Wednesday, March 26, 2014

It Works! March's Installment

I have not been very consistent lately. I had this post planned for weeks, but needed the pictures. Here is my latest product review.

Quite a while ago, I was contacted by Scott Ertl from Bouncy Bands. He was willing to send me a set of bouncy bands to try in my classroom. What are bouncy bands? It is a piece of rubber that students can bounce their feet upon, reducing the need to get up and move. It is a great concept, especially for those fidgety children that need movement breaks. The first set arrived in the fall. I don't have student desks, but  use tables instead. I had to borrow a desk to try what was essentially a bicycle tube and PVC pipe. The tube ties to the legs of the desk and the pipes keep it from being pushed to the floor.

I thought the product had merit because it used inexpensive and reusable materials that may have ended up in a landfill instead. The downfall was that we had trouble keeping the inner tube tied on the desk's legs.

This student is vertically challenged and likes that she can
rest her feet instead of having them dangle.
Scott then offered me two new versions of the product. One has clamps that make the loops (yippee no more untying!) and the other is made from a rubber rope. Both are big improvements over the first version. What I liked about the set with the clamped loops is that it was still the bicycle tube, keeping it more "green" that the other. The last set is more practical, but also slightly more expensive. My students liked the ability to keep their feet busy. They didn't like that the original kind can only be used on desks. The rope and clamped tube stretches to work on our table legs.

I loaned the last two sets of bouncy bands to our occupational therapist. She works with several children in a few buildings in our county. I couldn't get the bands back. A teacher in one of the other buildings loved them and laid claim to them for several weeks. When attending a staff meeting, the OT watched staff members and the administrator using the bands. I guess they really aren't just for kids, but for anyone that struggles to sit still.

An Original Bouncy Band is $5 plus shipping while the new Bouncy Band is $6.50 plus shipping. They also can be purchased in larger sets. Each set comes with the set of PVC pipe.

I would have to say Bouncy Bands do work. You can find them here. If you use alternative seating as an option for fidgety students, you may want to consider adding Bouncy Bands to the mix. They are kid tested, teacher approved.

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