You’ll almost always find a ball at a Bluearth session. They’re amazing vehicles for developing skills, and create countless opportunities for creativity and connection (not to mention fun).
Here are 6 ball-based movements for you to try.
Solo Activities
Tennis Ball Bounce #1
Equipment Required: Tennis ball
Abilities Involved: Throwing, Catching, Coordination, Speed
Keeping your eye on the tennis ball, throw it from one hand to the other, almost like a rally, being sure the ball stays at a short height.
Once you’ve got a good flow going, challenge yourself by adding a clap or two in between each throw.
Then, try throwing the ball high in the air and seeing how many claps you can get in before you catch it with two hands.
Tennis Ball Bounce #2
Equipment Required: Tennis ball
Abilities Involved: Catching, Concentration, Speed
Grab a tennis ball and drop it from a height, with one hand, fingers facing down. Then catch it close to the ground, in the same hand, fingers facing up.
Once you’ve got this movement down, you can give these variations a go:
– Dropping the ball with one hand (fingers facing down) and catching it with the other (fingers facing up).
– Dropping and catching the ball with the same hand, fingers pointing down. (With this one, make sure you’re actually letting the go of the ball as it falls.)
Tennis Ball Bounce #3
Equipment Required: Tennis ball
Abilities Involved: Catching, Coordination, Speed
Place the tennis ball on the ground, in between your feet so the inside of each foot is touching the ball and holding it in place.
Flick the ball behind you into the air, turn around and try to catch it.
Sit on the Egg
Equipment Required: Small-to-medium sized ball
Abilities Involved: Balance, Coordination, Speed
Roll the ball away from you, chase it down and sit on it to bring it to a complete stop.
Group Activities
Ball Snatch
Equipment Required: One tennis ball per player
Abilities Involved: Concentration, Listening, Reaction Time
Get everyone to stand in a circle with a tennis ball positioned on the floor in front of their feet.
Nominate one person to be the caller. The caller’s job is to call out ‘hands on toes, heads, shoulders, hips etc.’, in whatever order they want, then ‘ball’. When the caller says ‘ball’, the remaining players are to pick up the ball and hold it above their head as quickly as they can. Let each person have a go at being the caller.
To add more movement into the activity, players can jog on the spot while the caller is making their commands.
Moon Ball
Equipment Required: A large soft ball
Abilities Involved: Cooperation, Teamwork
Work together to keep the ball up in the air by using the palm of your hand to hit it up, only hitting it once each turn.
See how many times you can hit it up as a team, adding one point for every touch.