month 42:
Throwing and striking
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Greetings
Throwing is a basic movement skill used in many sports and activities. This month, try introducing your child to basic overhand throwing. Your child won’t come close to mastering throwing at this age—mastery only comes with years of physical development and practice—but your child can certainly get started now. The key is to keep it fun.
This is also a good month to introduce your child to a great Canadian pastime—ball hockey! Learn more in the Activities section below.
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 Activities that you can do
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Here are two fun activities that you can try with your child this month to develop throwing and striking.
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1. Throwing overhand
In spring, summer, and autumn, you can practice target throwing either indoors or outdoors. You just need a good supply of bean bags, soft foam balls, or sock balls (made by stuffing two socks into one another). Then simply hang two or three sheets of letter paper on an interior wall or exterior garden fence as targets for your child to throw at.
In winter, you can try snowball throwing. You just need to find an open park space or other play area with snow, then challenge your child to throw snowballs at different targets such as tree trunks, fence posts, buckets, and other non-breakable objects. Who can hit the target first? How far can you throw and still hit a target?
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2. Toddler ball hockey
Try introducing your child to simplified ball hockey. Start by purchasing a couple of small plastic hockey sticks and a plastic ball 8-10 cm diameter (e.g. street hockey ball). Then create two small goals on your driveway, patio, or hard surface at a local park using simple objects such as plastic water bottles, rags, or scraps of wood. You can also play indoors if you have a large family room or empty garage.
Show your child how to “stickhandle” the ball with small touches that change its direction, then play a simple game of one-against-one hockey with your toddler. Allow your child to score lots of goals against you—this will provide thrills and encourage them to play more! You can also create one big goal where you're the goalkeeper and your child simply shoots at you.
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Remember: Pay attention to your child’s level of interest. If your child starts to show signs of being tired or bored, it might be a sign that they are ready for a rest or a change of activity.
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 Tip of the month
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Reinforce the best in your child
Some days it feels like you never stop correcting your child’s behaviour, and they might hear more negatives than positives from you. To counter this, try to " catch your child being good.” For example, if they clean up their toys like you asked, be sure to say “Thanks for cleaning up!” If they help you in the kitchen or anywhere else with household tasks, acknowledge them with phrases like “You’re a great helper!” and “Thank you for making this job easier for me!” And if they're playing well with a sibling, recognize that behaviour with a phrase like “You're so gentle and patient with your sister!” These kinds of statements will encourage more positive behaviour as your child grows, making your parenting job easier!
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 Things to watch for this month
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These are some of the things that you might see your child doing this month:
- Throwing with increasing coordination through daily play
- Enjoying simple competitive aspects of games such as ball hockey
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