Exploring balls with feet

• I can tap the ball with the inside and outside of my foot
• I can keep the ball close to me
• I can stop the ball with my sole

• Physical Development: develop ball skills including kicking and passing
• Physical Development: develop confidence, competence, precision and accuracy with a ball
• Gross Motor Skills ELG: negotiate space and obstacles safely

1. Ball still: tap the top of the ball with alternate feet like a drum, counting to 10.
2. Walk around the ball in a circle one way, then the other.

Our feet are going to look after the ball like a pet puppy. Puppies stay close to us. Show the inside of the foot, the outside, the sole and the laces, then show tiny 'tap, tap' touches walking forward.

Organisation: 7 mins. Whole class spread across the 20m x 15m area, one ball each and at least two big steps between children initially. Garages remain unused at the edges. Teacher demonstrates centrally, then moves along the edge to see everyone; any additional adult supports children from a spacious side area.

1. Show how a ball can be a pretend puppy. Say, 'Keep your puppy close!' Children begin in their own space with one foot beside their ball.
2. Demonstrate gentle inside-foot touches. Children walk their puppies into empty spaces, keeping the ball within one walking step.
3. Stop briefly to show an outside-foot touch. Call 'Inside!' or 'Outside!' and children try that part of either foot as they travel.
4. Demonstrate a short sole roll with the standing knee soft. Call 'Sole roll!' and children pause their journey to roll the ball gently sideways, then follow it.
5. Blow the whistle for children to stop their puppies under a lightly resting sole. Restart and repeat, inviting children to find a different empty space.

Organisation: 7 mins. Whole class, one ball each, spread throughout the marked area without lanes or queues. Teacher stands on a clearly visible long edge, holding three appropriately coloured cones temporarily borrowed from the garages, not the boundary; replace them afterwards. Any additional adult stands opposite to model the same actions.

1. Gather children in spread-out spaces beside their balls. Show green, amber and red cones and demonstrate: 'Green: walk. Amber: tiny touches. Red: park.'
2. Hold up green and call 'Green!' Children walk their puppies into empty space using inside- or outside-foot touches.
3. After 10–15 seconds, show and call amber. Children slow down and make their touches noticeably smaller.
4. Show and call red. Children stop the ball with a lightly resting sole, then place both feet on the ground beside their parked puppy.
5. Repeat the signals in a changing order every 10–15 seconds. Ask children to look briefly towards the teacher between touches so they can notice the next colour.

Organisation: 8 mins. Four colour groups of seven or eight, with one ball per child. Each garage uses three cones and has an entrance about 3m wide, with space for two parked balls. Only two named visitors enter a garage at once; there are no waiting lines, as everyone else explores the middle. Teacher stands where all entrances are visible; any additional adult stands beside, not inside, the busiest approach.

1. Show each three-cone garage with a wide entrance facing the middle. Demonstrate entering slowly, stopping the puppy inside and leaving through a clear part of the entrance.
2. Give each child a home garage colour and identify two children from each colour group for the first visit. Everyone begins walking their puppy in the middle.
3. Call a garage colour and name its two visitors. Those two children approach their garage side by side with space between them; everyone else continues taking their puppy for a gentle walk.
4. Say, 'Park your puppy!' The visitors use tiny final touches and stop their balls with their soles inside the garage.
5. Say, 'Check, then leave.' The visitors look towards the middle and dribble out when their route is clear. Name the next two visitors while all other children keep moving.
6. Continue calling colours and changing visitors until everyone has several parking turns. Finish with all puppies parked in individual spaces in the middle.

1. Sit down and roll the ball under your feet like a rolling pin, slowly.
2. Then hug the ball and take 4 slow breaths.

• Small touches only — no big kicks in this lesson
• Stop the ball under your sole whenever you hear the whistle
• Check the surface for holes, puddles and litter before starting
• During sole rolls and sole stops, keep weight on the standing leg; children must not stand or balance with both feet on a ball.
• In Puppy parking, visitors check that the entrance is clear before leaving, and exploring children steer away from garage entrances.
• If a ball escapes the boundary, the child stops at the edge and alerts an adult rather than chasing it into another area.