{"product_id":"rainbow-puzzle-ball-finger-strength-colour-matching","title":"Rainbow Puzzle Ball – Finger Strength \u0026 Colour Matching Tool","description":"\u003cp\u003eA 68 mm ball with twelve sockets and eleven coloured balls inside, which leaves one socket empty. A ball can only move into that empty space, so the puzzle is solved one press at a time until every ball sits in the ring that matches its colour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mechanism is a sliding tile puzzle wrapped around a sphere: one gap, and no way to move a ball except through it. What makes it worth more than the puzzle alone is the press itself. Each ball needs a firm push from a single fingertip, which is index finger isolation and finger strength, the same groundwork that tweezer work and pencil grip depend on. A child will do it voluntarily for twenty minutes in a car, and that is not true of most fine motor practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWays to use it with a child\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: var(--font-heading-family); font-weight: var(--font-heading-weight);\"\u003eStart with two balls out of place.\u003c\/span\u003e Solve the ball yourself, then move only two. Handing over a fully scrambled ball is where a child decides the thing is impossible.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: var(--font-heading-family); font-weight: var(--font-heading-weight);\"\u003eName the colour before pressing.\u003c\/span\u003e Which ball are you moving, and where is it going? Saying it out loud slows the hand down enough for the plan to catch up.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: var(--font-heading-family); font-weight: var(--font-heading-weight);\"\u003eOne finger only.\u003c\/span\u003e Index finger, no thumb, no palm. That single rule turns a fidget into fine motor work, and it is the reason the ball earns a place beside the wooden materials.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: var(--font-heading-family); font-weight: var(--font-heading-weight);\"\u003eLook for the empty hole first.\u003c\/span\u003e A child who hunts for the gap before choosing a ball is planning; one who presses at random is not. This is the one hint worth giving.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: var(--font-heading-family); font-weight: var(--font-heading-weight);\"\u003eCount the presses.\u003c\/span\u003e Solve it, then try again in fewer moves. Counting turns a finished puzzle back into a problem without changing anything about it.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"font-family: var(--font-heading-family); font-weight: var(--font-heading-weight);\"\u003eKeep it for waiting.\u003c\/span\u003e Car, waiting room, queue. Hand it over at the start of the wait rather than after a child has already run out of patience.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat it develops\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndex finger isolation and finger strength, planning a sequence of moves, colour matching, sustained attention on a task with a clear finish, and self-regulation in the kind of waiting where a child has nothing else to do. Occupational therapists use puzzles of this type for finger strength, and the enclosed design means nothing comes loose or gets lost under a car seat.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSpecifications\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFor adult-led work: colour matching suits a child from around four, solving the whole ball from five to six\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDiameter: 68 mm, fits a coat pocket\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEleven coloured balls, twelve sockets, one deliberately empty\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMaterial: ABS plastic with a soft internal core, nothing detaches\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the one item in our catalogue that is plastic rather than wood, and the one a child works on alone rather than with an adult at the table. It is here for the car and the waiting room, where a wooden puzzle is not practical and a screen is the usual alternative.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"CleverKidsNL","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54547755532625,"sku":null,"price":11.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0885\/1475\/6945\/files\/61k-Mu3BCgL._AC_SL1500.jpg?v=1786484297","url":"https:\/\/clever-kids-nl.nl\/products\/rainbow-puzzle-ball-finger-strength-colour-matching","provider":"CleverKidsNL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}