My child loves playing with a ball. Is this normal?

When it comes to an active three year old, there’s very few toys that match a ball for versatility. It can be used for a variety of games, needs no batteries, and nearly everyone has at least one lying around the house already.

When your child plays with a ball – whether it’s kicking, catching or throwing, he or she is developing both fine and gross motor skills that will help him or her with everything from brushing teeth to riding a bike, and it’s a great, fun way to do it!
By this age, your child has probably mastered the mechanics of throwing over hand, and kicking the ball. Understanding aim is a different matter. In fact, you may still find that when you play catch with your child, you end up winded as you run and leap to catch his or her efforts.

Your child probably also struggles to catch a ball for the same reason. This is perfectly normal though, and most children don’t really master catching a ball until they are around ten years old.

Help your child to practice catching with his or her arms straight out in front, by aiming carefully, and once your child has mastered that, move on to catching with bent elbows.

Use a softer, foam or semi deflated ball to practice – especially if your child is not one of the few who are naturally gifted in this area.