Milk Carton Catchers

An oldie but a goodie. Homemade catchers - of sorts - made by recycling milk cartons.

I used a soft sided 3 litre carton. Sharp edges should be covered with tape - this carton was surprisingly not sharp at all.

This can be used individually; throwing and catching any object that will fit comfortably in it. Begin with items that won't roll away to readily...ie. beanbags or soft toys  are ideal.

It can also be used by two people to throw and catch to each other. With older children, suggest rallies over a makeshift net, suggest boundaries and begin simple rules. Include a bounce before catching.

We are at the stage of scooping up balls and anything that will fit in the carton. Quite a lot of investigation has taken place with regard to what fits in the carton, the tipping angle before it falls out, the noise each item makes. Not much PE yet, but a lot of other learning taking place.

And of course there is also a great deal of laughter. As you can see, all this takes place before breakfast is over.

Bricoleurs in the house

My Preschooler has fully embraced the 'Bricolage' philosophy from her kindergarten.

We spent the afternoon playing the game she made up today.

Pretty simple really -  get the ball into the tub with the stick. Hit it as many times as you need.
Me: 6 hits to get it in
Preschooler: 3

The beauty in this was the thinking that went into this activity and how it evolved as she wandered around the backyard picking up and contemplating the usefulness of each item. When I was initially enlisted to play, it  was called 'The Running Game'.

How hard was it to allow for the free, but controlled, flow of ideas? Very.

It's Catching

Introducing the skill of catching to little ones with a balloon ball allows the components of the task to be learned without the closing of eyes at the critical point.

The ability to track the ball as it approaches the catcher is developed during the preschool and early primary school years. This has more to do with biology than training. Until then, a toddler/preschooler will naturally close their eyes as the ball enters their personal space.

Slowing the ball down as it approaches the learner is one way to authentically teach the components of the task by scaffolding the learning of this skill. When readiness is shown, increase the rate of approach by removing the balloon cover and introducing increasingly heavier balls.

It is a far less traumatic approach to learning how to catch . Many students reach the middle primary school years still habitually closing their eyes just before contact is made between the ball and the hands. This derails the learning process with the end result being decreasing confidence and possibly reluctance to continue participation.

While it is certainly possible to unlearn the habits formed through learning to catch ineffectively, it is the loss of opportunity to enjoy, participate, build upon skills and derive confidence from being able to catch competently that is disappointing for any physical education specialist.

So here are my tips to accompany the use of balloon balls;

1. Begin with hands outstretched, palms up. "More please!"

2. Hug the ball to the chest.

3. High fives all round

4. Smile with pride

N.B. Even with a balloon ball, the eyes will initially close momentarily. It is a reflex action to the approaching ball. Soon the eyes will track the ball into the hands with increasing confidence.

One Potato, Two Potato...

........Three Potatos, Four

Balloons can be a lot of fun on their own without covers.

Balloon Covers

Some readers may have guessed that the ball used in yesterday's post (No Chicken Wings! September 6th 2010) was not a ball at all.

It was in fact a balloon inside a homemade balloon cover. This is, in my opinion the essential tool for scaffolding the learning of throwing and catching for toddlers and preschoolers.

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• Balloons inside a cover makes it slightly heavier but still retaining its loftiness. This gives the learner - whose ability to track the ball with their eyes is just developing - greater success at following the ball into their hands.
• Being soft and light, when the ball is headbutted, it does not derail the whole experience.
• When the balloon bursts - it will be loud but not likely to cause any other injuries. The knot can be tucked or hidden away - this is not shown in the picture above. (N.B. take care to account for all pieces of the balloon if it does pop - choking hazard).
• It can be used safely indoors which facilitates practice any time.
• Balloons and its cover take up very little space making it an ideal item to pack on excursions and holidays.
• Homemade balloons can be made to size.

I am a fan of balloon covers and have two to giveaway. The best comment/feedback about this blog between now and next Tuesday will win a Balloon Cover.Please include your email so I can contact you.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Ball Handling 2

Here is something else we like to do here to improve our Ball Handling skills. This is also a great warm up activity and can be adapted to all ages.

Everyone has a ball - (kids) handball size for toddlers to chest size for larger preschoolers.

Do this at the same time so that it can be modeled by the little ones.

