Give the Gift of Movement, No Batteries Required!

As a movement educator, I teach parents and teachers how to incorporate movement and dance into everyday activities.  Not just for overall health, which is crucial, but for other essential learning concepts and life skills like spatial awareness, body awareness, creativity and gross motor skills.

So here is a challenge I present to you. Everyday give the gift of movement to the children in your life as well as to yourself. Integrate movement ideas into the lives of you and your children. Sounds hard? It’s not and I will give you the tools you need.

Movement is broken down into four basic elements: body, space, time and energy. Today let's focus on the body. It is important to understand how your body moves. You may be thinking that you already know how your body moves but do this simple 1 minute challenge with the children in your life and see how you do!

Answer these 5 simple questions:

1. How many body parts can rotate or circle? What are they?
2. How many can bend? What are they? How many can bend in more than one direction?
3. How many can swing? What are they?
4. How many can stretch? What are they?
5. How many can do more than one of these suggestions. What ones can do the most? What body parts can do the least?

By completing these questions together with your children, you are discovering your bodies range of motion, enhancing flexibility and muscle control.

See how many people you can get going on this one minute challenge! Moving can be great fun, especially when you are discovering new things together. 

Keep moving up down and all around,

Stacey