Roll the ball

One of the highlights of each week's music class is always the parachute, but we seem to have developed another favourite part in our weekly class at Jessie's: the ball! For the past few weeks we've been working on sharing and taking turns while singing with our purple ball. When the ball comes out of the bag the kids' faces light up – one little guy particularly loves rolling the ball back and forth, and is always ready to clap when either he or another child has successfully rolled the ball. Playing with the ball is a great activity on so may levels. As we sing our ball-rolling song we get the opportunity to say each other's names, use some of our sign language (letters of first names, "roll" and "ball") and help our little ones learn how to share, follow instructions, wait their turn and appreciate each other's successes. It seems like a lot for a group of children who aren't even two years old yet, but the transformation from when we first started playing with the ball until now is proof that our kids are learning all kinds of great social skills along with their gross motor skills. It's an incredible thing to experience!