Outdoor play - ball skills

Ball skills are complex and require involvement from all the senses and this is why it is an area of difficulty for many children. If your child has difficulty with ball skills they may benefit from accessing Fun Fit at school.

It is important to teach ball skills following the basic developmental stages.

• Start with the child standing still a short distance away from you. Throw the ball towards
  them at chest height, rather than to one side or too high/low
• You may need to provide verbal prompts and physical demonstration to encourage the child
  to get their hands ready and look at the ball (not the person throwing). Hand-over-hand
  support may be required initially
• Start with lighter balls which will move more slowly through the air. You may wish to start by
  blowing bubbles for the child to pop. Once they are able to do this confidently, move onto
  balloons. Initially ask them simply to bat the balloon with their hand, and once they can do
  this, progress to trying to catch it with two hands. Following this, work on catching a beach
  ball and then progress to a beanbag, harder ball, rugby ball, tennis ball etc.

Activities

These activities have been put together to practice and improve ball skills. They can be carried out in any order and should ideally be practised about three times a week for 15 minutes and could be incorporated into PE lessons.

Rolling the ball activities

• Start with a larger ball and progress to a smaller ball
• Start in a sitting or lying position and roll the ball to each other
• Roll the ball, chase it and stop it
• Roll the ball, chase it and run past it, crouch down and pick up the ball
• Roll the ball against a wall and stop the rebound with hands

Catching the ball activities

• Practise throwing and catching using scarves and balloons as they move very slowly
• Don’t stand too close as reactions need to be faster and this is more difficult
• Practise throwing beach balls or foam footballs into the air with one hand and catching with
  two
• In kneeling and then standing, drop the ball onto the floor and try to catch it on the rebound
• Throw the ball up with two hands and catch with two hands
• Throw the ball to the wall, allow it to bounce, and then catch it
• Throw the ball to the wall, allow it to bounce, then get partner to catch it

Throwing the ball activities

• Check stance for an underarm throw. If right arm is used, left foot should be forwards
• Throw a beanbag over progressively longer distances
• Throw a beanbag high into the air
• Throw a beanbag to hit a wall or target
• Throw a beanbag at skittles and count how many skittles you knock over in one go

Kicking activities

• The child kicks a ball between self and partner
• Change the ball the child uses to make the activity more interesting
• Change the distance as accuracy improves