A penny floater is a kind of cheap

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

commonly used by children in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

. Its name derives from the fact that when they were first developed in the 1960s they cost a

penny A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is ...

. The penny floater may have originated in Italy. The floater part comes from the fact that as they are made of a thin layer of hardened

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic polymers, synthetic or Semisynthesis, semisynthetic materials composed primarily of Polymer, polymers. Their defining characteristic, Plasticity (physics), plasticity, allows them to be Injection moulding ...

filled with air: their light weight makes them susceptible to floating or swerving with the wind. Penny floaters are commonly used by young children; however, among older children they are an object of ridicule and mocked as cheap

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

footballs unsuitable for use. Nonetheless, their cheapness and the fact that they do not damage other objects in urban environments as easily as regular footballs do make them common. Professional footballs are sometimes compared to penny floaters disparagingly, as in the case of the Adidas Jabulani football used in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. The Jabulani was criticised for its performance, which was partly because its internal stitching made it too spherical to spin normally and more like a penny floater in that regard.

References

Balls Inflatable manufactured goods 1960s toys {{toy-stub