TheO SmartBall

Are you tired of watching your kids on the computer or playing video games? While they are on there, they remain stationary and often take nothing from the time they were doing those things. TheO SmartBall is quite the unique ball that is sure to provide you and your family many hours of fun while learning. 

My children and ages 14, 12, 9, 8, and 4 years old. It is tough to find something they all can engage in and play all at the same time. Especially something that I can engage in with them and have fun. I found myself a little limited because where the older ones would enjoy and play, the younger ones couldnt. 

TheO SmartBall: This a a pumpkin colored durable foam ball. It will bounce if dropped and is lightweight for little hands to grasp easily. There are little grooves on the outside of this ball to ensure a nice grip during play. On this ball, there is a square hole where you would place your device for play. The whole has a strap for the device as well as a very heavy duty velcro to ensure a good placement inside the ball besdies the foam grooves to ensure the device is nice and secure. It also has a strap that holds the velcroed area into place. The strap is a stretchy spandexy material and goes easily around the device. For the device in this ball you can use both ios and android phones. This ball doesn’t hurt the child if the child were to miss catching it. It comes with a nice drawstring back pack for storage and easy to take anywhere. 

Apps: This toy does require the download of specific apps. The apps can be found on the app store with ios devices and google play on android deviceS. There are some free apps and others are priced no higher than $4.99 USD. There are apps that are educational, fun, and a combination of both. I counted over 24 apps, but I am sure there will be more as this item gains more popularity. There is a little something for any and everyone with the variety of apps. 

Installation of Apps: Installation of these apps are no different than installing any other app. They download very fast. To find these apps to feel free to visit www.physicalapps.com/apps or visit the Google Play Store or iTunes Store as well and just search TheO SmartBall. They should come up easily for you. 

Installing the Device: Installing the device into your smart ball may be a little tricky the first few times, just because the foam is so new. To install the device, they have a tutorial located at www.physicalapps.com/tutorials . To install the device, take the phone securing strap out of the hole in the ball. It is secured to the velcro, so you just pull it out. Take the strap and put it around your device. This should be fairly easy to do. Once you have the strap around your device, insert it into the specified area, making sure the velcro is attached. Now this might take a little bit to figure out because the foam secures the device as well. If you watch the video, it will tell you to lift the lip of the foam area in the hole for the device. Once you do that, it does make it a lot easier. 

Play: Depending on what type of game app you are going to play, will depend on what you may have to do. Our family favorite was “Hot Potato” so I will discuss this app for you all. Once this app was opened, we all got to record our names. Once our names were recorded, it began to play music. It would tell you who to throw it to and eventually, who was out. This was very fun as well as interactive. My family had a lot of giggles and really got into it. The device is very easy to hear while in the ball. If you are having issues hearing it, which I don’t think you would, but in large classrooms and such, you can pair this with a bluetooth speaker and it would work with that as well. 

Removal of your device: If you look on the back side of where you put your device, there are two small holes. These will help you remove your device. I would do a combination of lifting the foam lip and pushing my hand through the back and I would get it out easily. The first few times, it does take a little bit of extra tlc. 

My impression of this ball is a really good one. I love this and I have never heard of it until I was offered to review this. Not all android devices will work in this. It fits screens up to 4″.This would be great in a classroom setting, a party, or just at home. It truly is fun for all ages and offers a lot of variety. This is one of those toys that will always be new and different with the huge variety of apps offered with it. It is my new family favorite on game night, and I am sure it would be yours too. 

This item retails for $39.95 USD which is a great price in my opinion. For more information regarding this product as well as a video showing the ball in use, please feel free to visit: 

http://physicalapps.com/

They are also running a great giveaway on their Facebook page where they have a few different prizes. Feel free to like them and enter here :

https://www.facebook.com/PhysicalApps?v=app_194975693850063&rest=1

Be on the lookout as well here on the blog. They have offered a giveaway from one of my lucky readers. I will post it soon 🙂 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.