While there are many textured balls on the market Drop Dots impressed our testers as being unique. They attributed the special appeal of Drop Dots to the spiky look of the balls. You might think that would be dangerous or uncomfortable to throw or catch, it is quite the opposite. The rubber that creates the ‘spikes’ is actually soft, so there is no issue of the texture hurting the hand when catching or throwing. Another significant difference between the Drop Dots and other textured balls is the weight and hardness. Most textured balls geared toward younger children are soft and light – the texture here is still intended to help children still developing basic hand/eye coordination and also to keep little ones from getting hurt. These more substantial and harder balls allow older children to throw and catch them much as one would with a softball (they are about the same size). Drop Dots are very bouncy, so we recommend playing with them outside. And, if they get dirty, (which it will), they are really easy to wash off and clean. The suggested age range of 6 and up felt just right to our parent testers.