Thumball Origins: How Our Business Began

We often get asked about our company Answers In Motion and our product Thumball and how it all came to be. From speech therapist and home contractor to entrepreneurs and business owners this has been an unexpected adventure for my husband and I. Below is a history of how things developed.

Thumball came to be while I was working as a speech pathologist. I had a challenging class of 14 students with a variety of learning challenges. I found ways to effectively combine games with language development activities but I noticed that when it was not their own turn the student’s didn’t pay attention to the activity or their classmates.

Writing vocabulary words on a small stuffed ball and allowing the students to play ball in class got their undivided attention! First passing the ball, then rolling it then gentle tosses. Finally a student asked, “Why are there words all over the ball?”. I explained the concept that when I say STOP the person holding the ball must lift their thumb and talk about the word. This worked well and best of all the students began learning from each other because they never took their eye off the ball!

After several months of making my own designs and using Thumball effectively I had a dream, a literal dream that woke me from my sleep with the instructions to “Make this product and market it because no one has time to make their own games anymore!” The dream occurred on my deceased father’s birthday and felt to me like he was communicating this idea to me almost like a gift. When I shared my dream with my partner (now husband) Gregg he immediately “got” the concept and saw the limitless potential.

The concept for this game has been used by many educators often utilizing beach balls but it had inherent flaws. I knew the ball had to be safe, easy to control, provide pleasing sensory input and use relevant content for improving communication skills. The real invention was our decision to go forth and actually find a way to get Thumball manufactured and marketed. My husband’s optimism, life experience and tenacity made my dream into a reality. (This will be the subject of another post one day).

Our life has never been the same since. It is rewarding to see therapists, teachers, parents, friends and employees get together and watch how Thumball can enhance the interactions. The only way to really know Thumball is to play it often and new ideas develop and grow. We now create custom Thumballs for companies that want a special way to market their products, supply useful learning tools to schools and effectively convey a message about their business. We look back at our beginnings and smile and encourage all to follow their dreams.

Our Business is A Ball

Where did this company, Answers In Motion start anyway and why are people calling me an entrepreneur (I hate words that rhyme with manure)? I don't want to forget why I do all this. Business has been very business-y (not fun) and I need to go back to that day when a small stuffed ball and a sharpie got together and created what would later be know as Category Mania Thumball. I love the photo we have of the hand made original, the first prototype and finally the finished product.

Students love games and when they get to play them in the classroom they really feel they are getting one over on us. This keeps them focused and actively participating and that is why a game can teach more in less time if presented with limits and a zero tolerance policy for out of control behavior.

So when I was working as a speech therapist with multiply handicapped second graders I needed to keep their interest. Once I allowed them to at first pass a ball to each other, then to roll it and finally to toss it I had their attention.

Now they were asking me, "Hey what are these words doing on the ball" Now they were told to keep tossing until I said STOP and that player should life their thumb off the ball and read the word found there. It was a category term and now they were challenged to name examples of "Vehicles or Fruit or Occupations".

So there you have it the origins of what is now a real business offering 18 Thumball designs. The most remarkable thing about a game of Thumball is how intently the players focus on each other which increases the amount they are learning.

Other learning games I had tried were effective but the players only learned on their own turn and then tuned out. Not so with Thumball all my students were actively learning for the entire length of the class from the ball, their teacher and their classmates.

So Category Mania Thumball will forever be my favorite because that is where it started. It lends itself to every age and ability. A younger person might only name 1 or 2 items in a category. The older more capable might name 5 or 6. Then add a challenge by tossing the Letter Mania Thumball and getting a "D" and then Category Mania and get "Furniture" and now they must name an answer beginning with that letter. (I like dinette or davenport but there is always dresser). This skill called word retrieval is essential to language development.

If a category ever seems "too hard" for the age group use it as an opportunity to discuss it and research it. Some say "My 6 year old students don't know any European countries." and I say then let's teach some. Even our youngest are aware of countries like England or Italy and so we can locate a world map and show them the rest.

Every time our family plays we come up with an answer we had never thought of or a new way to play. Sometimes we name an item and have the player find the category word it belongs to on the Thumball within 25 seconds. Sounds silly but we like silly and as a mom I like anything that gets my family laughing. As a speech therapist I like anything new and interesting that expands vocabulary, improves communication, stimulates active learning and enriches problem solving skills.

So name a toy that begins with "T" that people learn with and never get tired of playing. Hmmmm......your guess is as good as mine.

The Magic of Disney is the Employees

A Trade show in Disney World is an interesting event. When exhibiting our Thumball™ line of products we spent 2 full days and more in the exhibit hall early morning till evening and by the end have only enough energy to eat then sleep. Therefore taking the kids did not make sense. However walking around the Disney resorts without them made even less sense.

Ahhh, the Polynesian a dream of mine from the age of 12. My mother balked at people that would "spend that kind of money for a place to sleep" but I gazed at it from the Monorail ride in 1973 and thought it must be wonderful over there.

