Teaching With The Body In Mind

Hot on the heels of the discussion of running, Joey invites the group to examine children's chase play. Chase games range from simple to complex and build on many essential skills from tracking to non-verbal communication. Turns out, the ability to play chase is a foundational skill for life.

Children need to run. It's a way for them to express joy and excitement, feel powerful, tap into energy, and explore their environment. Since children need to run--and love to run--adults should want them to run. How can we provide for this basic need and source of joy for children?

Children's fine motor development is a complex, whole body process which is often oversimplified. Educators can be quick to label doing puzzles as "fine motor" while overlooking the ways in which pouring water from a big container or climbing a tree also supports small motor development. The conversation touches on how the rush to get children ready to write can cloud our thinking about the richness of fine motor skills. (This discussion draws from some of the ideas in Episode 126: Big Motor, Small