I bought this ball for Hollie while we were away in April, at home she's got plenty of balls but she wanted something to play with in the grounds of the hotel. I think I paid £3 for it, which is around the same price as you'd pay online.

It's basically an oversized rubber ball, slightly bigger than a tennis ball which means that although I can hold it in one hand Hollie needs two to pick the ball up and hold it comfortably. The glitter aspect is due to the fact that inside the shell of the ball is a thick liquid in which lots of large glitter particles are suspended.

This is an extremely bouncy ball and you'll definitely need to watch your windows if the kids are playing near the house with it. It doesn't bounce in a particularly straight line either so beware of random to-the-left bounces even if you (or your child) threw it straight in the first place, four year old Hollie learned this on the very first throw as Mark chucked it at me and the ball did a crazy bounce and hit her on the chin! It's an ideal shape and solidity for playing catch, but I've noticed that opponents need to be roughly the same size and ability otherwise there will definitely be tears. The hardness of the ball doesn't help; obviously to a child a ball is a source of excitement and fun, you definitely need to explain with this one that the kiddies are not to throw it into their siblings' face at full throttle - it will definitely hurt and may even be a nose-breaker.

But really a bouncy ball is a bouncy ball, what sets this one apart is the gorgeous effect of the glitter when it's being played with. Hollie has the pink ball (obviously...) and in the sunshine it looks absolutely fab; the liquid carries the glitter around in a swirling motion which continues even after the ball has come to a standstill, the effect is so pretty and sparkly that sometimes I'll nudge the ball down the garden myself just so I can watch it! The glitter catches the sun beautifully and when the ball is spotlessly clean (which just takes a brief hose down or a wipe over with a baby wipe) it shimmers and shines as the liquid inside the ball sloshes around.

Hollie has had so much fun with this ball; considering it was such a very cheap price in the first place it has amazingly good play value. Just poking my head out of the back door I've roughly counted that Hollie has at least twelve balls to choose from when she goes out to play, but nine times out of ten it will be this prettier-than-average on that she heads for.