Sunday, January 5, 2020

Ball pit play for toddlers

I was always looking forward to put my bunny in the ball pit and see him enjoy knowing the loads of benefits and most important the happy moments.

The first time we put our bunny in the ball pit , he just sat and watched. I took that as progress since he didn't cry but watched the other toddlers play and was soaking that in. I knew he needed more time and was amazed the second time with his progress. He crawled, jumped , walked around and even interacted with other toddlers.


So if your toddler doesn't respond the first time, don't give up but motivate them to try again. Encourage small movements and picking up and throwing the balls. Small encouraging words will help as well. 

An activity like this helps develop the toddler in so many ways and let me tell you a few.

Hand-eye coordination - grabbing the balls is really hard work.


Motor skills - crawling, reaching, grabbing, sitting, throwing, jumping, falling ....
Doing these things simultaneously is wonderful for both fine and gross motor skill development 
Balance - grabbing the balls whilst balancing  requires bunny to balance his body.


Early language skills - activities like these  encourage babbling which is great for early language development.

Cognitive development - increased neural pathways are formed when toddlers explore their world through concrete materials and live experiences 
Its advisable to supervise closely.

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