The Importance Of Movement In Children’s Development
Children communicate through movement. Moving around allows them to relate to their surroundings and develop physically and mentally. So, next, we’ll delve into the importance of movement in children’s development.
As they grow, babies discover how some parts of their bodies behave. For this reason, during the first few months of life, they put everything in their mouths, begin to be aware of their bodily movements, and thus continue to explore how their actions affect the environment. In this way they build their own world.
Later, through movements in the form of games, they acquire experience and knowledge, which reinforces and enhances motor coordination. That’s why the importance of movement in children’s development is crucial to their growth.
Motor activity enables the development of different areas of the brain. Thus, in the first years of life, it is very important that children learn all kinds of movements. In this sense, physical exercise contributes to their physical, mental and emotional growth.
Likewise, physical activity helps to strengthen breathing, circulation and the muscular, cardiovascular and nervous systems. In addition, it also allows them to acquire concrete experiences for intellectual development, independence and social adaptation, which allows the child to be happy.
On the other hand, this type of exercise strengthens the ability to overcome difficulties and provides many physical and psychological benefits for children. That’s why games, activities and sports are vital for the integral development of children.
Movement in children’s development: activities
There are several types of exercises and activities that parents can do with their children to help them exercise different types of movements that will then contribute to the development of the little ones.
Therefore, it is essential that children have a daily time to carry out any activity and, in addition, that the parents, patiently, be supportive in the process.
- Encourage crawling: With this simple first step, we allow the brain regions responsible for movement to become mechanical.
- Going out to walk together, following the children’s rhythm: this allows them to reinforce the laterality necessary for reading and writing.
- Teach how to work balance in a park swing, riding a bicycle or rollerblading, among others. This will help them improve their posture and not get so tired when doing a dictation.
- Perform motor coordination activities: for example, jumping, running, throwing and picking up objects. This will allow them to have a better development in the school environment.
- Show how to organize or store objects to develop hand muscles.
- Teaching how to tie the shoelaces: this favors early development and logical reasoning.
- Start in the dance activity: this hobby contributes to the development of muscles in general.
The importance of sports for children’s development
Sports are essential for children to exercise more movements and thus develop correctly. In addition, these activities help to more easily relate and enhance the different areas of the child’s body, such as:
- Psychomotor development: helps with cardiovascular activity and bone formation.
- Organic and body development: it is possible to determine with a specialist which type of sport is suitable for your body constitution and age. In addition, of course, the child’s preferences are also essential at this point.
- Development of aptitude and behavior: it is essential to convey to children the importance of certain values, such as competition, honor and respect.
Psychomotricity: what it is and how it influences child development
Psychomotricity is the relationship between neuromotor functions and psychic functions. Thanks to it, physical action and mental activity are connected through movement. This then stimulates the child’s intellectual process and his ability to solve problems.
Thanks to psychomotricity, for example, a baby who wants to obtain some distant object will devise a way to reach it by crawling. The motor skills that the child acquires, such as jumping and running, will provide him with security and confidence. Thus, by mastering them, she will feel proud of her skills.
Finally, now that we are aware of the importance of movement in children’s development, it is essential that parents encourage their children’s motor skills. In this way, children will acquire brain maturity and, when they are older, it will be easier for them to incorporate other skills.
