Can your toddler throw and catch?

[pa2k84]

Oliver loves balls. He had a small football from sports shop which we take out most places he likes to dribble it whilst walking! The other day I bought him a miniature rugby ball as he likes to throw as well. For a good few months he had been able to catch with no problems no matter what size ball will catch prob 8 times out of 10. Throwing not so great but been practising with rugby ball and now it will more or less reach the person he is aiming for. Was having a look last night to see about some different games I could play with him and found a few different development articles and they all state that kicking a ball comes at around 2 years of age and throwing and catching closer to 3/4 as younger than that they don't have the hand eye coordination.

So now I am wondering if this is true, 3/4 seems really late to me? Not something I have thought of before just surprised me and I don't believe it!!

 

[AngelUK]

Dominic is quite good at throwing. Most of the time he will indeed manage to throw the ball to me. Catching is going ok too if I throw the ball at him and obviously not too hard. He cannot catch it if it goes to the side or too high.
Sebastian is ok at throwing, though not as good as Dominic and not at all good at catching. In fairness though, he is not really into playing ball with me as Dominic is.
Neither of them are anywhere close to being able to dribble a ball!

 

[Perplexed]

My dd throws but we haven't tried catching. And she doesn't throw to people she just throws.

 

[pa2k84]

See Lucas was never overly into ball so never did much with him. Oliver is and just assumed was better at different skills but maybe he is better that I thought!! Dribbling a ball has been happening since he could walk more or less, he won't be fobbed off with those play balls from supermarkets either had to be a proper ball (which luckily managed to find a small one!)

 

[Larkspur]

My son has been able to catch and throw a ball for quite some time, definitely a year. Not perfectly by any stretch, but consistent.

My daughter has been able to dribble a ball with her feet since 12 months and can easily kick it but she is a very physically confident child.

 

[Indi84]

Ds has loved throwing and catching since he was really young. He has had football classes since 18 months and can kick the ball, sore goals etc.
Even if they couldn't though they'd all catch up in the end!

 

[Button#]

My DS can dribble a ball and he can kind of throw, but not to someone. He can't catch.

 

[pa2k84]

Ds has loved throwing and catching since he was really young. He has had football classes since 18 months and can kick the ball, sore goals etc.
Even if they couldn't though they'd all catch up in the end!

I do know all children catch upat different times.I think i was more asking because the age in the development charts looked odd to me. I would put throwing and catching 18-24 months not 3-4 years so was just interested in others experiences.

 

[CaptainMummy]

Ella can catch as long as you throw it straight to her. She has been able to do it for about 2 months maybe (I can remember her just puting her arms out before this, not making any attempt to move them lol) She can throw, but not always very well.

Paige could catch around the same age, but is still terrible at throwing. When we are walking my mums dog and she has a stick, it is hilarious because she really doesnt have a clue! Usually goes sideways!

 

[sequeena]

Thomas is not good at throwing and cannot catch.

 

[Scout]

My dd has been throwing and catching for a while now. She's actually good at throwing right to me from various distances. Her catching is not as good, but she usually catches about 7 out of 10 throws. And yeah, 3/4 seems a bit old to me too.

 

[FAB mama]

My son has been able to throw fairly well for at least a year I'd say, though direction isn't great. He's awful at catching. He doesn't really even try. He's just kind of starting to try now. We're not sports people really…

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

DD is just now really getting the hang of kicking, but she's been tossing for awhile. She'll try to catch, but usually it's a spectacular fail.

 

[Bevziibubble]

Holly can throw and catch but will often miss catches.
She's very good at football and can shoot, dribble, etc. Football has been her talent since early on

 

[d_b]

My 2 year old is better at throwing and catching than my almost 4-year old . Neither is great at it though.

 

[SpringerS]

S can throw and catch but for catching you have to be aiming for him. He's not very likely to reach out and snag a ball going over his head or run to grab a ball going to the left of him. Catching a ball aimed at you is certainly a skill but the author of the article may have meant more complicated catching that includes moving your whole body.

 

[pa2k84]

He can't catch a ball sideways but can reach up and also bends down if he misses and catches that way. Been trying to film it for ages but not very easy when you are the one he is throwing back at!!

 

[PitaKat]

My kiddo is 3 and cannot catch yet unless you toss the ball gently, directly into his hands lol. He throws and has gotten better at it just in the past few months. I don't think he's ever tried to dribble.

 

[minties]

Sophie is really good at throwing, kicking and catching. Thomas still can't catch a ball! He's sloppy at throwing too. My brother was the same.

 

[EcoMama]

I'm 32 and still rubbish at throwing and catching :/.... I don't think it's a great method of comparing gross motor skills between children, I don't agree that 3-4 is too old amd that kids should know how to by then.