What really matters- Figuring out the world- properties of balls. By making things happen and figuring it out, Whit gained a tremendous sense of self as “agent”- someone independent who could master her world. And balls have their very own personality that babies love to explore. Just a couple months ago Whit was just starting her experimentation with Balls (see 6 Mths blog). By 9 months Whit was really doing a lot more with her ball play, putting her new knowledge and intelligence into action. We as adults take for granted all this stuff that needs to be figured out, but babies are actively discovering all this new stuff out for the first time and their own discoveries give them a strong sense of self.

How to put it into practice-

You can see from the videos that Whit knows in advance that a round object will move forward easily with a bat of the arm or a push from the head.  She has definite expectations about how round objects roll (see Push & Roll Vid). She also understands the difference between types of balls, expecting very different bounces and performance from her favorite golf ball vs. baseball (see Bouncing Balls vid). After bouncing experiences with balls she now throws in a new toss routine into her usual push and roll strategy.

Lessons Learned: Bridging from Child’s agenda to learning agenda while having fun-

I always found that offering up variation seemed to lead to the most extended explorations. Make three or four balls available,  Include variations in the set like balls that are not perfectly round, or a cylinder that is flat on the ends.  I would look to see how Whit invented new ways of playing based on the shape of the object.  In particular, I would make a few attempts to provoke two different approaches to the same object, by changing the orientation of the object.  Cylinders are great for this game.  Present it on its flat side sometimes and on its round side sometimes. 

Discovering & developing Whit’s story-

(read more about I4 Dev Focus: Self & Theory of Mind)