As a movement educator, with an MA from Teachers College Columbia University, many people think that I teach children and adults how to dance.
That is the furthest thing from the truth.
What I do is educate parents and teachers about the importance of movement and how to pass this knowledge and movement possibilities on to children.
At first I usually get the head nodding from adults; yes, they agree physical exercise is important, but I am not sure they understand why.
They know for themselves about the health benefits of exercise, getting the heart rate up, keeping the muscles strong and for many weight management.
But I am talking about so much more for both kids and adults.
I am talking about body ownership, spatial awareness, balance, muscle control, creativity, and a healthy view of your body as well as developing a healthy body.
So here is a challenge a present to you, the reader.
Everyday give the gift of movement to the children in your life as well as to yourself.
Integrate movement ideas into the lives of you and your children and see how your body image, control, self-confidence and muscle control develops.
Sounds hard? It's not and I will give you the tools to help.
Movement is broken down into four basic elements: body, space, time and energy.
Let's focus on the body.
It is important to understand how your body moves.
You may be thinking that you already know how your body moves but do this simple 1 minute challenge with the children in your life and see how you do! Answer these 5 simple questions: 1.
How many body parts can rotate or circle? Which are they? 2.
How many can bend? Which are they? How many can bend in more than one direction? 3.
How many can swing? Which are they? 4.
How many can stretch? Which are they? 5.
How many can do more than one of these suggestions.
Which can do the most? Which body parts can do the least? By completing these questions you are discovering your body's range of motion! I am not going to tell you the answers but I hope it will be fun for you to figure it out with a child.
I call this body ownership.
What do you know about your body? If you know how your body works, you can give it specific directions.
Have you ever tried to teach a child how to throw a ball? Think about the last 5 questions and think about if you would articulate the directions differently or have them explore their arm's movement potential to understand the mechanics of the task.
It is important to move, to be physically active not just because it is healthy for your body, but for your mind, for self-confidence and to achieve success in physical tasks.
Here are some other fun ideas to interact with the children in your life.
1.
Make a list of 5 action words (maybe pick them out of a book you are reading.
) Do each one of the action words and each time you do them see if you can make the movements bigger and bigger and bigger and then smaller and smaller and smaller.
2.
With the same list of action words see how far you can travel in the space and then see how little you can travel.
3.
Finally with this list make a repeatable pattern.
These 3 fun ideas not only help in understanding spatial awareness but develop gross motor skills and math skills.
Help children learn about their movement potential, learn about their bodies and the world around them.
There is no better way to learn then through the experience of the body! Enjoy!