1) PLAY DOUGH BALLS Provide playdough - Encourage the children to make balls:big and little. We made lots of balls. Also caterpillars, snowmen and small dough nests - the children rolled tiny balls to put in the nest, to represent eggs. 2) BALL WASH This is a good activity for outdoors I got from a book, Toddlers Together. Put water in the sensory tub, add a squirt of gentle dish soap. Add an assortment of small balls made out of different materials: rubber balls, sponge balls, wiffle balls (golf practice balls), ping pong balls and golf balls, etc. As the children wash the balls they explore floating and sinking and other characteristics of the balls. To finish up, I gave the children styrofoam egg trays, to deposit put their clean balls in. 3) BOUNCE AND CATCH IT (Tune: Frere Jacque) Bounce and catch it, Bounce and catch it Throw it high, throw it high Bounce and catch the ball, Bounce and catch the ball, Back to me. Back to me. 4) BUDDY BALL - good turn taking activity Have the children sit across from a partner with their legs spread apart. They roll the ball between them. Older children can name something each time they roll the ball. The category might be shapes - or colors for example, They think of a color and say it as they roll the ball. 5) ROLL THE BALL GAME At circle time, the teacher has a ball. She asks a question and then rolls the ball to a child. He answers the question and then rolls it back to the teacher. The teacher can ask the same question or a different one to each child in the circle. 6) BEACH BALL BAT Use a beach ball, inflated. Tie the ball in the netting of old panty hose. You place the ball threw the waist band. Gather the waist band and secure with a twistie tie. Leave about two inches at the top, then trim. The legs are tied together and trimmed off. Attach a rope from the top of the panty hose. Hang the ball from a tree limb or from the patio overhang, just high enough that the children have to jump to reach it. I have also attached a bell near the top of the ball, so when the child manages to jump up and hit it with their hand, the bell rings. I have also done this activity with the ball hanging lower. Provide a paper tube bat, the children take turns swinging at it - like swinging at a baseball. 7) SENSORY TUB - BALL IDEAS Do you have Marble Works from Discovery Toys? You can put these in the sensory table with water also. Add beads or sequins and watch them go down the slides as the water is poured in. Water can also be caught in jars at various marble works exits. 8) Ping pong balls in water. Blow with basters or straws and have races or bumper balls. Also can use little styrofoam balls and little balls popped out of empty deodorant bottles. Wash them first with soap and water or boil. If you draw faces on the ping-pong balls then you have Humpty-Dumpty's swimming pool. Draw faces on deodorant balls for Humpty-Dumpty's babies. 9) TODDLER BASKET BALL The children toss rubber bouncy balls into a basket attached to a fence. I used a plastic trash basket with the bottom cut out. Mount the basket at a height that is within the children reach. I used two screws about four inches apart. 10) BLOWING PING PONG BALLS Give each child a straw cut in half and a ping pong ball. Show them how to blow through the straw to make their ball move along the floor. Our two - three year olds loved this activity - they eagerly followed their balls all over the room. You can also see if they can suck in on the straw against the ball to lift it up. 11) BALLS AND TUBES This is also from Toddler’s Together. Collect paper tubes from wrapping paper and paper towels, cut into different lengths. Some of the tubes should be able to slide through others. Put the tubes into the sensory tub with a collection of small balls. Through experimentation, the children match up which balls fit through which tubes. 12) YARN BALLS - big pom poms If you have an abundance of skeined yarn, you can make yarn balls for each of the children. Cut out two cardboard circles five inches in diameter. Then a 3 inch hole in the center of the circle. Place the circles together. Wrap the yarn around and around each time passing through the center. It will look like a donut. Wrap until the center is almost filled. The more yarn the fluffier the ball. When complete, insert scissors between the two circles to cut around the outer edge. Separate the circles about two inches, and tie a piece of string tightly in the middle. Pull off the circles and fluff the ball. Trim where necessary to make a nice round ball. Use the yarn ball with the following song. 13) POM POM SONG (Tune:Sung to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star) Put your pom pom in the air, Hold it high and keep it there. Hold your pom pom and jump, jump, jump, Now throw your pom pom way, way up. Toss your pom pom way up high. See your pom pom in the sky. 14) BALL COLLAGE: Provide pre-cut pictures of different kinds of balls (from sports magazines and toy catalogs) to glue onto a sheet of green construction paper. Other children can find and cut out the pictures themselves. 