So, one day I was playing around on Instagram and trying to find a new hashtag to use with my latest blog post and I did a search for others who were using #HandsOnPlay. Well, this caused me to stumble upon this brightly colored paper toy and I was instantly intrigued! A toy made out of paper?! I had to know more…
I learned that this toy was brand-new to the market, and they were getting ready to start a Kickstarter campaign to fund their designs and get them produced. So, I asked the creator of this paper toy if he’d be interested in me writing a review for him + help him get the word out there of this super cool invention! He said, “yes” and here we are!
I’m SOOOOOO excited to tell you all about how super cool and super rad this toy is!
Introducing…
BALL AND RAMP!
P.S. There’s a giveaway at the end…so keep reading!
Ball and Ramp: A Paper Toy {Review}
What is Ball and Ramp?
- Ball and Ramp is a paper-based rolling ball sculpture toy
- These parts may be made of paper, but they’re pretty durable
- Each part has a particular function, and together you can build a rolling ball track
- Eco-friendly and biodegradable
- A toy designed to encourage hands on play, hands on learning, and less TV time (trust me, it works)
Our Ball and Ramp Kit arrived and we were so excited to immediately put it together. Each piece of the kit was pre-cut from thick cardstock. The paper is thick enough to be durable, but thin enough to be flexible.
I started folding the paper according to the instructions and learned that Ball and Ramp comes with 3 parts: the ramp, the basket, and the cone.
What I liked most about putting the pieces together was that each piece came with an interlocking “button” system which holds the paper together. See pic below 😉 No scissors, tape, or glue is required to put the pieces together.
So, after putting it all together, it was time to hang it up! We decided to use scotch tape and hang it on the chalkboard wall in M’s playroom.
We weren’t very good at setting this up at first. We did a lot of test runs with the balls and kept working at it until it was perfect. You have to have the ramps lined up, stoppers on the ends of the ramps so the balls won’t fly off the edge, and the ramps angled just right.
What I loved most about this part was the talking and learning M and I experienced. We had to work together, which taught M about teamwork. We had to use critical thinking and science to figure out how to place the parts so the ramp worked cohesively from beginning to end.
I asked Andrew this very direct question: WHY A PAPER TOY? WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE THIS?
“I wanted to make a toy that would be easy to source in an environmentally responsible way. I wanted to make a toy that was hackable. With paper, anyone can easily modify the parts or design their own. I also wanted a toy that was small-scale and a wall decoration. I was working in a cubicle when I invented it, and I was building little sculptures similar to what Ball and Ramp is now.”
M loved this toy so much that he summed up his review in one sentence: “Mommy, I love this toy!”
Ball and Ramp is a STEM toy. What is STEM?
STEM Education is an acronym that refers to academic principals such as
- Science
- Technology
- Engineering
- Math
And boy, does it support all those things! So you can feel good about what it’s teaching your kids!
To see a video of ours in action, visit our Instagram page!
Now, there many ways to hang your Ball and Ramp. You can use magnets, glue sticks (did you know these are water-soluble and can be wiped right off the walls? I know! *Mind Blown*), or scotch tape.
You can hang them from your wall, refrigerator, or even outside to a tree!
You can use the balls that it comes with or even sand!
So, now that you know how awesome Ball and Ramp is, Andrew needs our help! He recently launched his Kickstarter campain and he is raising money to get these manufactured and in homes everywhere! Below, you will find a giveaway and Andrew would like to giveaway 2 Ball and Ramp kits to our readers (pending a successful Kickstarter campaign) so let’s support him!
Would you please consider supporting this awesome toy! You can learn more and read about the campaign by visiting: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1519456166/ball-and-ramp-paper-rolling-ball-sculpture.
THE GIVEAWAY!
Ball and Ramp is giving away a kit to TWO lucky readers (pending a successful Kickstarter campaign) Enter to win below!
Come check us out on Instagram to learn how you can earn 1 more entry!
Erica Leggiero, M.S. Ed.
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This looks like a wonderful, educational, hands-on toy and you did a great job reviewing it! My toddler is not quite up to this, but I hope that by the time he is, it will be a regular in classrooms, and in toys stores.
Thanks for reading Menucha! It is a fabulous toy and I hope it gets recognized all over classrooms and toy stores myself! It’s super fun and very educational!