Play Ball

Toddlers learn to throw and catch gradually and in stages, as their gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination continue to grow, and as their reflexes continue to develop ("Ooh, the ball's coming toward me...hey wait, maybe I should try to catch it!"). But long before she's able to field a pass or throw a perfect spiral, your toddler makes a rewarding playmate: Her delighted grin at her first catch-and-hug will more than make up for all the time spent throwing the ball to her again and again.

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When to expect it: Many toddlers will attempt their first throw between 12 and 18 months. Catching comes later — around age 3 or 4 — and most toddlers will make their first catch hugging the ball to the chest. In case you haven't already caught on ("Whoopsie! Okay, Mommy will go get the ball..."), it takes lots and lots of practice for most toddlers to master the hand-eye coordination, reaction speed and gross motor skills required to grab and hug a flying ball to the body. But with practice, most children will progress to catching with their hands, rather than their bodies, sometime during their third or fourth year. Catching a ball while in motion takes a few more years to learn. 

How to help your baby discover it: Even though throwing and catching are skills that develop in toddlerhood, babies under 2 — and as young as 7 months—enjoy rolling a ball to and fro on the floor, which helps build finger strength, encourages visual tracking and supports hand-eye coordination, while introducing the key concept of "back and forth" (as opposed to "this is mine now!").

When it's time to graduate from rolling to throwing, let your little one practice with different kinds of tossables, from bean bags and squishy foam balls to beachballs. Set up a line of buckets, containers or bins for target practice. Move some targets closer and some farther away, and let your little one try sinking a few.

To practice catching, start out at your toddler's level, either sitting or on your knees, and toss the ball gently to her from a short distance away. If your ball is one that bounces, try bouncing the ball to her, which gives her a bit more time to react. Repetition builds familiarity, so keep on bouncing, tossing and chasing after runaway balls until your little one signals she's had enough for a day. Vary your practice by throwing different sized balls — some smaller, some larger — from varying distances — now close, now farther away. 

As your little one ambles toward her second birthday, you may notice a new skill — kicking a ball — starting to emerge. That first soccer move may be more involuntary than intentional (foot contacts ball, ball moves… cool). But once cause and effect become clear, your baby Beckham will aim for more deliberate foot-ball contact.

What not to worry about: Every child develops at her own pace, and if your toddler isn't throwing fastballs by 18 months, it's not a cause for concern as long as you're giving her plenty of opportunities for gross motor play. But feel free to take off your coaching hat whenever your little one is ready to call it quits for a day. Some children are naturally interested in athletics, and will happily play toss-and-catch until your arms are sore, whereas some children would rather throw a couple of rounds and then go play with something else. At this age, it makes more sense to let your little one call the game than to force her to practice. Because your toddler's mind and muscles are still developing — very much on her own unique timeline — it won't necessarily help her learn to catch or throw any faster if she's forced to play ball for longer than she wants to.