T-Ball

Summer has been the perfect opportunity to expose Olivia to a variety of activities. They are for a short length of time and don’t cost very much money. It’s great to give her a taste of things to see if she might want to try them more in the future. 

 

One thing we just finished with is t-ball. Truthfully, I had to do a google image search of tees, so she knew what it looked like and how t-ball worked. J T-ball was nicely organized with three stations; catching/throwing, running bases, and hitting.

Catching and throwing was pretty simple.  The kids practiced stepping with one foot and throwing with the opposite arm, and getting down to the ground to scoop up the ball like an alligator.

 

 Running the bases was even more basic. Kids were shown where the bases were, and ran around them! They took it one step further by having them take turns hitting a ball from a tee, and advance one base at a time. It took parents at each of the bases to remind them when they should run.  The first night it was very HOT.  Olivia was red in the face with hair sticking to her face with sweat, but she had the biggest smile on her face the whole time.  She loved it!  And I had fun secretly teasing that she runs like Pheobe from Friends. 

 

Hitting consisted of several tees set up in a row so the kids could practice hitting the ball. Dispite frequent reminders for Olivia to “keep your eye on the ball”, she was so distracted by the other kids and would swing away, all while looking up to see what everyone else was doing.  She’d make contact when she focused enough. 



The final night of t-ball they played a “game”. It couldn’t have been more hilarious. While the kids got the basic fundamentals of the game down, they had no idea of the rules or how to do fielding. Olivia and her two buddies she knew were clustered in the field visiting, seemingly discussing how they should be standing while out there. (Which they later determined it to be hands on knees.)

The evenings were beautiful, extended a bit longer with playing at the park and visiting with our friends. Henry was a champ being an observer. He’d munch on his snacks and look at his animal books quite content. Overall, a nice experience. I knew Olivia wouldn’t end up being a pro, but it’s nice to expose her to something new. Her interests are leaning toward singing and art, which she could do all day, so these large motor experiences are good for her to be exposed to as well.