A while back I got the crazy idea that Charlie needed to learn a little bit about sports. It was probably World Cup Fever or something, but I started getting a little worried that Charlie would be completely ignorant of sports because of his physical limitations. So I decided to do a Unit on Sports. This Unit was shortened because we were getting ready to go on vacation and I ended up spending a lot of time packing, shopping, etc.
Unit on Sports
Key Terms: Baseball, football, basketball, soccer ball
Activities
Rolling. I got these big sports mats at Target for a 1.50. If you’d like, you could make something similar with felt. I put Charlie in the middle of the two mats and then I would say “let’s roll to the baseball!” Charlie’s into rough and tumble so this was great fun for him. When Dad got home, he took it even further and Charlie was flying to the baseball and basketball.
Mini Basketball. Charlie has trouble with throwing. He throws things to the side, but doesn’t know how to throw in front of him. I used this unit as an opportunity to work on this particular movement. He was not comfortable, but I really think that this will help him with other activities like eating with a spoon or fork. As an added learning opportunity, we “threw” the balls near and far.
Sorting. You know what this is—we sort a lot around here. I took one of those party packs with balls of all different types and we sorted two. I think next time we may sort three because it feels like we’ve done this a LOT.
Like I said, a brief lesson! I had several other things planned, but we didn’t get to them. Some other fun possibilities would include:
“Kicking” a soccer ball—if your child doesn’t stand, help them kick a soccer ball while lying on their backs.
Counting—take a selection of sport items and count them.
And as always, songs, and books make great learning tools.
Edit: In a moment of serendipity, I see that Tara has posted this great piece about doing traditional kid stuff with her non-traditional kid! Perfect compliment to this post.
