It's tough to teach a toddler how to catch a ball. Maybe it's not as hard as it was learning how to ride your bike without training wheels, but closing your eyes as a ball comes hurtling toward you is a very natural reaction for small children.

The learning curve on these kinds of simple activities can be as frustrating to parents as it is to their kids. For the few people who grow up to be professional baseball players who catch balls for a living, there are many more eye-closers reacting in fear. Naturally, that reaction will increase your chances of getting hurt by the ball.

My oldest daughter went to her first summer league softball practice when she was 7. She came home that evening with a lip three times its normal size. To her credit, she returned to practice the next night, fat lip and all, but she never again forgot to use her mitt to protect her face. Although that was a hard way to learn a lesson, she and her sisters enjoyed playing in that league well into their teenage years.

Your last shot at a summertime sandlot game may come by way of a Labor Day picnic with friends and family this year. Using a simple idea I found on the Web at www.familyfun.go.com, you can combine your love of the game (even if you can't catch a ball) and display your holiday patriotism with red-white-blue ball catchers. You may need to learn different skills than the ones you use to catch a ball with your hands, but it will also put a fun twist on the game. You set the ground rules; hold the catcher and throw with either hand you choose, but the object is to catch the ball and prevent it from popping back out of the catcher just as you would use a mitt.

Although younger children will need help from an adult to cut the carton, allow them to decorate their own milk cartons. Younger children tend to love the creative process they use to make crafts more than they are concerned with the appearance of the finished product.

Supplies you will need:

• One plastic milk carton per person.

• Scissors.

• Electrical tape, vinyl craft tape or paint markers in red, white and blue colors.

• Ball to play with.

Wash well and dry a one-gallon milk carton. Replace the cap on the carton.

Older children can cut the bottom off of the carton and cut a "U" shape under the handle, leaving most of the plastic on either side of the handle. Younger children should have an adult help with the cutting. Take care not to cut the handle. You will need it to hold onto as you try to catch the ball.

Run strips of tape in horizontal lines around the carton. Or, use markers to decorate. Rotate the colors of the stripes for a patriotic display.