My fave therapy toy....and I'm sure you'd have at least 15 of them at home already.
Another favourite therapy toy for today’s little blog……
Drumroll please......BALLS!
They’re never too young to start.
You can’t get much simpler than that. But honestly, I’m never without them in a therapy session, no matter what the age.
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From a baby rattle-ball with the easy-to-grasp brackets and the bell inside to keep a bub’s attention, to using a therapy-ball for tummy time, to teaching catch and throw to a four year old, to playing skittles or ‘grip-ball’ (remember GRIP BALL!?) with a biggy .... the list is endless.
And did I mention ball pits? So much sensory and gross motor goodness in one little activity there. And if you can’t get over the germ factor in the play-centre ball-pits then you can purchase your own mini one. They’re a little messy but my goodness they’re fun and will entertain your baby for hours!
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If you can encourage your bub to enjoy ball activities in any way, shape or form from a young age, you will be setting them up for a childhood of versatile and easy to access gross motor skill development. Not to mention the hand-eye coordination that comes hand in hand (pardon the pun) with ball play.
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And the benefits of ball play aren’t just limited to motor development. The social and communication skills babies learn from the simple act of turn-taking when rolling a ball is so lovely to watch.
‘Your turn’
‘My turn’
and
Ready set GOOOOO!’
are simple cues to use. Ball play also encourages eye contact and visual tracking, as well as the ability to share attention with another person during play.
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Introducing ball-Play to your child:
Hand one over as soon as they learn to grasp! A grab-ball with a bell inside is perfect. When a baby is given a ball when placed on their back or side it encourages grasping, hand-to-hand and hand-to-mouth play; three very important early-development stages.
Roll a rattle-ball back and forth in front of your baby when they are in tummy-time. It’s a great way to encourage head turning and eye tracking.
As soon as your baby can confidently sit, simply roll a ball to them while they’re sitting on the floor. They need to be pretty stable in sitting but it is a good challenge for them to reach for the ball too - it’s actually an exercise in my 10-step program to encourage more dynamic sitting. Perhaps have another adult behind them or place them in front of the corner of the couch to begin with if you are worried they might fall.
Remember your cues ‘ready, set, GOOOO!’ They should be able to roll it back to you from the age of about 9 months. If not don’t worry. Just keep practicing.
Rolling a ball to a crawling baby is a great exercise to promote weight-shift to the opposite arm, and the beginnings of one-handed ball skills. Wonderful for hand-eye coordination and for encouraging more adventurous crawling and exploration as they go to find the ball they have just batted away. Make this even more fun by creating a little ramp out of the ironing board and some cushions!
Like the picture above, I love to use huge therapy balls (or fit balls) with babies to help them gain that final stage of balance before taking their first independent steps. Have your baby stand up against one whilst you support the other side. They can push the ball along and ‘walk’ with the ball while you control the speed. Large balls like this are also great motivation for running after and pushing against for a toddler up and on the go.
Once your little one is up and steady in standing, tossing a soft light-weight ball to them is a good start. I like the squishy fabric balls like this one to start. Start a short distance away, and use your cues ‘read set goooooo’ as well as ‘hands ready’ and ‘watch the ball’. Increase the distance as your child gets more confident.
If your toddler is struggling to catch and throw in standing, have them sit down to practice. Generally a toddler will scoop a ball up and catch it to their chest until they’re about 3 when they might start to catch in their hands.
Take turns to throw soft balls or balled up socks into a bucket or laundry basket. You could move the bucket or basket closer when it’s your child’s turn.
As your toddler’s balance improves they will start being able to kick a ball. A little one will initially kick a ball by just walking into it. As they get closer to being able to stand on one leg they will be able to take a swing back and kick with more force. If balance is an issue, you can still encourage kicking by getting them to hold onto a support such as a chair or even a stick held like a ‘cane’!
Soccer goals, tennis racquets, totem tennis, foam baseball bats and grip- ball are all great activities for older children to keep their interest in ball games.
A junior basketball hoop is always so much fun for kids and gives lots of motivation.
As a child’s hand-eye co-ordination, balance and strength improves, the size of a ball can be reduced. Generally a 4-5 year old should be able to catch a tennis ball in their hands.
Encourage your child to practice bouncing a ball to themselves by about the age of 4. This is a quite a tricky skill to master, so you can start by getting them to bounce a ball to themselves just once before catching it. Increase to two bounces (then catch) and so on. A 6 year old might be able to bounce a tennis ball and then catch it with one hand.
When playing ‘catch’ with your older child, remember to alternate how you throw to them. Throw high and low, bounce and roll. This will improve their coordination and confidence.
They also need to master the ability to move to the left or the right, forward or back, to intercept the ball, and learn to point the fingers ‘up’ when catching a high ball and ‘down’ when catching a low one.
Remember this all takes PRACTICE. Ball skills don’t happen due to good luck. Not only will your child’s gross-motor skills and hand-eye coordination improve with the practice, but it is also an easy game to play that will strengthen your relationship too.
Finally, if you are a creative type, here are some more ‘out of the box’ ball-play ideas for your toddler that I found for you. Have fun!
For over 100 targeted developmental exercises & heaps more info like this all beautifully set out into a 10 step program, check out my eBook My Strong Little Body.