Before every [tag]softball practice[/tag] and before starting the [tag]kids softball drills[/tag] I make sure my players are lined up in a row with an arms length distance between one another.
All of the kids including all three [tag]softball coach[/tag]es perform stretching of arms, legs, back, wrists and fingers (as a team we count to five during each stretch). After stretching we run a light jog from home plate to center field and back. Even though the kids are 5-6 years old, they seem to enjoy the stretching and jogging.
90 percent of the kids on my t-ball team could not catch with their glove during the first practice. Nearly all of them shy away when the [tag]softball[/tag] was thrown directly at them.
In order to build their confidence and avoid injury, I decided to use tennis balls for playing catch. I think it worked and it taught them to use both hands (tennis ball tends to bounce out of the glove compared to a t-ball). In the beginning of the throwing/catching drill, I made the kids catch without their glove (forcing them to use both hands) and eventually we graduated to using gloves.