So here I am 35 years later staying at this iconic monument and at first I could not adjust, here I was missing the children, feeling surreal as my childhood wish surprisingly came true. But adjust I did and oh my the food was flavorful, the air was balmy, the pool a perfect lagoon with palms and plants and flowers. The trade show turned out well for many reasons. The most important of which was the Disney employees or cast members as they are called.

I can be cynical and corny things annoy me so I was being the wise guy using the expression "Feel the Magic" with disdain. But suddenly it really was magic as everywhere we were greeted with courtesy, offered assistance, provided good food in good time. At the exhibit hall in the Contemporary Hotel we had kind people helping us make copies, mail packages, choose restaurants and give us goodies.

I guess it is a job requirement for "cast members" to ask each guest, so where are you from? but it works each time to get a smooth, unpressured conversation going. Seriously every single person we intereacted with really did exceed our expectations and that we are told is Disney's ultimate goal. That really is where the magic lives being treated well and therefore treating others as well or bettter. I guess Walt really understood The Golden Rule.

Guess what ? We never even visited any of the theme parks. We enjoyed the amenities of the hotels both The Polynesian and Port Orleans- Riverside. There we were greeted with the same hospitatity but even sweeter, southern style. We swam, biked, drove boats, ferried, ate and smiled at every turn where we werre made to feel special and important.

So Thumball was a hit and I grew a bit as a person who still believes in magic.
Thanks Walt for dreaming that big.

Numbers Thumball Not Just for Preschool Anymore

Numbers Thumball has 12 large colorful panels each covered with the number word and numeral on them from one to ten. At first glance observers might dismiss it as a Preschool only product. But Numbers Thumball has grown wings and has become the most versatile Thumball of all.

Now available for download at www.thumball.com is a Numbers Template worksheet. In each box on the page is each number and lines. The user can personalize the page by filling in questions, spelling words, math problems, vocabulary, drawings and exercise. Once you have chosen the material you want to cover, start the game with a toss and randomly stop the action to locate the number under your thumb.

The possibilities are endless and can be adapted to counseling, speech, occupational or physical therapy, getting to know you events, study sheets and education of every kind. We know families that fill in 10 dinner choices and each day plays a healthy round of catch with Numbers Thumball to find out what's for dinner.

Players get motivated and are eager to keep playing until all ten numbers are caught. An amazing way to keep everyone on track, having fun and learning every step of the way.

Adults 55 plus Enjoy Icebreaker Thumball

Have fun while visiting parents, grandparents friends or family in the hospital or nursing homes with Icebreaker Thumball.
Ice Breaker Thumball is a soft stuffed ball, 6-inch in diameter. Every age and ability level can participate. 1 to 100 can play. Throw it, Catch it, and respond to the panel under your thumb!

Players interact in a group setting while developing ease of verbal expression, improved social awareness and meaningful communicative interactions.

1. Participate in a turn taking game, circulating Thumball by passing, rolling, tossing with increasing ease and accuracy.
2. Answer questions related to personal preferences & experiences to practice staying on topic.
3. Ask other players questions about their likes/ dislikes and life experiences to stimulate opportunities for friendships based on shared interests.
4. Recall answers given by other players to enhance short-term memory skills.
5. Ask family, friends, staff, peers to participate in favorite things survey and keep data.
6. Create charts & graphs to present findings in front of a group for public speaking practice.
Our response from active adult communities, senior care centers and acute, rehab and long term care facilities has been overwhelmingly positive:

“Thumball has brought our social time alive. Everyone gets a chance to play and it keeps our members interest. Memories are relived in a great way."
Meredith, Activities Co-coordinator

“We have introduced Thumball into our physical, occupational and speech therapy groups with wonderful results. Each resident finds it easier to accomplish tasks with this fun game during our exercise, cooking and conversation-time activities.”
Lynn, Rehabilitation Supervisor

Try Thumball on your next visit and get everybody, young and old, fast and slow interacting, relating, thinking and creating with Thumball.

Read to Your Womb

Reading to your child while still in the womb is either encouraged or scoffed at. I believe it is a worthy practice from a speech therapist's point of view and a mother's experience. The cadence of a voice reading has it's own unique rise and fall.Hearing the rhythm and rhyme in a story lays critical ground work for later language development.. The rate of reading is slower and more measured than the typical speed of speech and consequently received in an important way.

Changes in volume can be both subtle and significant depending on the story. Emotion comes through whether relating a cheerful story or a sleepy bedtime tale. Now the new life curled inside may seem to know little of these things and yet can recognize these changes in pitch, tone, speed and volume. There are studies out there (which I should be referencing but it is late and I am tired) that can confirm changes in the fetal respiratory, muscular and circulatory systems when being read to.

I really observed the effect when my own daughter was born as she readily stopped, looked and listened in a very natural way when a story began from the earliest moments after her birth. Her language skills advanced extremely quickly being my little speech and language experiment and I felt proud of her early accomplishments as she beat milestone after milestone.

Other studies show precocious youngsters usually even out in these talents with their peers by second or third grade and this followed suit with my daughter. I never intended to get caught up in what appeared to be a gifted learner but at times I found myself imagining the full scholarship award ceremony and our first visit to an Ivy League school.

