25. Ball Play Therapy for Preschoolers: Boost Language, Social Skills & Executive Function

In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend and early childhood education expert, Dr. Julia Smith, to explore how ball play develops communication, connection, and executive functioning skills. We cover four fundamental ball skills—rolling, kicking, throwing, and catching—and show you how to make them meaningful in both small group therapy and large group classroom settings. Learn how movement activities can enhance language, math, social-emotional growth, and peer relationships while keeping therapy fun and effective.Ball play is more than just fun—it’s a powerful tool for developing communication, connection, and executive functioning in preschoolers. In this episode, I sit down with early childhood professor Dr. Julia Smith to break down four essential ball skills—rolling, kicking, throwing, and catching—and show how each one supports language, literacy, math, and peer relationships. Whether you’re a speech-language pathologist or educator, you’ll learn practical, movement-based strategies to bring therapy and classroom activities to life.Love these ideas? Get ready-to-go, literacy-rich, movement-based therapy plans every week inside the SIS Membership. Each theme includes engaging activities, plus a parent/large group/teletherapy Google Slides deck—so you can focus less on prep and more on impact. 👉 Join at https://www.kellyvess.com/sis