1. Seated, legs crossed. Roll the ball on the floor around the body. Use the words Clockwise around the body, then anti-clockwise.

2. Remain seated. Roll the ball on the body, around the waist. Clockwise, then anti-clockwise.

3. Still seated but with legs extended. Roll the ball on the legs all the way out to your feet, then back towards the chest. Roll the ball up to neck, up over the face, over the top of the head and then back down the same way.

4. Stand in 'Star' shape, keep legs in position but use your hands to move the ball on the floor between the legs. Roll from the front to behind legs, reach around to collect the ball, repeat but reach around to the other side.

5. Remain in the same position. Roll the ball on the floor around one leg, then the other. The Ball should make the shape of the number '8'. Repeat in opposite directions.

Provide opportunities for the little ones to make suggestions and include them in the session. Anything that encourages movement of the ball around the body. Take the opportunity to use and explain the correct terminology - words in italics in the above points.

Use time to track progress. Suggest challenges; Can you do this without stopping once started? Can you do this without dropping or slipping?

Certainly this could be done to music or whilst singing a song...but allow for it to be spontaneous.

Intersperse the above with some fun tricks...IE.Try to balance the ball on the head? Balance the ball on the crook of the ankle, Spin the ball on the tip of finger?

After each skill, I like to take a shot at the indoor hoop and the kids get to slam dunk their balls. This is followed by a triumphant lap of the lounge room.


All of the above skills and tricks are done to improve ball handling, finger and hand strength and to increase confidence and competence with the ball.

Don't be too surprised when you catch then practising the above on their own accord.

Ball Handling

We have containers tucked in various rooms around the house. These store toys, books and lots of balls so that they are on hand when we need them. This allows for little snippets of reading, threading, sorting etc and of course, ball handling throughout the day.

This suits the way their brain works at this age and stage. Frequent, varied, fun activities that require focus for short periods of time.

The Toddler in our family loves playing with balls. Being a boy, that is not so surprising. Before he came along, I was aware there would be some differences in the way my Preschooler - our daughter - and my Toddler would interact with the world at large.

What is surprising is the extent of the differences - especially when it comes to playing with the balls...and climbing (but more about that on a later post).

So here is how I plan to begin the development in this area - quite a bit sooner than anticipated.

Choose soft chest (kids) sized balls so that it requires two hands to hug it. Have many on hand to reduce the amount of time required to fetch the ball.

At this stage there is a lot of just ball handling. Hugging, lifting, chasing, lying on the ball etc.
1. Rolling comes next. Seated, with both legs out in the shape of a 'V'. Begin the roll with the ball in contact with the ground. Push it forward to roll it. Roll it to and fro.
2. Then rolling whilst standing - with the adult kneeling. Stand with legs in a 'V' shape. (ie. bottom half of the star shape - remember the 'Stars and Rockets' post?) Roll it to and fro.
3. Encourage moving towards the ball and receiving it in a chest hug in a scooping action.

The action of kicking and/or chest passing will be next...but that is all for now.

Move from one stage to the next when there is some consistency at successfully receiving and rolling the ball to the intended destination. Note that the above may take days or weeks to progress through.

Indeed within the course of a day......I consider it a good one if I cover just step 1.

Because, there is also a lot of this going on.....

Hanging Ball

I have a soft ball hanging from the ceiling to encourage hand-eye-coordination for my Pre-Schooler. With varying degrees of success, she strikes it with her dominant hand and anticipates its return. She concentrates on the task of hitting the ball for several minutes and then returns to whatever she was doing.

With each session, she is experimenting with the position of her body in relation to the ball, she is improving on her ability to track the ball, and I have recently noticed that a 'back swing' is beginning to appear. The feedback from each session is used to improve upon her attempts. Occasionally, I provide some verbal cues to assist her but for this age and stage, the fun is in trying to hit the ball.

My Toddler son also enjoys using the Hanging Ball. Although, at 18 months of age, it is fun to just run into it.

I made my Hanging Ball by re-purposing a pair of stockings and pages of newspaper scrunched into a ball. The newspaper ball (tennis ball size) is placed inside the toe of the stocking and tied off with twine. Sometimes I put stickers on it or draw faces.

Having the Hanging Ball ready to go allows for frequent short periods of practice.