Movement in Play

Whether we have a consistent routine that focuses on physical activity or not, many of us know that there are benefits to involving movement or exercise in our daily routine.  Without a daily routine in mind, young children naturally move about—rolling, skipping, running, jumping, even creeping on the floor throughout the day.  

In the book Big Body Play, Frances Carlson demonstrates the benefits that accompany movement and play. She explains that play results in wonderful benefits across physical, social-emotional, and cognitive domains. 

Physical, social-emotional, and cognitive learning can be incorporated into everyday play experiences without much adjustment. By moving about with your child while engaging in smiling, you are allowing face-to-face and verbal interaction learning to slip into play!

Turn songs and rhymes into big body experiences by incorporating new movements!  

The Eensy Weensy Spider

The eensy weensy spider crawled up the water spout.

(Children crawl across the floor.)

Down came the rain and washed the spider out.

(Children roll back across the floor in the opposite direction.)

Up came the sun and dried out all the rain.

(Children wave arms and legs back and forth vigorously while lying on their backs.)

And the eensy weensy spider crawled up the spout again.

(Children crawl across the floor.)

Movement in play experiences are encouraged at DCM.  Take a crawl through the bridge near AirWorks and the Moser Construction House.  This bridge replicates many of the bridges seen in downtown Naperville! Join our Early Learning Specialist Mollie Willis—on select Tuesdays, Mollie takes a slide out on the Museum floor to engage children in movement, play, and to answer parent/caregiver questions on early learning.   

Also! Don't forget to join us for the WORLDWIDE DAY OF PLAY, September 21, 2013! This Saturday! Go to the DCM homepage for a list of incredibly fun events!

Resources:

Carlson, F. (2011). Big Body Play: Why Boisterous, Vigorous, and Very Active Physical Play is Essential to Children’s Development and Learning.  National Association for the Education of Young Children: Washington, DC.

National Association for Sport and Physical Education

www.aahperd.org/naspe/