Motor Activities with Balloons or Balls

Today when we were at a birthday party, the balloons were the biggest hit. Every child wanted to play with a balloon. The kids enjoyed hitting them in the air. Watching the kids with the balloon made me think about balloons, hand/ eye coordination, and motor skills.

My kids love balloons and balls. It is one of their favorite things to play with. These tools are a simple and an inexpensive way to get kids to work on their therapy skills like oral motor strengthening, crossing midline, hand/eye coordination, balance, and multi-step tasks. Here are some fun activities we did at home with our birthday balloons. You could also substitute a ball for a balloon.

1.     Keep the balloon off the floor- You can play this game with your hands, rackets, or if you want to incorporate music, you can use hand bells.

 

2.     Partner toss/ catch- Toss and catch the balloon with a friend. If the child doesn’t have a partner, they can toss and catch the ball themselves.

 

3.     Throw/ clap/ catch- Toss the balloon in the air and see how many times you can clap before you need to catch it (balloon can’t hit the floor).

 

4.     Back to back pass- Sit back to back with a partner, and hand it off to your right, then grab it back to your left.

 

5.     Shoot it- Toss the balloon into a bucket.

 

6.     Kick it- Kick the balloon and see if your partner can catch it.

 

7.     Blow it- Blow the balloon from a starting point to an endpoint. You can make this really fun by making it a race.

 

I hope these seven fun activities bring a lot of laughter to your house as you work on helping your kiddo get stronger. I know my kids loved every second of it.