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- “My four-year-old son loves his Hop ’N Pop! With his delayed motor skills and visual impairments due to meningitis, he tends to lack motivation. The Hop ’N Pop creates so much fun for him! It encourages him to walk and 'stomp' on the floor. And when I lay it underneath his feet while he is in his jumper, he goes crazy with jumping!! What an ingenious creation! It changes our son's focus. Instead of focusing on his movement, he is more interested in getting the popping to happen! A great change for him!
His physical therapist at Vanderbilt has found it to be a great icebreaker for those children who are intimidated by the large therapy facility or new environment. The children are so interested, fascinated, and enthralled in it, that they forget therapy is actually supposed to be ‘work’! I would encourage parents and therapists to try the Hop ’N Pop... it's been the most powerful and fun cause-and-effect toy for our special needs son!”
Jill Royka Nashville, TN - “It was a hit. I used Hop ’N Pop with 1-3 year olds, diagnoses ranging from Developmental Delay to Autism. Great proprioceptive input (running and jumping), and auditory input is loud. I love the mesh covering; kids can’t mouth and get plastic in their mouths. Could be used anywhere. Other fellow professionals and parents LOVED IT!”
Emily Wood, MS, PT Small Wonders Early Intervention Services, Inc., Johnson City, NY - Q: “For what conditions have you used Hop ’N Pop?”
A: “I’ve used Hop ’N Pop with children with severe autism, children with learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, emotional disorders and non-specific learning disorders.”
Q: “Did he pop it?”
A: “Yes! We had some really beautiful eye contact. He was smiling and jumping …it was a really good experience. When we stopped, I asked him if he wanted more and he nodded and signed, ‘More …Please!’ Using his signs again to say, ‘Jump, jump, jump!’ Still holding his hands, I was able to get him to jump on one foot. He was standing on one part of the mat and just jumping and imitating my movements, and he was having great eye contact. That was a really positive interaction that he had out of his secluded space and just really nice that we could start building on things like that.”
Q: “When using Hop ’N Pop with children with various needs, what are some of the skills on which you focus?”
A: “Motor planning, bi-lateral coordination, improving the attention and arousal levels of children with autism. In the high school, as an example, there is one student who has been spending a lot of time to himself. When I brought the Hop ’N Pop in, he was really excited. We, the staff and I, asked him if he wanted to come out and he eagerly nodded. He has server autism and he was eagerly nodding, so he came out and was able to start putting his feet on it. I was holding his hands and he began jumping on it.”
Q: “What is it about Hop ’N Pop that gets your young clients motivated?”
A: “The whole popping sound. These are children that are very very difficult to engage, that are typically closed off to the world, which of course, we know they’re not. They are wonderfully bright, brilliant children. What can we use to tap them in? To have a medium that they really enjoy you can start to see all these different skills come out. Hop ’N Pop is that medium.”
Q: “If you were to compare Hop ’N Pop to another tool you use to focus on the same skills, to what product would you compare?”
A: “There is nothing that I use that’s similar to Hop ’N Pop.”
Heather LeFrois, OT Mary Cariola Children’s Center, Rochester, NY - “An 8 year old, who we’ve been trying to teach to jump for months actually jumped for the first time on Hop ’N Pop!”
Pediatric Therapy Clinic Owner Binghamton, NY - “Hop ’N Pop aids with balance skills and might be considered in babies bouncing in the suspended swings, as they are fascinated with the popping sound.”
Director of Rehab Services and Occupational Services Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL
