Let’s ‘Play to Learn’
Encourage the children to explore:
- Sending and collecting a ball with each child remaining in their ‘side/half’ of the garden
- Collecting a ball that has been rolled or thrown underarm at a wall
- Pushing/steering an object back and forth to one another
- Keeping an object in the garden – aim for highest score
Safety & Organisation
Ensure:
- the surface is clean and free from obstructions
- children work in ‘gardens’
Opportunities to
- develop increasing control over large body movements
- send and receive an object
- recognise and use different pieces of equipment when playing with others
Questions
- Which ball is the easiest to control?
- Which ball do you enjoy playing with most?
- What happens as the ball rebounds/bounces off the wall?
- Where do you need to be to collect / pick up the ball quickly?
Can you see the child?
- Developing increasing control over large body movements
- Sending and receiving an object
- Recognising and using different pieces of equipment when playing with others
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Most of the time
Encourage the child to:
- explore sending and receiving from other balanced positions
- play in a smaller area
- make up rules about how and where the ball must be rolled/thrown before it can be picked up
- develop a scoring system
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Sometimes
Encourage the child to:
- practise each aspect before playing a game
- discuss which objects they can roll/throw/push before they start
- run and pick up / collect a stationary object before attempting to collect a moving ball
- play in a large area
- roll a ball to more able child or a practitioner sitting down with legs in straddle position