Catching a ball uses large motor skills that adults often take for granted. Undeveloped motor skills may be why it takes children time to learn sports skills like kicking, catching and throwing. By spending time working with your child, you can give her a solid foundation for motor skills development, which can help when she's ready to join school or community sports. It may take an extra dose of patience, but you can indeed teach your child to catch a ball in a way that she'll understand.
Step 1
Begin your lesson by sitting on the ground with your child, about 10 feet apart, the Wondertime website suggests. This helps lower your child's center of gravity so he can concentrate solely on catching, rather than on balance and catching concurrently.
Step 2
Blow up a balloon and start batting the balloon back and forth, pediatrician David Geller suggests on the BabyCenter website. Balloons are soft, large and easy to track with the eye. This helps your child learn the regular pattern of throwing and catching without feeling fearful of the hardness of the ball. Bat the balloon back and forth, ensuring that your child can easily catch it before sending it back to you.
Step 3
Exchange the balloon for a large, soft ball, like those used in dodgeball. This will be a new challenge, since the heavier ball will fall faster. Since the ball is still large and soft, it's easier for little fingers to grasp, and won't hurt, so your child feels safe. Instruct your child to move to a kneeling position, working on her catching skills with the larger ball. Throw the ball back and forth until you feel that your child knows how to prepare herself to catch.
Step 4
Outfit your child with a baseball glove and present a tennis ball. The tennis ball is much smaller than the softer ball and will be more difficult to catch, but it's closer in size to a baseball. Instruct your child to stand. When throwing to the glove, ensure that you're as accurate as possible, suggests the Sportales website. This can prevent your child from getting hurt by the ball and becoming fearful of playing catch. Have your child practice catching the ball in the mitt and covering the ball with his free hand.
Step 5
Trade the tennis ball for a baseball only when you're confident that your child is becoming proficient in catching. Each stage of the lesson may be frustrating and take extra time, but each stage will help your child become more confident in her abilities. As you work with the baseball, start moving a step back after each 10 successful catches. Work on catching as a daily exercise, as your child likely won't learn everything in just one lesson.
Things You'll Need
- Balloon
- Soft ball
- Baseball
- Baseball glove
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