subject: Why Body Awareness And Movement Is Important To Your Child's Development [print this page] Body-awareness is important in the development of spatial orientation. Understanding the space of our own body aids in the perception of judging distance, how we relate to other people objects, and how we move through space. Climbing through a hoop, around a hoop, or jumping inside the hoop are activities that strengthen spatial orientation between self and other objects.
Children ages 1 1/2- 3 learn primarily through movement. In order to learn they must manipulate objects and participate in body movement. At this stage, children are concerned with improving their motor skills, both gross and fine. Awareness to how the limbs coordinate to climbing up and getting down, for example, can only come about when they try to negotiate the movement.
Move with your toddlers in different directions (forward, backward, to the sides) and in different ways, such as tip-toeing, or crawling. The more locomotive skills your toddler picks up, the able adept he is to gain more motor skills. Such early movements help him become more agile and coordinated. As they engage in different movements, they gain confidence in their sense of balance as well.
As young toddlers have the physical experience of falling down and then getting back up, a significant emotional event occurs as well. They are encountering and overcoming a fear of imbalance, and are developing confidence in their physical skills.
Bodily movements often carry strong psychological meanings. With young children in particular, motion conveys emotion more powerfully than words. In the second year of life, motion is centered on the achievement of balance, and the risk of losing this balance becomes a central concern. Physical balance stands as a symbol for emotional balance, in child play as well as in adult imagery.
