X Ball

Got a child with busy hands who can't sit still? Give them one of these. Recommended by my child's science teacher, so glad she did! We also bought the "Ball of Whacks," which was a big hit as well. They're fun and inspire creativity, the adults loved them at Christmas too.

Lots of fun. 30 identical X-shaped pieces with 4 magnetized ends can make many shapes . Magnets are very strong and unit stays together.

We have several of these around our house and when folks visit, they can't keep their hands off! Our tutor fiddles with it every time he visits, so when my son and I were discussing a gift for him, this was the obvious choice. For the fiddlers and ADHDers in your life, it's a great product to fiddle with, without making noise and helpful for allowing concentration during lectures or conversations they need to hear. I'm saying they like it's not me, but that would include me! People without ADHD don't understand how busy our minds are and mindless play like this, causes us to hear better.

Doesn't get played as much as the ball of whacks my son got last year. There are not nearly as many possible configurations, and the bonds are weaker.

The pieces have a nice and solid feel, bit heavier than expected yet not too heavy. The magnets are powerful enough that the pieces snap together easily and also provide some structural strength.Making the ball shape is rather easy and gets old rather quickly. But the 30 pieces allow for building varied patterns. Combined with the Y-Ball this can engage 6-year old and adults for hours together.

Very stimulating, although I just don't like it as much as the Ball of Whacks. Really fun to play with the two together.

When kids get to a certain age it seems like it is harder and harder to find something aside from a video game that they will enjoy. I took a chance and ordered this for my son for Christmas. When he opened it, admittedly he didn't look too impressed, however since that time he is often playing with it. He is constantly finding creative ways to put this thing together into new shapes. He has made a dumbbell, a flower, a bowl, a trivet, a tree, an apple, and all kinds of unnamable shapes. He really seems to enjoy it, so much in fact my husband asked if there were others we could get for him (and of course there are). This seemingly simple ball of magnetic X's was the surprising hit of Christmas!

I was a little concerned that this product said age 14 and up, since we were buying it for an almost seven-year-old. The recipient figured out how to build the ball immediately - he might be above average but I would say the product is fine for kids well under 14.