Physical
Items required: several small beach balls and a CD player with a CD of fast (but not necessarily loud) music such as the Beach Boys, polka numbers, or a kids dance party. The best beach balls are the solid color ones with no clear spaces but three or four bright colored sections.
Greet each player at the table by saying their first name and touching their hands.
Start the music and place one beach ball on the table. Explain that they are to keep the ball on the table while pushing it to another player. After two or three minutes, add a second ball. Play for several minutes and then add a third ball. Continue until you have four or five balls on the table all in motion at the same time.
Help each participant bat the balls. Use words like soft or hard, high or low and use color words to describe the balls. Ask a player to hit the ball to a specific individual. “Hit the ball to Alice”, or “Bounce the ball to Myrtle”.
Sing a little to the music. Play long enough that the individuals will begin to understand what is needed of them and begin to participate. It may take time, be patient.
Cognitive
Items required: several individual sheets of white construction paper each bearing the image of a beach ball with three colored sections. These can be made easily and laminated so they can be used over and over. You will also need several individual “sections” colored to match those on the beach balls.
Provide each participant with a sheet showing the whole beach ball with its brightly colored sections. Hold up one such sheet and display the ball, pointing to each different section and stating its color. Ask participants to look at their own picture of a beach ball. Provide each player with two separate colored sections, each player getting the same colors. Ask them to place the “red” section on the corresponding area of their beach ball picture. Assist them in finding red if needed. Hands-on help is also needed at times to place the piece in the proper place.
Once the first section is placed, provide each player with a new color so they still have two colored sections to choose from. Ask them to place the yellow section on their beach ball and then to place the green section on the ball.
Repeat the activity by turning their sheet which will change the placement of two colors.
End the entire session by 5 minutes of beach ball batting.
