Let’s Play Ball
It is amazing how much gross-motor skill children can pick up from playing with a ball. They start out not being able to catch it, than move to the stage where they catch it by trapping it up against their body with their arms. As they progress through the stages they can throw the ball, strike the ball with a large paddle or bat, and kick the ball forward by running up to it. BY the time they are in kindergarten they will begin to and then master being able to catch the ball with both hands, hit a stationary ball, bounce and catch the ball and kick the ball while they are running.
All of these stages come with exposure and repetitive playing with balls, paddle, and bats. I know this is a harder and harder thing for kids to master as our children begin to spend more and more time indoors. But it is well worth the time to take your kids outside and play ball with them. You can pick out which part of the stage they are in from the list above and work on the next part with them.