Soda-Bottle Bowling
Typically, when parents want their children to become comfortable with ball-handling skills, they go out into the backyard and play a game of catch. But here’s some information about children’s visual skills to keep in mind before expecting that exercise to be successful:
- Eye-hand coordination isn’t fully developed until the age of 9 or 10.
- Figure-ground perception – the ability to distinguish an object from its surroundings – doesn’t reach maturity until 8 to 12 years old.
- Depth perception – the ability to judge distance in relation to oneself – isn’t usually mature until about age 12.
The skill of receiving and controlling an object with the hands requires children to focus on the approaching object and make the adjustments necessary to receive it. The above developmental factors conspire to make that a difficult task, which often results in fear of the approaching object.
It makes more sense for the child’s early experiences with ball handling to be with rolling a ball. Like throwing, ball rolling involves moving a ball away from the body with the hands, but rather than through the air, the ball travels along the ground. Ball-rolling skills are most often associated with games like bowling and kickball but are also used in such activities as boccie, shuffleboard, and curling. The basic pattern is also seen in underhand throwing.
To practice this skill, play a game of Soda-Bottle Bowling. To improve her eye-hand coordination, set up large, empty soda bottles in the backyard, hand her a beach ball or a big playground ball, and let her bowl to her heart’s content!
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