If any of you have spent much time with a young or primary age child, you have probably noticed that he or she loves to move. Movement is natural for children. Children are supposed to move. It is what they were designed to do and they do it well. Children love dancing, running, hopping, and anything else that requires them to use their bodies.
For this reason, movement is very important in a primary classroom. As you know from previous articles, kinesthetic learners greatly base their learning on movement. However, movement and learning are greatly connected with learning for all children.
When moving, the heart rate increases. In addition this creates an increase of blood and oxygen to move to the brain.
Movement makes children happy and creates a more positive environment.
Movement has been shown to increase creativity, social behavior, academic performance, connections with the environment, and more.
In addition to getting the children up off their feet due to the results of research studies, why not include movement in your lessons simply because the children enjoy it?
When children enjoy what they are doing, their behavior will be better.
Children know how to move and are good at moving. They will feel successful when given the opportunity to wiggle about.
In addition to being great for the children, the teacher is also stimulated through the movement activities. These activities often create a more positive mood for the teacher and also get the teacher’s heart rate moving up. The children love to see the teacher involved in movement activities.
Movement in a classroom can be easily incorporated in songs, poems, and chants. The movement does not only have to be for entertainment. It can also be very educational. Children can march while saying their ABCs or count while doing jumping jacks. When it comes to movement in a primary grade classroom, the options are endless.