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Supporting your child's ball skills
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Playing with balls provides lots of developmental benefits for your child. It's also a fun way for children to exercise. Playing with balls can be hard for some children. It can be particularly hard if they are scared of the ball. Encourage your child to practice regularly and give them lots of praise.
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Activities to do to support your child's ball skills
Activities to do to support your child's ball skills
When your child play using a ball, they are using their hand skills (also known as fine motor skills). The skills your child uses when playing with a ball are:
- looking at the same thing together (shared attention)
- focusing on something (visual attention)
- motivation to engage
- shoulder stability
- hand-eye coordination
- looking and following something with your eyes (visual tracking)
There are a number of activities and games you can play with your child that will help develop these skills. Read our information on hand skills.
Shared attention or joint attention is when two people are looking at the same thing together. This happens when one person shares the moment with another by making eye contact, pointing or using words and sounds to alert them to something they are looking at.
Activities to help with shared attention:
- Look through books together.
- Watch a car being pushed towards them.
- Building towers and knocking them down.
Visual attention is when you focus on something.
Activities that help with visual attention:
- Mazes
- Playing 'I-spy'.
- Sorting items like beads and buttons.
- Watching a bubble and then popping it.
- Watching a toy car being pushed towards them.
You can also play a simple ball game:
- Pass one ball at a time to your child.
- Your child places or throws them into a bucket.
- You can also encourage your child to pass the balls onto another child.
You will need to supervise your child when they are playing with or using small objects. There is a risk of choking if they put them in their mouth.
Visual tracking is when you focus on something and follow it with your eyes as it moves.
Activities that help with visual tracking:
- Sorting items like beads and buttons.
- Playing with bubbles.
- Watching a bubble and then popping it.
- Watching a toy car being pushed towards them.
- Taking something that is offered.
You can also play a simple ball game:
- Pass one ball at a time to your child.
- Your child places or throws them into a bucket.
- You can also encourage your child to pass the balls onto another child.
You will need to supervise your child when they are playing with or using small objects. There is a risk of choking if they put them in their mouth.
Hand-eye coordination is need for lots of different activities.
Activities that help with hand-eye coordination:
- Building with building blocks like wooden blocks or any other similar block toys.
- Stacking empty and clean boxes, eggboxes and yogurt pots.
- Emptying and filling plastic water bottles or washing up liquid bottles.
- Pressing switches and buttons.
You will need to supervise your child when they are playing with or using small objects. There is a risk of choking if they put them in their mouth.
Shoulder stability is also known as ‘shoulder girdle stability’. This is the ligaments and muscles around the collarbones and shoulder blades. It helps the shoulder joint move.
Activities that help with shoulder stability:
- Swimming
- Playing on climbing frames and using monkey bars
- Playing on hands and knees
- Playing games that involve pulling and pushing
- Playing with water games
- Lying on tummy and propping themselves up on forearms when watching TV, playing board games or reading
- Push-ups from a chair, wall or the floor
- Playing on climbing equipment, crawling through tunnels and obstacle courses
Getting started with ball skills
Children may flinch at oncoming balls. This is a natural response. You can help your child by using a softer ball like a soft sponge ball, a beach ball or a balloon.
Throwing and catching a ball
Use a large soft type of a ball like a soft sponge ball, a beach ball or a balloon. Gently throw the ball towards them. Aim between their chest and their waist. Do not throw the ball at your child's face.
As your child becomes more confident and skilled at throwing a ball you can progress by:
- slowly moving backwards and increasing the distance your child has to throw
- gradually reducing the size of the ball
Record the number of times your child catches the ball. This helps you to monitor their progress and can be used to help motivate your child.
Your child can also throw and catch a ball against a wall. They can step back from the wall or use a smaller ball as they feel more confident.
Other activities to help your child's throwing skills
Building confidence
There are a number of activities you can do with your child to help build their confidence with their balls skills.
Throwing using 1 hand. You can use smaller balls and beanbags. Practice grading force with underarm and overarm throws for different distances. Encourage your child to think about whether the throw was too hard or too soft. Encourage your child to stand with their feet apart. One foot should be further forward than the other.
Throw a football sized ball against the wall and catch it. It is okay if it bounces on the floor before your child catches it. You can progress when they can catch it with just 1 bounce. Try using smaller balls or catching it without it bouncing on the floor.
Throw a ball to the sides of your child. To start with, you can tell your child or point which side you will throw the ball. You can progress by not telling your child which side you will throw the ball.
High and low catching. Throw a ball to your child above their head or below their waist. This will help encourage them to bend and stretch to catch the ball. Make sure not to throw the ball at your child's face.
Throw and catch a tennis ball in the air using both hands. encourage them to throw the tennis ball in the air. You can progress by throwing it higher in the air.
Bouncing the ball to each other. Stand opposite your child and bounce a ball on the floor so they can catch it. Bounce it so that your child has to step or move to catch the ball.
Encourage them to dribble the ball like in basketball. Bounce and catch the ball on the floor with 1 hand. Progress to walking and bouncing the ball at the same time.
Kick or dribble a ball along a trail. If you have space, you can do this inside. Set up a number of cones for your child to move around. Your child may find it helpful to follow someone or use cues on the floor. This could be arrows, tape or spray paint on the floor.
Play bat and ball games. Your child can hit a ball suspended on a string (also known as tetherball or swingball). You can progress to using a sponge ball and a short handled racket.
Hit a ball on the floor with a cricket bat, hockey stick or a rolled up newspaper. You can progress by encouraging them to move around cones or obstacles. You can also pass to each other and hit it into a ball.
Last reviewed: 1 November, 2024
