Object Control & Catching - Full Resource

Catch the Scarves

Give each child a scarf and invite them to throw them in the air and catch them.  Progress to see how many claps they can include in between throwing and catching.  Throw to partners.

Adapt for younger children:

Start doing this seated and progress to standing. Adults model the movements.

Extension:

Progress to bean bags or soft balls

Hand Dance

Use the video and follow the movements to this hand dance, do this standing up.

Music Suggestion: Albatross – Fleetwood Mac

Adapt for younger children:

Keep the actions simple. Try including rhymes like ‘open them shut them’ etc.

Extension:

Make the movements bigger by including movement of the shoulder girdle. Encourage precise finger movements too eg  isolating digits

Paper Crunch

Give each child an a4 piece of tissue paper or a small A5 paper bag.  Children must stand up and using one hand (the other hand behind their back) crush the paper into a ball.  Progress to try and open it using one hand.

Adapt for younger children:

Use an A5 piece of tissue paper in each hand and encourage them to scrunch them and throw them.

Extension:

Try in both hands simultaneously.

Explosion

Place a variety of coloured scarves inside hoops around the space.  Play some music and children must jog around the space avoiding the hoops.  When the music stops there is an explosion and children must run to a hoop and throw the scarves in the air and catch them.  Repeat

Adapt for younger children:

For non-walkers keep the hoops close and encourage throwing. 

Extension:

Place empty hoops a short distance away from the hoops with the scarves.  When the music stops children must aim and throw the scarves into the empty hoop before the music starts again.

Beach Ball Dodge

Using an inflatable beach ball.  Choose a child to stand inside a hoop in the middle of the space.  The child has 2 helpers. The child in the hoop must low underarm throw a beach ball while the other children move around the space. (no higher than waist height) If the ball touches you, you become a helper too.  The helpers fetch the ball and return it to the thrower.  Progress to 3 throwers with 3 balls standing in hoops. Repeat

Adapt for younger children:

Adult rolls the ball and children must avoid it…other adults model.  Non-walkers crawl, shuffle away.

Extension:

Progress to a soft dodgeball and if the ball touches children, they sit out until that game finishes.

The child or children left are the winners and they become the children in the hoops

Aim/Strike/Retrieve

Place a variety of balls on different cones, high and low and different surfaces.  Encourage children to use their hand and aim and strike the ball, retrieve it and try again.

Adapt for younger children:

Introduce young children to a variety of balls, allow time for each child to explore the texture and the properties of each ball in their own time.

Extension:

Extend to include striking implements, rounders bats, short tennis racquets, hockey sticks etc

Chalk Bodies

Give each child a chalk and partner the children, one child lays on the floor and the other child must chalk around their body, swap over and repeat.  Give each child a chalk and invite them to draw muscles on the body, then discuss internal muscles and draw heart and lungs.

Adapt for younger children:

Adults draw around children and children mark make on the bodies, adults model and demonstrate the body mapping.  Include head, shoulders knees and toes.

Extension:

Invite children to draw facial expressions on their statues.  Encourage children to make alternative shapes with their bodies for their partners to draw around.

Chalk Statues

Using the chalk statues from the previous game.  Play some music, when the music stops children must lay down and fit their bodies into the nearest chalk body.  Repeat.

Adapt for younger children:

Keep the shapes simple and allow more time for children to get up and down.  For non-walkers, mark make circles on the floor for them to crawl inside.

Extension:

Use a larger space and invite children to make complex shapes on the floor for their partner to chalk around.

Parachute Play

Have the parachute our on the floor and then welcome the children in, they must tiptoe around the parachute and take hold of a handle.  Slowly wake up the parachute by gently shaking it.  Progress to large up and down movements

Adapt for younger children:

Start with introducing this activity sitting and progress to kneeling and then to standing.

Extension:

Call out the names of two children opposite to swap places under the parachute. Explain that if you answer yes to the statement, children must find another place around the parachute by going underneath.  Everyone raises the parachute and adult calls out: eg Do you have a sister? Those who have run underneath and find another place.

Parachute ball

Place a large beach ball on top of the parachute and invite the children to see if they can make the ball touch the ceiling or the sky…by shaking it.  Then introduce 50-100 ball pit balls onto the parachute as popcorn and sing:

1.  Popcorn kernels, popcorn kernels,
2. In the pot, in the pot
3. Shake them, shake them, shake them,
4. Shake them, shake them, shake them,
5. ‘til they pop, ‘til they pop!

