Rolling a Ball
A ball that leaves, rolls, and comes back: the first back-and-forth with another person, no words needed.
Rolling a Ball is a Montessori activity for a child aged 18 to 24 months. Area: Fine Motor. Time: 5-10 min.
What the activity builds
Coordinate gaze and motion to send an object toward someone, and discover taking turns: I roll, you roll, I wait. It's the first conversation, made of movement before it's made of words.
The materials
- A ball on the larger side, soft, that rolls straight without bouncing
- A hallway or clear space, or a cardboard tube cut in half as a guide
- Two people seated facing each other, legs spread apart
How to do it, step by step
- Sit facing them, about three feet away, legs spread apart to form a lane.
- Push the ball toward them with both hands, slowly, watching it roll away.
- Wait, without asking for anything: when it arrives, they grab it.
- Keep waiting: sooner or later, they'll send it back, maybe clumsily.
- Keep going as long as it's fun, moving a little farther apart each time.
The parent's role
Show once, then step back. Waiting is the whole lesson: don't ask for the ball back, don't reach out insistently. Taking turns is learned in the silence of the pauses. A ball that rolls off crooked doesn't need fixing, it's still a turn taken, and the aim adjusts itself within a few days.
Safety
A ball too big for the mouth, with no removable parts. Play on the floor, seated, never standing with a ball rolling underfoot.
You remain the sole judge of what is right for your child. These activities are offered for educational and recreational purposes: they do not replace medical advice or the guidance of an early childhood professional.
Ways to adapt the activity
- Easier: rolling the ball down a tilted tube, no partner needed.
- Harder: aiming for a basket on the floor, or rolling it between two cushions.
- Extension: rolling other round objects, a cylinder, an orange.
Up next
More activities for a 18 to 24 months child.
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