Discovery Play Activities with Your Young Child: Bouncing Balls

Discovery Play Activities with Your Young Child: Bouncing Balls

STEM

Science

Levels of Thinking

Resources are categorized by whether they target foundational levels of thinking or levels of thinking that extend past foundational levels (expanding).

Suggested AdaptationS

Check out our guide to adaptations. Adapt for environment, materials, instruction.

General Guide to Adaptations

Description

Infants love playing with balls. Ball play is not just a motor learning activity, but a STEM learning opportunity. During ball play, help your child learn about the properties of balls with a variety of textures and sizes and discover how different textured balls can move in different ways (roll, throw, bounce, drop).

Environment

  • If possible, limit background noise & distractions
  • Place balls within reach
  • Cover items that you will not use during the activity
  • Make sure your child has a comfortable place to sit or stand while engaging in the ball activity
  • If you are planning to roll balls, lay out “paths” made of tape or another material for the balls to follow.

Materials

  • Have child’s assistive technology ready and available, including augmentative & alternative communication (AAC) device
  • Have a container or tray your child can toss balls into
  • Provide a variety of balls with different textures (rough, smooth, bumpy, knobby, hard, soft), sizes (big, small), and colors
  • For children with physical disabilities with fine motor/grasping needs, consider using tools/assistive devices (e.g., grabber, reacher)

Instruction

  • Use a variety of methods of communication (e.g., sign language, gestures) to meaningfully engage children
  • Model and demonstrate how to interact with balls. Try doing one actions at a time with one ball, then build one or two more actions into the activity
  • Use hand-over-hand or hand-under-hand to support interacting (e.g., roll, throw, bounce, drop) with balls
  • Have visuals ready to represent different actions your child might do with the ball
  • Allow longer waiting time for child to respond and/or process this activity

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STEM Ideas/Words

STEMIE Learning Trajectories