Copyright Sally Goldberg – Parenting Tips with Dr. Sally

Activity 46 – Ball Roll*

Age Range – Preschool and Up

Area Being Developed – Pre-Science – Energy, Force, & Motion

As much fun as all those windy ball toys are and as creative as all those museum swirly exhibits are, what you can create for fun and learning at home is even better.

With simple materials like books and a ball you can make your own “play-and-learn” ramp game. As you increase the incline of your ramp, the faster the ball will go.

Take a few books down from a shelf. Make sure one of them is long and wide, about 81/2″ x 11″ in size. Start with a small stack of two books with the big one set up as a ramp.  Then take turns rolling the ball down the ramp. Add one book at a time for steepness and have fun watching the ball go down faster and faster.

Enrichment: Continue with the ball in any way you want. Research tells us that a ball is a child’s favorite toy. For rolling, throwing, and even in any sport; it never does the same thing twice… and that is fun!

The Chinese Touch! If a ball is a child’s favorite toy, then a grandparent is more favorite than that. No two hugs, laughs, stories, or games are ever the same. Creativity knows no bounds, and that is great! {I recently spent time in China. I will be sharing tips with you, over the next few weeks, based on what I saw and learned!}

* Excerpted from Make Your Own Preschool Games by Sally Goldberg, Ph.D., p. 31