A soccer ball.
In Animal Forest, Animal Forest+, Animal Crossing, and Animal Forest e+, sports balls make occasional appearances around the town. They can be kicked around simply by walking into them, but can't be picked up and are difficult to control. There are three types of sports balls: the soccer ball (which is white with black spots), the basketball (which is orange with black details) and the volleyball (which is blue with a white stripe).
General[]
A ball outside the Post Office in Animal Forest.
The player can kick a ball around by simply walking into it. If running, the ball with be kicked farther. They will fall and roll if kicked off cliffs. Balls will also fall into the river, sea or ponds if they roll too close and will float away. To "create" another ball, simply enter and exit a house, walk around from acre to acre, or save and restart the game. If a hole is dug the ball will get stuck, but the player can hit it with the shovel and it will pop it out. When near or brought to a villager, they may kick the ball around.
Sometimes, a villager will ask the player to bring them a ball to play or train with. If the player brings one to them, the villager will reward them.
In Animal Forest e+, the dung beetle is attracted to them, and once donated one can be found in the exhibit rolling either a basketball, volleyball or soccer ball (generated randomly upon entering the room).
Snowballs[]
A snowball delaying the bus in City Folk
Snowballs, the winter equivalent of balls, appear in every Animal Crossing game to date and can be used to create a Snowman. Unlike the three sports balls, snowballs break, and they do so very easily. If they fall off a cliff, hit a tree too hard or receive some other decent impact they will break. This also means that if a snowball falls in a hole, there is no way to free it without shattering it by accident.
A player rolling a snowball
When rolled in snowy grass (not dirt or bushes), they gradually expand in size. When large enough they can be controlled more easily, and when the player gets two snowballs of a decent size, they can be rolled together to form a Snowman.
When rolled onto dirt or patches of grass the snowball will turn smaller, making it unstable. Additionally, villagers and dung beetles can push snowballs, which also makes them a threat to the safety of the player's snowballs.