Kicking Exploration
Skills:
Physical: kicking a ball, lower limb coordination, balance
Cognitive: visual processing, selective attention
Number of participants:
1 or more
Equipment:
one ball per child, range of target making equipment (e.g., cones, hoops, wooden pins)
Description:
- children kick the ball:
- with different parts of their foot (i.e., kick the ball with instep, inside of foot, outside of foot)
- in different ways (ie. at a target on the wall, between 2 cones, in different directions, stationary, rolling toward you, rolling away from you, to a stationary partner, to a moving partner, kick the ball high, as hard as possible, at a moving target)
Adaptations for Wheelchair Users:
To allow for increased independence in retrieving the ball, use balls that are attached to a tether with one end attached to their wheelchair or walker for children who use wheelchairs, crutches, or walkers. This is also an option for children with visual impairments where the tether is attached to the child’s ankle.
Modifications to make the activity easier:
Change the task: do not require children to aim at targets to decrease physical and cognitive demand
Change the equipment: use a larger, lighter ball (i.e., beach ball) to decrease physical demand
Change the environment: have the child kick in a small, enclosed space to decrease the physical demand of retrieving the ball
Modifications to make the activity harder:
Change the environment: have the child keep the ball in a marked space of controlling the ball to increase the physical and cognitive demand of controlling the ball
Goal examples:
• in two weeks, the child will be able to kick the ball in 5 different ways
• I can kick the ball in several different ways
