My daughter goes to her nans house most weekends to give her mummy a couple of hours break, she has now got quite a big collection of toys there even though I'm not the one buying them! As she loves playing with balls in all different shapes and sizes, my mum picked her up this 9 inch Winnie The Pooh ball because, apparently, they were looking around Mothercare and she took a keen to liking to it, mums a sucker for giving in to her!

The ball is a little smaller than a regular size football, it is a lot lighter too. With it being so light it is perfect for younger children as it is easier to kick or throw and it still flies a long way once it's been kicked. The only problem with being lightweight is that if it's a windy day, the ball does seem to fly miles if it is kicked up in the air! Another good thing about the ball being so lightweight is that it's easy to transport, my mum takes my daughter with the dogs for runs around the park and beach. This ball fits nicely in her bag and it distracts my daughters attention from the dogs. Surprisingly the dogs don't go after this ball which is good, otherwise it wouldn't have been long before it popped.

The design is quite basic, with circles of different colours and Winnie The Pooh's head in the centre. It has become faded now from being left out in the sun for too long. We've had the ball since last summer and as it was left out quite a lot I don't think the fading is that bad for the amount of time it's been outside. With having it for so long, it is still in a fantastic condition, other than the cosmetic fading. The ball is still as inflated as it was when it was first bought, there is a hole on one side of the ball where you could possibly inflate it if it started to deflate, we haven't tried this though, so don't know how it would fare.

With the ball being made from a robust plastic, it is easy to keep clean. A simple wipe with a wet cloth will removing any dirty substances, such as mud, sand and grass. The plastic, although robust, has a soft feel to it so is perfect for younger children. It is recommended for children aged 3 years and over, I think this is way too high, and don't see any problems with giving it to younger children. My daughter had it from around 18 months and she was fine with it.

I'd definitely recommend this 9" ball, at only £3 it's worth it's money and more for lasting so long and the only problem being a little bit of sun damage. The soft plastic material and being so lightweight makes it perfect for younger children when a normal football wouldn't be suitable. There are many different characters balls like this available.