Time for our weekly Playful Preschool Series . This week we are exploring lots of activities to do with balls.
Playing in general is a wonderful way to develop language skills. We are excited to show you a language activity that works on learning about prepositions.
Ball and Magna Tile Language Play
Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Why We Chose This Language Activity
My 3 year-old’s favorite toy is Magna Tiles. They are a bit of an investment but one I’m so glad we made. Both of my kids play with them on a daily basis. I love to listen to them describe their creations and problem solve when something doesn’t work quite the way they want it to.
To add a new dynamic to the mix one day, I set out a tray of small balls for them to incorporate into their play.
Setting Up
Set-up for this play is super easy! You will need a set of Magna Tilesand a collection of small balls.
The Activity
I let the boys just explore for a bit with the tiles and balls. Then, I told them that I had some challenges for them. They were pretty excited!
I said, “One ball needs to fit inside a box. Can you build a box for one ball?” They quickly began building boxes with the tiles. My youngest preschooler enjoying seeing how many balls he could fit inside the box.
Then I said, “A ball wants to travel over a bridge. Can you build a bridge for the ball?” My 4 year-old enjoyed trying to make a trestle bridge.
The boys played for over an hour with this activity.
Here are some more challenge suggestions.
Place two balls under a bridge.
Build two boxes. Place a ball between the houses.
Build a fence with tiles. Place a ball behind the fence.
Roll a ball down a ramp.
This activity is a great way to develop language skills with your preschoolers.
Related Posts
Rainbow Climb Language Activity
Books to Get Kids Excited About Vocabulary
Keep reading. Visit the links below for more great ball ideas from the #playfulpreschool team!
Laura at Mommy Maleta says
Great Idea! And congrats this post was the most clicked on at The Thoughtful Spot Blog Hop and will be featured tomorrow! Thanks for linking up your preschool education & fun!
Samantha @ Stir the Wonder says
Love these activities! This post will be featured as the post with the most clicks! Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop! We hope you join us again next week!
Jodie Rodriguez says
Wow, thank you Samantha!
Nichole {youclevermonkey} says
Have you seen the book ‘The Bouncing Ball’ Jodie? It would be a great match for this activity! I came across it at the library last year: http://www.youclevermonkey.com/2014/06/prepositions-and-picture-books-2.html
Please excuse the link drop but I think you’d love this book 🙂
Jodie Rodriguez says
Oh I will have to check that out, thank you!
Theresa says
What a great exercise in building and following directions! We have Magna Tiles and balls and will have to try this out.
Danielle says
I absolutely love this! It’s a fantastic way to incorporate language skills and engineering!
Amanda says
This looks like so much fun. I’ve been eyeing magnatiles for a while!
Jodie Rodriguez says
Amanda, they are wonderful! I held off for a long time because of the price, but they have been a favorite from the first day we got them. I’m amazed at the things the boys come up to do with them. We have ordered more since the kids want to build bigger and bigger creations.
Cerys says
Fantastic activity – this is something that I need to work on with my youngest she keeps getting confused with multiple prepositions
Jodie Rodriguez says
Hope it is successful for you Cerys!