Throwing is a skill that children develop gradually. Initially, they may just fling an object away from themselves, without much distance. At this early stage, they don’t really understand the idea of throwing at something. As you play games like rolling a ball towards your child and encouraging her to roll it back, she will start to understand that it can be fun to make the ball head towards something. She’ll begin with rolling, which can lead to throwing underhand. At last, between the ages of three and four, she will start throwing a ball overhand and become better at aiming as well! Throwing is a skill involving the coordination of many muscles, so it’s no wonder it takes a while to get it right.

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Play Tips:

How can you support your child’s development of this Active, Coordinated Movement skill at this age? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Try some target practice. Set up a target, a basket, or a hula hoop on the ground for your child to test her throwing skills! Start your child an easy distance away, and as she masters throwing balls at the target, suggest she take a couple steps backward, to make it a little harder.
2. Get wet! During hot summer days it can be fun to use water in your throwing practice. For a fun, simple game, draw a bull’s-eye on your driveway or the pavement at the playground, making it as big or small as you like. Assign each ring a different number of points. Hand your child a wet sponge and let her throw it at the target. Add up the results of three (or however many) throws and give your child her score. You can also play this game against someone or work together to reach a certain number of points.
3. Don’t forget winter. The simplest thing to throw in the winter, if you live far enough north, is the humble snowball! Teach your child how to make snowballs and find different targets to throw them at, such as a tree or a fence. You can also build a target out of snow; try dying it with food coloring mixed with water to make it more visible.

(SPECIAL OFFER: Sign up for Playful Bee’s Bee Well developmental learning program to give your child the best start in life. The first 10,000 children enroll for FREE! Sign up today.)

Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Active, Coordinated Movement developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) he has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

• Catches a bounced ball most of the time.
• Throws a ball overhand skillfully.

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Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee

Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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