~Foam footie fun with Mookie~
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The reason that I bought one of the brightly coloured Mookie foam based play balls was that it could potentially be used both indoors and outdoors for soft play and football type games without it being something that might cause damage to items around the home. Having had one of these foam play balls in use over the course of a number of months last summer I have found that children of a range of ages do seem to enjoy playing with these light and often easy to catch and throw football themed Mookie balls. When the ball was bought it cost just £2.49 which I felt was fair value for this type of toy and as there was a choice of colours to pick from I feel that these could appeal to both boys and girls as they come in red, blue or yellow colour options.


~Using the product~
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When new the foam that makes up these play balls was very smooth and well finished in my opinion and there was certainly nothing rough or sharp on the outer surface that caused any harm to any of the children that played with the ball. The ball seemed very light and easy for the children to play with and it was used for games of catch and piggy in the middle very often, being something that kept everyone entertained for a good length of time. As the ball is made of a foam based material it can be thrown and caught by younger as well as older children and in many ways can be easier for a younger child to play with, although I must point out that the recommended age range begins at 3 years upwards.

Older kinds of kids (mummies and daddies) can play along with their children when using the Mookie ball with equal ease. I found that an adult with a strong throwing arm can end up throwing one of these far too far away with very little effort (oops!), which can be a slight downside (although the children do end up getting a little more exercise when running off eagerly to fetch it back again). As the balls are made from foam they can also be use in the pool in the summer time which goes down rather well with the children, as they can be put in to the pool and used to splash about with. The balls do fill with water and become heavier if used this way although I found that they can be easily drained off afterwards.

The foam material used to make the play balls does tend to get a little pock marked after repeated use when used outside which is to be expected with something that has such a soft outer surface. The foam material doesn't allow the ball to bounce much during play, however this wasn't an issue at all as it was used mainly for catching games and the odd game of football. I found that these Mookie play balls should not be left outside in wet weather as they can end up wet and water filled and over time they can end up being rather mouldy smelling if left out side for any length of time in the rain, making them something that would need a good deal of cleaning if being used again in future.


~Product rating~
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On the whole these soft foam balls are a good size, being roughly 20cms and are a toy that can be used both outdoors and indoors if wanted. The foam material isn't so rough that it grazes the skin of anyone playing with it even when thrown with some force, although when water filled the ball is considerably heavier so care should be taken if older children decide to play catch with it alongside younger less able children. Other than that there is no reason why the ball should not provide plenty of fun for a range of children from 3 onwards, when it can be really useful for younger children to learn how to catch etc. My rating for this toy is 4 stars as the one I bought had plenty of use during its lifetime and provided lots of fun at the same time.