![\"\"](\"http:\/\/everhear.wpengine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/purple-exercise-ball.jpeg\" "\\"ball\\"")
<\/p>\nWhat do you reach for when you want to play with your child?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This summer, pick up the toy that “does it all” in terms of educating and entertaining your children. \u00a0In an age when there are countless\u00a0high-tech educational toys (i.e. iPad applications, computer programs)\u00a0on the market, playing ball may seem prehistoric. \u00a0However, there may be some benefit to “unplugging” from the technological word and engaging in\u00a0a good ole game of catch.\u00a0 Listed below are\u00a0suggested ways a ball may be used to enhance communication skills\u00a0from birth through kindergarten and beyond.\u00a0\u00a0There is really no limit to the how\u00a0this\u00a0low-tech tool\u00a0can\u00a0be used, so please keep and\u00a0open mind and remember to have\u00a0a ball!<\/p>\n
Infants: <\/strong>Balls are interesting objects that facilitate joint attention (shared eye gaze)\u00a0between\u00a0parent and child. \u00a0Not only is rolling and bouncing the ball back and forth with your child beneficial for development of gross motor and coordination, but it reinforces the child’s eye contact with the parent and supports development of his or her social skills.<\/p>\n Toddlers: <\/strong> The back-and-forth interaction\u00a0that you experience during catch\u00a0is a\u00a0wonderful way to teach\u00a0your youngster\u00a0conversational \u00a0turn-taking and imitation.\u00a0\u00a0Children typically acquire\u00a0labels rapidly,\u00a0with\u00a0action and describing words lagging behind.\u00a0\u00a0Using a ball, parents can teach their children\u00a0action words (e.g., stop, go, throw, kick, roll, bounce) and descriptive words (e.g., fast, slow,\u00a0colors, size) while having fun inside or outside.\u00a0\u00a0Parents\u00a0can also help their\u00a0children learn\u00a0to make choices\u00a0(e.g. “Roll or\u00a0bounce?”).<\/p>\n Preschoolers:<\/strong> Parents may enhance listening comprehension and question formulation skills together\u00a0through a\u00a0modified\u00a0game of catch.\u00a0 First, the parent holds the ball and asks the child\u00a0“Do you want me to roll, bounce, or throw the ball?”\u00a0 The\u00a0parent may then expand or rephrase the child’s response (e.g. “You want me to\u00a0bounce!”) and narrate the action as it occurs (e.g. “Bounce, bounce!”).\u00a0\u00a0When the child has possession of the ball, the parent may \u00a0assist the child in\u00a0formulating a question.\u00a0 The parent then\u00a0expresses a\u00a0request (“I want\u00a0you to throw it!”) and cheers\u00a0for the child’s success with listening and following directions.\u00a0 Incorporate\u00a0“Simon Says”\u00a0into this activity to\u00a0encourage\u00a0careful listening\u00a0and following directions.<\/p>\n Kindergartners and beyond:<\/strong> Learning the\u00a0alphabet,\u00a0letter-sound\u00a0relationships, and phonological awareness skills\u00a0are essential for\u00a0literacy development.\u00a0 Enhance your child’s understanding of these concepts by stepping away from the paper and\u00a0pencil and\u00a0engaging in\u00a0sound-it-out games.\u00a0 Tossing the ball\u00a0back-and-forth with a parent\u00a0while rehearsing the alphabet, identifying letters\u00a0their sounds, and naming words\u00a0in categories (i.e. foods, animals) that\u00a0begin with that sound are fun and educational ways to\u00a0sharpen pre-reading skills.\u00a0 Other\u00a0great ways to make literacy include tossing a ball as you and your child practice rhyming words or bouncing the ball as you count the\u00a0number of\u00a0syllables (i.e.\u00a0‘beats’ in a word, such as Wash-ing-ton).\u00a0 Training your child’s auditory skills will promote greater success with reading and spelling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What do you reach for when you want to play with your child? This summer, pick up the toy that “does it all” in terms of educating and entertaining your children. \u00a0In an age when there are countless\u00a0high-tech educational toys (i.e. iPad applications, computer programs)\u00a0on the market, playing ball may seem prehistoric. \u00a0However, there may…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[852,853,854,52],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everhear.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}