QBall Extreme

Product Description

Cognitive 4

Skills

• QBall Extreme promotes the development of motor planning skills, as the player’s brain learns to conceive, organize, and carry out a sequence of actions necessary to bounce and catch the Balls.
• QBall Extreme develops a player’s comprehension of cause and effect as he / she observes the results of differing bouncing surfaces or the force exerted on the Ball has on its trajectory.
• QBall Extreme strengthens the understanding of spatial relationships between the player and the Balls as they move in space relative to the player and to each other.
• QBall Extreme promotes the development of math skills through the variety of drills provided or can be developed based on the imprinted numbers on the Balls.

Play Ideas

• To improve reaction time, player will bounce the Qball and come up with an item that begins with the first letter of that number i.e. 2 tomatoes, 4 frogs, 1 orange. 
• To develop math skills, child will use one Q-ball to create addition equations, using up to 5 of the numbers on the top half of the ball. Child will role the Q-ball and write down the numbers displayed for example, 8+6+4+1=19.
• To promote color identification and memory recall, participant will place a colored sticker on each numbered side. Bounce one Qball three times, take note of the top color after each bounce, after the 3^rd bounce recite the colors in reverse order.

Adaptation Ideas

• Provide pencil/pen and paper for players to write down Qballs numbers to calculate math problems.
• Provide calculator or other counting device to players who need assistance calculating math problems.
• On a piece of paper, provide all Qball numbers, in numeral and written word format.  

Sensory 4

Skills

• QBall Extreme promotes the development of visual attention and tracking as the player watches the Ball in order to drop or catch it.
• QBall Extreme promotes the development of hand-eye coordination as the player practices guiding his / her hand movement through visual input.
• QBall Extreme promotes the development of visual discrimination skills as players track the Balls’ high contrasting black numbers imprinted on the bright yellow background color.
• QBall Extreme promotes the development of auditory discrimination skills as the players learn to catch the Balls after hearing them make contact with the bouncing surface when not looking directly at the Balls.

Play Ideas

• To promote visual and auditory attention, play game with a partner using one Qball. Players will bounce the ball to each other, before passing the ball, player 1 must verbally tell player 2 what hand they must catch the ball in before bouncing it to them. Play continues back-and-forth until one player makes a mistake.
• To increase attention and motivation, pair Qball with Play-Doh. Children will use the imprinted numbers as stamps to create and solve math equations in the Play-Doh. 
• For tactile discrimination, facilitator will create a key that correlates with different sensory bins or areas in the house. Every time child bounces the Qball they must look at the key and go to the designated area or complete activity.

Adaptation Ideas

• To modify auditory input as the Qball makes contact with a bounce surface, bounce them on a louder / softer surface, or use ear plugs or headset with favorite music to block out noise.
• To enhance visual discrimination, use Sharpie to outline Qballs dimples.
• To diminish visual input or distraction, instruct to player to use sunglasses to dim brightness of Qball color.

Social/Emotional 4

Skills

• The QBall Extreme promotes the development of patience and focus as player learns to attend to the Balls bounce direction in order to catch it.
• The QBall Extreme promotes the development of self-confidence as over time the player’s accuracy in releasing and catching the Balls improves and levels of play difficulty are increased.
• The QBall Extreme promotes social interaction as the Balls are utilized in small group play or in therapeutic settings.

Play Ideas

• In a group setting players will each have the opportunity to assign an action to a number on the Qball. Players will form a small circle. The first player will bounce the ball to any player, as that player catches the ball they must assign an action to the top number for example, 5 run in place. Other players must pay attention because if they get the same number they must do the same action. Players continue to assign their own actions as long as the number has not been used. Play continues until someone forgets the action.
• To practice tactile discrimination, player will bounce ball waist high and catch the ball. Without looking at the Qball player will try to determine the imprinted number on top of the Qball.
• To develop self-confidence, in small group each player will have one opportunity to bounce two Qballs, in an attempt to bounce the highest number combination (“Q” value is 10 points). Play passes to the left, and at the end of the round the player with the highest number combination wins. If there is a tie those players would face each other again until there is a winner.