Movement Matters

11/25/2003

"The heart of Autumn must have broken here, and poured its treasure out upon the leaves." - Charlotte Fiske Bates

MOVEMENT MATTERS

In her article, "From Cartlwheels to Caterpillars: Children's Need to Move Indoors and Out," in the May 1994 issue of Child Care Information Exchange, Anita Rui Olds made this case for emphasizing movement in early childhood programs. . .

"Traditionally, we have relegated children's need for movement to outdoor spaces we call playgrounds. This is unfortunate because children need to move all the time, both indoors and outside, in a multiplicity of ways that neither indoor climbers nor most playground equipment sufficiently address. Movement and action are essential to children's development in general and to intellectual development in particular. Movement is the gateway to sensing, acting upon, and being affected by the world around us. . .

"According to Piaget, movement is essential to the formation of intellect. Piaget called the first stage of intellectual development the sensorimotor stage, when children experience the world primarily through their senses and motoric abilities. He argued that the sensorimotor stage is the bedrock on which the subsequent hierarchy of all intelligence is built. Between birth and five or six years, children's bodies, as much as their minds, are the organ of intelligence. Their bodyminds require that they move and be moved by their surroundings."

This article by Anita Rui Olds is available in the Exchange Store at http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0053. It is part of the Beginnings Workshop staff training kit on "Building In Opportunities for Gross Motor Development." Other articles in this kit include:

"Kids Gotta Move: Adapting Movement Experiences for Children with Differing Abilities" by Carol Kranowitz

"Roughhousing As a Style of Play" by Rick Porter

"Moving Teachers to Move Children" by Margie Carter

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.