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Big Ball, Medium Ball, Small Ball too

Lesson Plan:

​Activity:

Big Ball, Medium Ball, Small Ball Too

Lesson plan developed by Aurora Tollestrup, BS Ed.

Age Group:

Mobile Infants
Toddlers

* Lesson plan objective and assessment can be adapted to use this activity with  preschoolers.

Objectives:  

Children will:

• have new sensory experiences.

• practice fine motor skills.

• practice gross motor skills.

• experience social interactions.

CDA Competency Standard:   

II.5.1a

• Activities encourage curiosity, exploration and discovery
  • ​​​a)      Activities involve developmentally appropriate, hands-on experiences

III.9.3a

• Candidate promotes children’s sense of belonging in the classroom community
  • ​​​a)      Encourages children’s social interactions

Big Ball, Medium Ball, Small Ball too

Materials: 

3 balls with different sizes and textures
     Suggested balls:

• Big exercise ball

• Medium bumpy ball

• Small tennis ball

Procedure: 

• Gather children at circle time and arrange them in a circle.
• Take turns giving infants a chance to hold, kick, pick up and roll the various balls.
  
• The teachers can help them pass the balls around the circle saying the names of the children that are being passed the ball.

Assessment: 

• Observe the children’s reactions to the different balls including their fine and gross motor skills, their reactions to sensory experiences and their eye movement and ability to track where the ball is going.

Note: Please provide appropriate supervision to the children in your care when completing all activities. You will need to decide what types of activities are safe for the children in your care. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when providing art and sensory experiences for children. Toddlers require special caution, only use non-toxic materials, and do not allow toddlers to put things in their mouths that are a choking hazard. ​​​

Online Early Childhood Education

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The Benefits of Classroom Community

Children are in classrooms or child care programs for a significant portion of their day and are often with other children who have differing needs, backgrounds, and ability levels. When a group of 25 children are together for extended periods of time, it can be easy for some to become outcast or to feel out of place. Building a sense of classroom community in early childhood classrooms can eliminate those negatives and allow children to grow and learn instead. 

According to Ellen Booth Church (Building Community in the Classroom for Scholastic, 2003) students who are a part of a classroom community tend to feel more confident in their individual identities, are well-adjusted and tend to perform better academically. This is in large due to the sense of security and belonging that a classroom community provides. In essence, building a classroom community gives children a strong foundation to build upon when developing their social, emotional, and cognitive abilities throughout the academic year.