From about 10-12 months, your baby may be sitting securely with good head balance.

This is a great time to do some ball skills!  Doing this helps to:

• develop some important physical skills
• improves concentration
• builds future play and communication skills through turn taking

Here is how to encourage this activity:

• sit on the floor opposite your baby with your legs apart and your legs almost touching theirs

• use a light ball that is not too small, or some rolled up socks

• roll the ball gently along the floor and encourage him or her to roll it back to you

• you can also encourage them to throw back to you, and then you roll it back

Make this even better by talking as you play – describe what it happening using an interesting voice. Don’t worry if this feels a bit silly, your baby will love it and use it to build language.

Precautions

You may need more than one ball as babies can be quite possessive and may not want to roll it back!  This passes.

Don’t throw the ball back to your baby – they don’t have the balance or coordination for this yet and it may be frightening – just roll it instead

Be prepared for your baby to get bored with this – that’s OK.  Or, your baby may want to do this all day!