So in retrospect I believe reading to my womb had a positive impact on my daughter's language development and continues to this day with her true love of reading and learning. It is a great way to lay a foundation for learning and should be a pleasurable experience for its own sake. Stay in the moment as much as possible and know that too much emphasis on future plans can steal golden moments right in front of you.

To those that see reading to a fetus as a laughable concept I say try it and you may be amazed what a wonderful way it can be to unwind. Reading a children's story in a slow, soft way, the duties of the day float away and there you are with a cat in a hat or three little pigs. Better still create daily reading habits before the birth and you are sure to keep this nighttime ritual for many treasured years. Both you and your child will have sweeter dreams to share together and piles of stories to plan for the future.

Fish Gotta Swim, Kids Gotta Move

Parents, It's hot out there so the kids will be indoors more and they need activity, lots of it. Post-its have become a terrific teaching tool to me. In a matter of minutes I can jot down the names of our family, pets and friends, one on each post-it. Then I place them through out the house.
Now the kids get to hunt for the names. Older kids can carry a clip board and when they find a name they put it on the paper and write down where they found it. They must find all the names (throw in a few funny ones, Sponge Bob etc) and where they found them specifically (in the kitchen,on the counter under the microwave) before they can come back.

I tell them how many name post-its are out there. They can work as a team or take turns. The one with the most names found now gets to conduct the next hunt. They can choose to write letters, words, sentences or draw pictures and place them around the "approved rooms". The other kids get to hunt. They will be active mentally and physically and will come up with their own creative ideas in the process.
A fun twist is to pick 10 compound words (football, airport, snowman etc.) and write each word separately on a post-it. Once they find all 20 notes then they must sort them and make 10 words.

If you have younger children learning to read you can place 10 post-its all with the same word and it will help them build sight word vocabulary. Go to http://www.quiz-tree.com/Sight-Words_main.html
for lists of these important words.

The value I get from a pack of post-its is fantastic but I attest that the 3M post-it people are not giving me a kick back.
Kids love to hunt, search, explore and discover even if it's small slips of sticky paper in the house. Language skills grow and hearing "I'm bored" fades away. Enjoy some lemonade and a day inside until the cool evening air lifts the heavy heat and the kids can hunt for lightening bugs instead.

Blogs, dreams and New Ideas

I awoke groggy and a bit grumpy this morning and needed time to remember to count my blessings. I was feeling overwhelmed negotiating my new interest in the world of blogging. Well the big world of blogging got nicer, friendlier and more accessible today.

Jeremiah McNichols of http://zrecs.blogspot.com/ shared thoughts and recommendations useful to a new blogger such as myself. He was kind enough to answer my questions about the multitude of purposes a blog can serve and better still is reviewing our creation Thumball.

From the start, my intention was not to create a self serving blog concerned only with marketing our invention (even if it is the greatest thing since sliced bread). Jeremiah helped me recognize I wanted to create a place to describe the many ways Thumball can be played in order to serve every age and all ability levels whether in school, at home or in the office.

I am recognizing it is my expertise as a speech therapist that I want to share. Thumball was born during my work with students diagnosed with autism, communication impairments, learning disabilities, ADHD and emotional disturbance. I watched as their attention and motivation increased with the introduction of a ball and they began to get along with each other in positive ways.

So I literally had a dream in Dec of 2004 that told me "You must market this concept." So my husband and I listened to my dream's command and took the leap into the world of entrepreneurship and manufacturing. We have been living this dream for 3 and a half years now and I have learned more than I can believe possible.

Techniques flow from me on ways to facilitate communication and build learning skills and foster relationships that I forget not everybody can generate as easily.
This blog hopes to contribute to improved connections between brothers and sisters, teachers and students, employers and employees by playing with a purpose.

I look forward to sharing our experiences from the road at trade shows. I plan to continue my development of seminars that provide usable ideas which encourage and empower people. Expanding my technology skills while patiently learning how to offer a stimulating blog is a new goal.

We never stop learning and that gets me up in the morning and when I interact with an intelligent kind person like Jeremiah I sleep better at night.

At a Loss for Words? Thumball can provide some.

A friend of a friend is Uncle to a youngster diagnosed with Autism. "At times it can be difficult to know what to do. He doesn't communicate verbally and I am at a loss for words when I am with him." Uncle reports. He took a chance on Thumball™ and bought the Animals design and the Emotion Mania Thumball™. His nephew readily received them and began turning it all around and looking at each panel.

Now there was a place to start so Uncle said "Can you show me a dog, the mouse, an animal that flies or has a tail? To his sweet surprise his nephew could do all of those things, smiles began to show and the fun continued for hours.

The Emotion Mania Thumball™ gave Uncle the chance to be silly and act out facial expressions and body language which mesmerized his nephew and soon he was trying to make faces too (a challenging concept for some) and this lasted through the day.

A simple ball engineered to stimulate communication had done it's job. The creativity that flowed on came from Uncle and nephew and a meaningful way to play and interact. Ready to play? It's your turn!