Author: Mel WAGENAAR
Educational Psychologist, Teacher and Mother, South Africa
Movement is such an important building block in the development of babies and toddlers. Many children reside in small living spaces in large built-up cities and parents need to actively guard against children being passive rather than active. There has always been debate amongst educationists around whether we move to learn OR learn to move. Weighing in, I would say the two aspects are inter-dependent and there is a circularity rather than a one-way directionality. We move AND we learn. Movement is as essential as eating and sleeping in the very young child. Babies are born with an inherent urge to move which develops steadily and progressively into more purposeful action with each day that passes.
Parents who create opportunities for movement promote development, sometimes without even realizing this positive spin-off! By encouraging gross and fine motor movement, you are allowing the child to develop in so many learning areas. The modern world tends to be a sedentary one, with many children spending time sitting looking at some version of a screen rather than engaged in active play, indoors or outdoors. On this note, not all technology is “bad”, and we also need our children to be equipped for the modern world that is ever evolving. Children can and do receive stimulation from many carefully selected activities on devices – however, this stimulation leans heavily towards mental skills rather than total body movement.
Neuroscientists stress that movement stimulates the release of the “feel-good” transmitters such as dopamine and serotonin, which are linked to increased concentration, memory, and motivation – exactly what we want from our little learners. We need to be purposeful in creating opportunities for our children to explore and move as much as possible. Fortunately, the environment makes many demands without one realizing and children begin to problem-solve through being challenged to balance, stretch, climb, swing, pull, push, reach up, and yes, even how to fall. All these skills impact on coordination and thus being able to use both sides of the body together – essential for reading and writing activities.
Here are some general ideas and locations for activities to get everyone out and about and MOVING, regardless of where you live:
The beach – technically a giant sand pit with the added benefit of fresh air and water!
- Here your toddler can run obstructed and if you choose a sandy beach, it provides a soft landing for falling.
- Teach your child to do jumping jacks with your arms above your head and then back down to your sides with your legs out and back at the same time.
- Build sandcastles together and in fact no matter the age, this is one of the most enjoyable shared beach activities.
- Your preschooler can do stick-in-sand writing as well as using their fingers, their hands and even their feet to write, draw and create patterns and shapes.
- Another activity that promotes both fine-and gross-motor skills includes collecting natural debris that has washed up – this can be used to create “art works” of different sizes.
- Water play can be unstructured (think swimming, jumping and floating) or structured through providing different sized buckets and plastic cups to your child who can be introduced to the concepts of measurement and volume in a natural way, suited to their developmental stage.
- Making sand angels on a large area of clean sand is such fun; model falling backwards with your arms outstretched (carefully!) and once you are on your back on the sand, move your arms and legs as if you are doing jumping jacks.
- Giant tic-tac-toe or noughts and crosses can also be played on the sand; even erasing is fun and exercises those fine motor skills.
Family outings to museums
- These are especially wonderful on rainy days and often have large halls and great spaces in which children can explore through climbing, looking, touching, and listening.
- Keep a look out for child-friendly exhibitions aimed at interactive learning.
- Even an art gallery can be a resource on desperate days.
Parks and playgrounds – the opportunities are endless, and these are free…
- Think of the balance and co-ordination required to use a balance scooter.
- Think of climbing frames, slides, swings, giant-sized chess pieces, climbing tunnels, rope mazes …
At home – be imaginative and think of how to stimulate movement in YOUR space.
- Put music on and dance like no one is watching (aside from your toddler of course!). This will encourage them to model your movements. Dancing is fun, so clap and practice cross over dancing, alternating hands and knees. Hold a family dancing competition – the sillier the better – be creative and make it fun and energetic.
- Hide-and-seek can be played even in the smallest of spaces.
- Build a fort by draping blankets over furniture and allow your child to take the lead in this.
The ideas above are certainly not exhaustive. Hopefully this has sparked your imagination! It is through movement, using the senses and motor skills, and exploration and manipulation of their own familiar settings, that children learn concepts such as distance, length, height, and volume. Movement goes hand in hand with learning. Parents need to be reminded of the value of movement and how it impacts on general development – both intellectual and physical.
