Balance Otto, a 'chair' to sit on close to the ground. It mainly encourages movement and to seek the limits of your balance. As a result, it helps to focus your attention on what you are doing.

The Balance Otto is a sturdy hard plastic T-shaped chair of 22 cm high. The top of the T is used to sit on and measures 24 by 24 cm. The front and back of the seat are slightly raised. The seat itself has a relief so that you can sit on it comfortably and do not slide off easily. The leg of the T rests on the ground and is slightly rounded on the sides as well as on the front and back, which encourages movement.
On the website of toys42hands I came across this balance chair. It reminded me of the T-chairs that Jean Ayres advised more than 40 years ago to use for children with SI problems. These chairs consisted of two plywood planks that were screwed perpendicular to each other - in the shape of a T. The idea was to remain seated on the T-chair and also do a ball game or another activity. That was not so easy in itself. The result was that most children with SI problems either sat on it very tensely or kept falling off.

1. Balance
This balance chair is a much improved version of the original T-chair. This is mainly due to the rounded edges at the bottom of the leg of the T and the design of the seat. The rounded edges ensure that you do not have to maintain your balance statically by sitting still, but that you have to move the leg of the T slightly over the ground to maintain your balance. This happens almost automatically. The rounded edges of the T also encourage movement. In addition, the slightly raised front and back and the relief of the seat ensure that you do not slide off so easily. The chair can be used for many purposes. Below are some suggestions.

2. Movement game
Sitting on the chair mainly provides fun in movement. Although the chair does not stand on its own, it is not very wobbly when you sit on it. You do have to feel the ground through the chair with your buttocks, as it were. You then use the ground to keep your balance by moving yourself slightly over the ground. All this is only possible if you sit firmly on it with your feet supported on the ground. This automatically provokes movement and weight transfer, first mainly sideways. But if you sit on it for a while, also backwards, which makes the support point of the chair even smaller. You can then even turn around in circles with the chair.

Other games
By balancing on the chair with your buttocks and the support of your feet, you increase the range of motion of your arms, head and torso. This makes the chair very suitable for all kinds of ball games and other activities such as blowing bubbles, moving to music, and pulling funny faces and making sounds.

2. Making contact with the ground
Movement is important for all children, but especially if you have a strong urge to move as a child, it is fun and probably also useful to regularly sit on this chair. Because you 'ground' your movements, as it were, the very strong urge to move will gradually decrease. By supporting your feet on the ground and the point of the T, your movements are more or less stopped by the ground. In order to be able to remain seated on the chair and to make it less hard, you respond to this by moving your feet and the point of the T over the ground. Your weight does not end up on one point on the ground but is distributed over it. This 'distribution', moving over or taking support on the ground reverses the movement, as it were. You first moved towards the ground, but by taking support on that ground, your movement is reversed and you use the ground to keep your balance. The ground then becomes the stable point from which you move. This is also called 'grounding' or 'earthing'.

4. Focus attention
To stay on the chair, you have to sit firmly on it with your bottom, so that you exert sufficient pressure on the chair. Because the support point of the chair is slightly rounded, you also have to make small corrective movements continuously. Fortunately, the chair provokes this almost automatically, you do not have to pay much attention to it. The need to constantly maintain your balance in this way ensures that it is easier to stay alert or concentrated. You are therefore less likely to be distracted. This is mainly due to the continuous activation of your balance organ and the information from your muscles, which together ensure that there is sufficient pressure on the chair. This happens almost automatically. Sitting on the chair several times a day - at least three times and for at least five minutes - can also affect your alertness and concentration for the rest of the day.

Other practical applications for children and adults
The Balance Otto is very suitable for children, from about 3 or 4 years old, to use as a 'chair' when playing on the floor or at a low table. Or for example when watching television or playing with a tablet. Place the 'chair' within reach and a child will probably discover many more possibilities.
Although I initially thought it was only for children, I also find it very comfortable to sit on. It can also be used very well by adults. For example, by parents with young children, therapists, teachers and others who work or play with children on the floor.
In addition, you can also, especially as an adult, sit on the 'chair' by supporting yourself not with your feet but with your lower legs, from your knees to your toes, on the ground. You will then sit even more stable. In this way, the Balance Otto can be used very well as a meditation bench or chair.