Boogalah
Skills:
Physical: teamwork, gross motor skill, reaction time, upper limb coordination, hand-eye coordination
Cognitive: selective attention, visual processing
Social: turn taking
Number of participants:
6 or more
Equipment:
1 medium-sized ball per group
Description:
- divide children into two teams
- one team starts in the middle and the other team circles around the other
- the outer team passes the ball to their team members; if the ball is caught by the middle team, the teams switch places
Wheelchair friendly?
Yes
History:
Boogalah is traditional game played by the Juwalarai peoples of New South Wales, Australia.
Modifications to make the activity easier:
Change the environment: call child’s name to get their attention before passing the ball to decrease cognitive demand
Change the equipment: use a bigger ball to decrease physical demand
Modifications to make the activity harder:
Change the task: have the child pass the ball overhead with two hands to increase physical demand
Goal examples:
- the child shows readiness to catch the ball (e.g., hands ready, tracking ball with eyes, moving towards ball), 8 out of 10 times
- I can catch and throw the ball to my friends using my right hand
Activity adapted from video below.
