“Here, Elizabeth, catch this!”

Then she ducks.

“Come on Elizabeth, you can do it, don’t be scared. Just watch the ball!”

And she ducks again.

Those are just some snippets of the many conversations that we have had over the course of trying to teach her how to catch a ball.

She knew HOW to catch it. But not how to react fast enough TO catch it….a big thank you to her Dyspraxia. So she ducked. And ducked and well, you get the point.

Enter our wonderful friend, Miss Liz. I have mentioned her many times before. She is our dear friend, who teachers adapted PE at our school. She also works one-on-one with Elizabeth.

Liz had these great scarves, you could throw them and they F-L-O-A-T gently down and they are easily caught.

So with these great scarves:

Elizabeth built up her confidence.

She learned to react and catch something.

She was proud and happy.

So thank you scarves for being her first stepping stone to this motor skill.

Enter these really great guys called Success Balls.

They are a set of six, four inch balls.

They are filled with foam pellets and have these great mesh sides that allows the ball to sort of glide when it is thrown.

So the person catching it can be successful and strengthen hand-eye coordination. 

It is like the scarves only way more cool looking. And way more typical of what someone would be throwing.

They can be used to teach the skill of catching but in my opinion, the mesh filling inside of each ball also allows for the thrower to get a good grip on the ball and have success trying to throw. (Also another skill that we worked on quite a bit) Whereas regular balls often require a strong grip to throw them successfully, these balls can be kind of scrunched in your hand and that helps a lot.

Like I said, they come in a set of six, so there are plenty to practice. And speaking of practice, if the success balls are thrown in an errant manner, they will not do as much damage as say, the basketball my son MIGHT have accidentally thrown into the post light. So that is a good thing.

And each success ball is a different color to help promote color identification. 

Honestly, if we had had these guys when Elizabeth was young, I know we would have had a great time with them as we watched her succeed. 

So take a look at the on our site and keep in mind, winter is coming. So something that can be used indoors, for both fun and “work” is not a bad idea.

Elizabeth liked them too! I said “ Hey Elizabeth, catch these!” and she did! One by one, without missing any.

So thank you scarves but welcome…Success Balls.

I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele

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