Throw and catch: a hundred quick reps with Dad

01What you need

• A soft ball, beanbag or rolled-up pair of socksHave
• A bigger soft ball or playground ball for kickingHave
• A laundry basket, bucket or box for a targetHave
• Paper and a pencil to tally touchesHave

Where: A patch of grass, a driveway away from the street, or a hallway or basement with a soft ball on a rainy day.

02Steps

1. Sit down and set a goal

   DadSit or kneel on the grass so you're at their height, with the kid four or five feet away. Say, "Let's see how many touches we can get. A catch, a throw or a kick each counts as one."

2. Catching round

   TogetherToss the beanbag underhand, softly, to their chest. Count every catch out loud. Misses don't count against anything; just toss again. After five catches in a row, they take one step back. About five minutes.

3. Throwing round

   KidSet the basket a few steps from them. They throw beanbags into it while you hand them back fast, so they're throwing, not fetching. Each throw is a touch; a basket is a cheer. Move the basket back when it gets easy.

4. Kicking round

   TogetherRoll the big ball to them. They stop it with the bottom of a foot, then kick it back to you. Then try kicking it back without stopping it first. Ten in a row, then switch feet.

5. Let them pick the last round

   KidAsk, "Which one do you want to finish with?" Do their favorite for two more minutes. Ending on the thing they like is how they ask for it again tomorrow.

6. Add up the touches and stop

   TogetherTally the touches on paper and write the date. Stop while they still want more, even if you planned another round. Say, "That was a lot of catches. Same time tomorrow?"

03If it stalls

• If they keep missing, move closer and use a bigger, softer ball. A string of easy catches beats a pile of misses.
• If they get bored, make the target silly: a cardboard box with a face drawn on it, fed beanbags for dinner.
• If they start fooling around, that's the signal to stop for today, not a reason to push through.
• If the count starts to feel like homework, quit counting for a week and just play.

04Variations

05Sources

• Kids' daily activity. CDC says children 3 to 5 should be active throughout the day, children 6 to 17 need at least 60 minutes a day, and suggests encouraging a variety of age-appropriate activities that kids enjoy. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Checked Oct 15, 2026
• Throwing and catching take time. The AAP says toddlers and preschoolers spend a lot of time mastering basic skills like running, kicking, catching and throwing, that fewer than a third of 2- to 5-year-olds are truly effective at throwing and catching, and that most kids pick these skills up by early elementary school. American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) Checked Oct 15, 2026
• Basic skills before sports. The AAP says most children under 6 don't yet have the motor skills for organized sports and have short attention spans, suggests activities built on basics like running, throwing and catching, and says the focus should be learning skills and having fun rather than winning. American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) Checked Oct 15, 2026
• Preschoolers: play, not scores. For young children the AAP says the goals are playfulness, exploration and fun, that any organized play should be very brief, not to keep score, and notes that kids in throwing sports can stress the growth plates of the shoulder or elbow. American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) Checked Oct 15, 2026

Where the idea came from: a suggestion in a r/daddit thread on bonding habits, put in our own words. The facts above come from the sources listed, not the thread.