On the ‘shake them’ section, encourage the children to shake the parachute.

Include other items on the parachute:

1. Leaves during autumn
2. Cotton Wool balls for winter
3. Torn strips of tissue paper for fireworks
4. Teddies for Teddy bears picnic

Adapt for younger children:

Start introducing this activity sitting and progress to kneeling and then to standing.

Extension:

Invite the children to only shake the parachute when the adult say’s popcorn, adult then tells a story and incorporates the word “popcorn”.  Invite children to take turns at telling a story too.

Teddy Bears Picnic

Give each child a teddy bear and play the music, invite the children to move with their teddies; swinging them, skipping with them, lifting them up, spinning them around.  Don’t forget to hug them and care for them Music Suggestion Henry Hall – Teddy Bears Picnic.

Adapt for younger children:

Give each child a teddy and encourage movements on the floor with teddies.  When ready progress to moving on 2 feet.

Extension:

Include throwing and catching teddies, swinging through legs, spinning, etc.  Incorporate balancing teddy…laying on legs up high and balance teddy on feet.  On hands and keens walking with teddy riding on backs. Balancing teddy on one knee – stand on two feet and elevate 1 knee place teddy on that knee.

Tights

Gather together lots of old tights, (different colours and denier are great) they can be used as resistance bands for early years.  Practice stretching them, tie them across two areas to make a jump obstacle, stand on them and pull them, tie knots together and hold them in a circle for song time like a stretchy band, great for Row Row Row your boat, walk around the room and ‘let’s bounce and bounce’. Play a gentle version of tug of war.

SONG – sitting or standing in a circle holding the tights (all tied together) 

• Let’s bounce and bounce and bounce and stop,
• Bounce and bounce and bounce and stop
• Bounce and bounce and bounce and stop
• Now let’s bounce some more.

Substitute bounce with ‘pull, wobble, lift, lower,snake etc’

Adapt for younger children:

Always supervise young children with the tights. With adult modelling practice pulling and releasing the tights and allow some resistance.  Try the singing songs activity.

Extension:

Invite the children to find their own uses for them. Incorporate them into obstacle courses.  Hang high denier tights from trees as a swinging rope.

Ping Pong Fun

Give each child a ping pong ball and on ‘ready, steady, drop’..drop them and chase them.  Place them on a smooth floor surface and blow them…use marking tape as starting lines and finishing lines, alternatively use straws to direct blowing.  If you have an outside area with an incline, encourage children to try and blow them up the ramp/hill.

Adapt for younger children:

Adults can drop the balls and model how to blow to make them move…younger children may push them and follow them.

Extension:

Partner children together and using masking tape make a line…1 child from the partnership stands on the line with the ping pong ball, the 2^nd child is 5 meters away facing them with their legs wide apart.  On ‘GO’ the  1^st child must blow the ping pong ball through the legs of their partner, and crawl out the other side.  Repeat.

Football star

Using a large bed sheet/cloth, mark out a  target on the sheet. Mark another goal target using other available apparatus, cones, hoops, nets etc. Ideally set up lots of different striking stations so that children are not queuing for a turn. Use masking tape as an indicator for striking positions.  Invite children to kick balls into target/goals, retrieve their balls and try again.

Adapt for younger children:

Before introducing kicking ensure children are confident with balancing on one foot. Provide a range of smaller footballs on low cones and invite the children to practice kicking the balls off the cones.

Extension:

Play dog walkers, each child has a ball and must dribble with the ball -dog walking, heel – place one foot on top of the ball to stop it, good dog – pick up the ball and hold it close, fetch – kick the ball and run and stop it.

Washing Line

Place some bowls of warm soapy water on a surface where children can stand and reach and invite them to wash some dolls, dolls/baby clothes and hang them on a washing line using pegs.

Adapt for younger children:

This activity must be modelling by adults, and children must be supervised at all times when using water.

Extension:

Use a variety of pegs for dexterity and have washing lines and different heights.

Bubble tower

Give each child a bowl and a turning hand whisk – fill the bowl with water and ecological washing powder…children must whisk to see who’s bubble tower becomes the highest. (Do this standing up).

Adapt for younger children:

Use a hand whisk or a wooden spoon.  Adults model the activity.

Extension:

Encourage children to swap hands using the turning hand whisk.