the ball

My children love balls. My son loves to kick a ball around all day. Because the input from that ball gives so much information about where his feet are. Also large exercise balls (which sometimes lie in our living room, well, you're a therapist or not) are regularly used for that purpose. You can imagine that I'm not too fond of that. And my husband even less. Because something breaks regularly. But, as it works with certain sensory needs: my son still goes looking for that input. So, if it's not a ball, then it's a stool or a cushion.

Looking for a ball

So we have been looking for a ball that provides a lot of stimulation on posture and muscle feeling and touch AND is safe for indoor use. And, as a SI therapist, I am always looking for material that works in practice. My curiosity about the Soffy game ball was therefore great. What kind of ball was this? How much input do you get when you use it? And above all... is it safe for indoor use?
Also nice: it has a neutral smell. Some balls smell very much like plastic, but this ball doesn't. It actually hardly smells. This makes it also suitable for children who are very sensitive to smells.

Ideal ball found

After a few intensive weeks of trying it out, I can say that we have found the ideal ball for indoors. The Soffy game ball is a kind of mix between a balloon and a therapeutic exercise ball. The material feels pleasant, for both over- and under-sensitive people. You can easily inflate the ball, and you can do that as hard or soft as you want. It remains, even when it is inflated hard, a little springy.

Hands: ambidextrous

That is very nice to throw, my children think, but also the children in practice. When catching with two hands (because it is so big that you really need two hands), your hands kind of spring in and out of the ball. And that is nice, because if you are aware of where your hands are, you can also steer better with them. This ball gives a very nice result (and that is also nice sometimes when throwing and catching always have to be “practiced”).

Feet: good input

The same goes for your feet: blow it up fairly softly and keep kicking it… and you know exactly where your feet are. Advantage: it doesn’t roll far AND it REALLY doesn’t break anything. I wonder if that’s because it’s so soft, or because my son can now just dose it better because he can feel his foot well, but it works well here anyway. The balls don’t fly high through the house anymore. Yes, every now and then one rolls in front of my feet. That’s not entirely without danger, especially when I have something in my hands. We still have to make some agreements about that 😉.

Sitting: awareness on your buttocks

Besides throwing with two hands, we also use it to sit on. It is just big enough for children from the age of 4 to sit on. And because you sink into it so wonderfully (much more than with a therapeutic ball) we notice that it gives a lot of awareness to your bottom. Where children with an oversensitive sense of balance quickly become overstimulated on a regular ball, they mainly experience support in this ball.

Lying down: roll over

You can of course also use the Soffy game ball to roll over, which also provides a lot of input.

Press: back massage

We haven't used it to push against each other, I think it's too small for that. You get too close to each other's space, and not every child likes that. But I can imagine that parents can do that with their children. Using the ball to massage a back also works very well without having to apply much pressure yourself.

Disadvantage: gets dirty or gets stains

Are there no disadvantages at all? Yes. One. I had a yellow Soffy game ball and it gets dirty very quickly. And I can't clean it properly. Now that may be due to my cleaning skills, but if you are very visually oriented, a yellow ball with brown streaks does not look very attractive. I would order a different color next time.

Conclusion

But, does that disadvantage outweigh all the advantages for me? Absolutely not: I find it an asset in my home AND in my practice!

This blog was written by Manon Bruning, occupational therapist