Throwing is a natural curiosity and healthy development milestone for babies and toddlers. They are discovering concepts like cause and effect, distance and permanence, which is that an object still exists even if out of sight. But wait, there are physical development milestones, too! The gross motor skill of moving the arms In different ways, the ability of holding and perceiving objects of different weights, the hand-eye coordination, the aim, their own strength… They are all skill that we as adults take for granted because they are so natural to us, but there are so many synapsis and neuro pathways being developed! Yes, it can be frustrating when your baby is throwing food or their dummies on the floor and off the pram. Just like any unwanted behaviour, we need to understand what need is being met (or not) and replace that behaviour with something that we want them to do, instead of saying “no” times a billion. Remember that what you water, grows! So in this case, let’s talk about activities we can do to encourage throwing in a safe way. What you’ll need Here are some suggestions of materials for this activity: Hula-hoops Colourful tape (or washi tape if you have them) Cushions Balls (if indoors, we recommend you use small and soft) Bean bags or other objects that can be safe to throw. Setting Up Create a target area where the ball can be thrown to. It can be a taped square on the floor, a “hole” between the piled cushions, the hula-hoop… Use your creativity and remember to consider our child’s current abilities, e.g. how far can they throw, how strong they are, how their hand-eye coordination is. Play Time Talk to your child giving clear instructions, and modelling what is expected of them. It can be something similar to “Let’s play a game! We are going to take turns – I will go fist, and then you go! We are going to throw this bean bag into the hula-hoop, just like this (here you can even describe the movement you are doing)”. Remember to use descriptive and action words – even if your child isn’t talking yet, they are absorbing the words, understanding their meaning and building a vocabulary database to access when their speech is ready! After you modelled all this, let your child have a turn and watch where they take the game – don’t be too attached to the rules you set. As long as everybody is safe, playing should foster curiosity, fun and new ideas! Follow your child’s lead and discover how much they already know and have fun you can have together!