15) BALL RUBBINGS Do crayon rubbings on various balls 16) MARBLE BALL PAINTING: Prepare paint in several small bowls. Offer different colors. Lay a piece of paper on the bottom of a clear sweater box. The children plop a marble into the paint, using a tablespoon. They scoop it out and drop it into the box. The child tips the paint-coated marbles to make a pattern on the paper. Before young children tip the box, snap on the lid. Try other balls: golf balls make an interesting pattern. 17) KOOSH BALL PRINTS Do this activity like marble painting. Put out small bowls of different colored paint with a small ball per bowl. The kids got to fish out the ball (most loved getting their fingers painty) and drop it in a box that their paper was in. They simply rolled the box around, keeping the ball inside, until they needed more paint or another color. 18) SPLONGEE BALLS What You Need: •Three sponges •One plastic cable tie •Scissors Instructions: 1) Cut each sponge into thirds lengthwise. 2) Stack the sponges into 3 rows of three. 3) Grab the stack of sponges in the center, and twist the stack once. 4) Secure a plastic cable tie around the center of the twisted stack, pulling it as tight as possible. 5) Trim the plastic cable tie down as close as you can, and you're finished! 19) BALL SHARE - circle activity Have ready a laundry basket containing many different kinds of balls - every kind from a football to a baby's cluth ball. Have a child select one of the balls out of the basket. Talk about the ball. If the child is not sure what kind of a ball it is or what it's used for - give clues, or ask the group if any one knows what the ball is used for, etc. Proceed with each child selecting a ball until they have all been discussed. 20) FROZEN PEA SCULPTURE - older preschoolers Materials Needed: Toothpicks Frozen peas Procedures: 1. Have the children create sculptures by putting toothpicks into peas, similar to a tinker-toy design. 2. When the peas dry, they will turn hard, and hold the toothpicks in place so the sculpture maybe picked up, and each child can take his creation home. 3. Also, the children can eat the peas, if they wish, while working on their sculptures. 21) BALL SNACKS - Serve cheese balls, kix cereal or melon balls. Use a melon-baller to cut balls out of honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon. 22) PEANUT BUTTER BALLS Mix ½ cup peanut butter with 2 tablespoons honey, a few grains of salt, ¾ cups of powdered skim milk and ¼ cup of confectioners sugar. Roll finished balls in confectioners sugar or finely chopped peanuts. 23) FLANNEL BOARD - POM POMS I can’t remember where I filed this activity but I do remember someone looping it. They just set out an assortment of pom poms for the children with a flannel board. The children arranged the pom poms as they wish - they stick to the flannel. I haven’t tired this yet but it sounds easy and great fun for little ones. 24) DID YOU EVER SEE A BALL BOUNCE? (Tune: Did You Ever See a Lassie? Use a parachute or a bed sheet cut to a circle. The children hold on to the outside of the parachute to lift it up and down. Place a lightweight ball in the middle of the parachute and have the children bounce it around. Did you ever see a ball bounce, a ball bounce a ball bounce, Did you ever see a ball bounce this way and that. This way and that way, this way and that way, Did you ever see a ball bounce, this way and that? 25) HOW HIGH DO THEY BOUNCE? I saw this in a book of experiments for older children but with teacher guidance, I think it would work with younger ones too. Gather various kinds of balls - a basket ball, a soccer ball, red bouncy playground ball, etc. Place a chair or footstool next to a wall. The child stands on a chair and just drops the ball (without force). The teacher marks on the wall, how far the ball bounced back up. Then you can make a picture chart, to compare how bouncy the balls are. 26) COTTON BALL TRANSFER Provide two bowls, one filled with cotton balls, and a small pair of ice tongs. The child uses the tongs to pick up each ball and transfer it to the other bowl. For older children, provide tweezers and pom poms. 27) SORTING SPORT BALLS - age 3 and up Draw a picture of different sport balls that are available as erasers. Paste a drawing of a sport ball in the bottom of sorting bowl. Provide an assortment of the erasers to sort into the correct bowls. 28) COUNTING MARBLES - over 3 and up Take a bath mat that goes in your bathtub to prevent slipping and cut it in to a square with 100 suction cups on it....let the children put marbles on this...it is good for eye/hand co-ordination and also to help them with counting....