Buy Earth Ball, 16 Inch Vinyl

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I'm a science buff and want my grandchildren to be at least interested in science if not more deeply involved. So whenever I see a toy that might help ignite or sustain this interest, I'm curious and sometimes yield to the impulse to buy.

EarthBall is a wonderful toy for kids and educational too. Orbis has done a marvelous job of converting a photomosaic of the planet to printed vinyl. The alignment between the printed sections.

The photo detail is surprisngly good. It's far from what you would expect in the pages of National Geographic, but major terrestrial features like deserts, mountains and cultivated areas are visible. You can pick out the Hawaian Islands. Both polar regions are shown. Cleverly they've used luminous ink to print the locations of densely populated areas. It's not super-bright, but it is visible and adds a little something for young minds to absorb.

The EarthBall is durable. My young grandson immediately decided to turn it into an impromptu chair and much to my surprised, it survived.

Overall, it's a fun, worthwhile toy with high play and educational value.

Jerry

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Between you and me, I bought this ball because (1) it's a good (big) size for a toddler and (2) it's more fun than a mounted globe. I am really hoping to get some educational value from it, since my son is showing some interest in maps. In fact, as my wife was inflating it, our son excitedly arrived at her feet and began yelling "Earth! Earth!" That was great.

But immediately, the horseplay ensued. I hope this ball is up to the abuse, because it's not what I intended. But... oh well. After a session of kicking, rolling, throwing and carrying "Earth!" around the house, the ball seemed no worse for wear, so we sat down for a few minutes of education.

The valve stem is at the North Pole, which our boy hasn't quite figured out how to open. Yet. Despite the cloud coverage, the continents are fairly easily discernible. He wanted to know about San Francisco Bay, which is home to us, but it's not really visible on this scale, PLUS is covered in green glow-in-the-dark splotches (the splotches don't really stick out unless I know what *should* be there). Nevertheless, we're on track to learning the continents and the oceans. If he can peg the bay area or even California at some point, that would just be bonus.

Meanwhile, I think this ball is going to get a lot more kicking than studying. Its construction isn't heavy duty, but also isn't overly thin like other beach balls I've encountered. And the seams seem sturdy enough to endure indoor play, as long as it isn't being used as an airbag or bouncy horse.

Perhaps my one disappointment is the valve isn't the "self sealing" type found on some inflatables -the kind that won't let air escape and require a pinch to deflate.

In a nutshell, here's a dual-purpose toy I'm pretty happy with, and something I'll buy again when this one succumbs to toddler mayhem.

(Update 8/25/11) -Call me impressed. Despite the cloud coverage and lack of any borders or labels, our 2 year old has no problem identifying San Francisco, Hawaii, Kenya of all places (a neighbor was traveling there), Australia, Antarctica, and naturally, the north pole. We've even talked extensively about earth rotating and sunsets / sunrises, easy to replicate in a dark room with a flashlight. This globe has transitioned from a play thing to a real educational experience!)

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As a ball to bounce and play with it is sturdy and durable. As an educational experience, at first I was disappointed that it did not have any countries on it and the separate continents were barely seen. But I soon saw that as an advantage for my grandkids because it is a beautiful rendering of earth as seen from space (the blue is gorgeous) and teaches a different lesson: this is just one little planet, and from a distant perspective, national boundaries are artificial and irrelevant. Something very peaceful about that.

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"Cities glow in the dark!" was one of the main reasons I was interested in this item. There is *zero* glow. I promise. This was disappointing. But other than that it is a fine toy. If large cities actually glowed, it would have justified a 5-star "educational value" rating.

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My kids both love this global/ball. It is really cool and fun to play with. it is a bit large for my 3 year old, but he still manages to carry it around. They like the glow in the dark features, but it isn't as "bright" as I would have liked.