Babies: How I Teach Using a Big Yellow Ball

You are coming to class.  The teacher is big, and a bit strange.  You remember he is somehow nice, but still big and strange, and the class is different from your familiar home.  You feel a bit nervous and withdrawn, uncertain.  Then the big, bright yellow ball rolls past… you can’t resist and Chase It!
That’s how I usually start my class with toddlers and often with the younger kids, too.  They simply can’t resist a ball, whether it be chasing it, rolling it, kicking it, or some combination of the above.  They start moving, and that is the key.
Once they start moving, they warm up (emotionally) faster.  It breaks the ice.  It is also a medium of exchange.  You trust people (to some extent or another) that you exchange things with.
Of course, you can teach language like ‘roll, catch, bounce..’ and later sequences (ABC’s, counting, days of the week, months, etcf).
I highly recommend getting a big bright ball for the classroom.  You will have a higher conversion rate in trial lessons, too!