Bouncy Bands {a review}

Do you have kids who fidget and wiggle all day long?  I am sure that the answer is yes.  I know I do (heck, I tend to wiggle and fidget when I have to sit down for too long of a stretch!)  So when Scott Ertl contacted me to try out one of his Bouncy Bands in my classroom, I was definitely intrigued.

Bouncy Bands are basically large rubber bands made out of recycled tires.  They hook on to your student's chair, using pvc pipe as anchors to keep them from falling down.  The student is then able to rest his or her feet on the band, bouncing away, releasing all of that energy, and helping to keep the student's focus on the work at hand.

I have to say that the student that had the band on his chair really enjoyed having it there.  He would tell me, "Mrs. M you should get some of these for everyone!"  He liked having somewhere to put his feet during the day and found it a nice, relaxing way to let off steam.

The band was also really interesting to the other students.  They were very curious as to what it was.  Soon, though, the novelty wore off and the kids were right back on track with learning.

One con for the bands though is that they are made for desks that are individual.  Since my desks are meant for two people, the band had to go around my chair.  This meant that the pvc had to be sawed down to my chair specifics.  Then, since I have many different types of chairs (we are an old school, so lots of mixing and matching going on ;) ) the bands only actually worked on one of the three types of chairs I have.   I also couldn't have the kids put the chairs up at the end of the day because the pvc would fall off.

But really, those are minor, fixable issues.   In fact, when those issues came up,  the company was very quick to help me out and get them resolved.  But issues and all, the point of the bands was met and the student who had it on his chair really did like it.   Thanks to Scott for letting me try it out in my room!

If you feel that this would be something you would like to use in your classroom, you can find more information about them here on the Bouncy Bands website.