Indoor Activities you can play with a ball

When I was coming up with ideas for this I couldn't help by recall my mum's voice in my head from my childhood; No ball games in the house! Now, we all have different feeling round things like throwing and catching games indoors and it's probably a good idea to think about your own boundaries and what you feel comfortable with before you embark on these activities. (And, if you're not comfortable with ball games in the house at all, you can always play them outside.)

For me, while I wouldn't advocate a full on game of football with a leather ball in the living room, I'm happy with soft balls and other soft items being thrown, caught and rolled. I tend to do these in the kitchen or hallway as that's where we have the biggest open spaces and least items that small folk can hurt themselves on or can get broken. So, that's the basis that I've worked on with these activities.

What you will need

A Ball - This can be any kind of ball, a soft foam ball is great for indoors or if you don't have a suitable ball, then soft toys, bean bags, small cushions etc will work well too

Plastic cups - Any kind of plastic cups that you can stack haphazardly to be knocked over, wooden blocks, Lego bricks, empty plastic bottles would also be good options 

T-shirts - I use these to pop on the floor as targets, anything that will mark an area so it can be aimed for is great, so tea towels, sheets of paper, loops of yarn or string, plastic plates would be great alternatives

Target practice

You will need
A Ball
T-shirts
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​How to play 
There are loads of variations for this game. Basically set out your target/s then throw or roll your ball and try to get it to land o  the target. You can play in a number of ways - Use one target that is gradually moved further away each time you hit it. You could set up a few targets and give each one a number of points play against yourself or each other to try a get the most points or beat your high score, you could have a few things to throw or a number of attempts per go. You you set up a few targets and give your child a different one to aim for each time.

Skittles

You will need 
A ball
Plastic cups
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​How to do it 
​Set up a plastic cup tower or a few of them and roll or throw the ball to try and knock them down. You could vary this by seeing how many you could knock over in 3 attempts, playing against each other to see who can knock over the most. Like with target practice you could move further away each time you knock them all over or 

​have a few set up around you and sit in the middle and have someone give you directions to which one to go for, turn left, turn right etc or compass points depending on the age if your little person.
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Roll and move

You will need
A ball 

How to do it
Sit opposite a partner with your legs apart so that your feet are touching. Roll the ball between you, each time you get the ball between your partners feet, scooch slightly further away, if you miss chooch slightly closer together. See if you can keep going until you can't get any further away from each other

Don't let it drop

You will need
A Ball

How to do it 
​Work together to throw a ball between you, either in an order or at random. Count the number of catches or if you're really good at those the amount of time spent continuously throwing and catching. If the ball hits the floor, start again with counting or timing and try to beat your high score.
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Catch and count

You will need
A ball

​How to do it 
This is a very simple and silly throwing and catching game. Stand or sit in a circle or opposite each other if there's only two of you. When you throw the ball also say a number, the person you are throwing it to catches it then throws it up in the air and catches it that many times, keeping going round in a circle or change things up if there's a few of you by throwing it to a random person, saying their name and a number as you throw.

I would love to hear how you've used these ideas and how you and your children have changed and adapted them. What games would you add? Do you have any favourite indoor ball games that you play at home?

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Written by Jeni Atkinson - CalmFamily Director