Ball games have been widely used by educators and parents for many years. With different sizes, colors and even textures, balls make it possible to create diversified games that are easy to come back to again and again.

Did you know that beyond play, the ball is a tool of choice for facilitating children's development?

Visuomotor coordination is essential for the development of fine motor activities such as coloring, threading, and possibly reading and writing. By playing throwing and catching games with the child, they learn to coordinate their eyes with their hands. Also, they learn to coordinate the two sides of their body as well as to cross midline (using the right hand on the left side of the body and vice versa). These skills are essential for developing coordination and using tools such as scissors, pencils, and utensils.

In addition, by playing ball children will develop their motor planning skills. Children need to properly plan their actions to successfully catch the ball while moving. They have to be successful in adjusting their “timing” according to the environment.

Finally, ball games allow children to develop their various visual perception skills – whether it be the concepts of figure-ground or depth, as well as ocular motility, which is necessary to follow the ball in space (and to become a fluent player).

Our Ball Game Ideas

Rabbit Jumps: face to face, roll a dice. Depending on what number is shown, the child is asked to bounce the ball so that the ball ends up on the adult’s side.

Musical Ball: sitting in a circle, the children pass a ball to each other. When the music stops, the child holding the ball must complete a challenge.

• Throw the ball twice in the air and catch it
• Jump down to the ground
• Say a friend’s name and throw or roll the ball to the chosen friend (can be done with siblings and with parents; a great family activity)
• Go around the world (move the ball around the waist without dropping it)
• Etc.

Throw-Catch: Vary the shape, size, and even texture of the ball to provide variation in regular throw-and-catch games. For beginners, use a balloon or a Softgym type ball. These move much more slowly and allow the child time to adjust their position to catch it.

Basketball or target ball: throwing a ball of different sizes towards a target (on the ground or on the wall) will allow you to develop precision.

Have fun!

logo-crcm

The CRCM team of specialized educators and psychoeducators


CRCM – Clinique de réadaptation Carolyne Mainville

Website : www.crcm.ca

Facebook : Clinique CRCM