Categories: |

Free Ball

Skills:

Physical: kicking a ball, lower limb coordination, balance, eye-foot coordination

Cognitive: visual processing, selective attention

Social: knowledge of others’ names

Number of participants:

5 or more

Equipment:

  • 1 ball per group
  • tape to mark a line (optional)

Description:

  1. one player has the ball while other players scatter behind a line about 10m away
  2. standing with the ball, the kicker faces the other players, calls another player’s name and kicks the ball towards the line
  3. the player named tries to trap the ball before it goes over the line then kicks it back to the first kicker

Modifications to make the activity easier:

Change the equipment: use a larger, lighter target (i.e., lighter pin) to decrease physical demand

Change the environment: have the child stand closer to the other children when kicking the ball to decrease physical demand

Modifications to make the activity harder:

Change the task: have the child dribble the ball between their feet before kicking at the cone to increase cognitive demand

Change the environment: have the child do 5 jumping jacks before kicking the ball to increase physical demand

Goal examples:

  • I will be able to call my friend’s name and kick the ball over 10m to them
  • I can kick the ball to my friend

Video/image coming soon.