Movement is so important for health and well being.
Skipping might just be the most powerful mood enhancer there is – have you tried it lately?
In pressured, time-poor classrooms, where children are required to sit (nicely) and write endlessly, what impact is this having on their health and well being?
Perhaps better results would come from the occasional movement break and opportunity to talk through ideas with a peer?
Brain Gym seems, like ‘learning styles’, to be not only out of fashion but demonised; let’s not throw baby out with the bath water!
(Students may be either hyperactive – over active or hypoactive – sleepy and droopy. The good news is that the right kind of movement can help the student to maintain focus and concentration for the duration of the lesson)
In denying the importance of movement to aid arousal (arousal is linked to attention and concentration); integral to the experience of learning, what do we loose?
Ask yourself this the next time you are looking out at a sea of blank, sleepy faces or working 1 to 1 with a student who’s lying across the desk!
Simple ideas:
*pair and share to walk around the room and share/discuss ideas. (Timed is best, so that equal turns are given see @KaganOnline)
*chair push ups/proprioception (Chdn push down through straight arms to lift bottom out of chair).
*pacing (good for times tables, this is an organising activity)
*hugging self
*giving each other back rubs (ask permission first!) Good for slouchy children.
*bunny hop to pencil sharpener
*round of applause
NB children with poor proprioception sense ie knowing where their body is in space – may slouch over the desk and sit on their feet.
Children with a poor vestibular sense (balance) may benefit from pacing and other kinds of movement.
In giving options, children can learn to self-regulate.
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands, stamp your feet…do a jumping jack!
I guarantee you’ll feel better too.
