Opening the door to brain growth and development
by Moira Dempsey and Julia
Morgan
Physical movement is a gateway to
learning even when your baby is inside the womb
All the movements that your baby makes in the womb are actually
developing nerve networks that will be vitally important for your baby's
development. One of the really important aspects of brain development is
the physical movement you make during your pregnancy. Whether it is
walking around, or sitting, or rocking in a chair, these movements help
your baby to form a memory pattern of how to move in the outside world.
After birth, lay your baby on his back and while gently holding his
feet, rock him back and forth - do this a few times a day for a minute
or so. This is another physical movement that helps in brain
development.
During the first 15 months after birth, the movements of the infant
reflexes, such as the Moro reflex (ability of the infant to be
startled), Tonic Neck Reflex (when infant is lying on his back there is
a spontaneous stretching or straightening of the arm and leg when infant
is turned to one side), Spinal Galant reflex (when infant is stroked
from neck down the spinal cord it will cause the back to curve towards
the touch), to name just a few, play an enormously important role in
getting the baby ready to move from lying on his back to rolling over,
to sitting, crawling, standing and walking. All these movements develop
pathways in the brain. The reflexes need to be efficiently merged into
the whole body movement system that develops as the child grows.
Crawling: A physical movement
that develops the brain
It is vitally important that your baby spends time lying on his
back, kicking his legs, learning to role over and lie on his tummy,
learning to lift his head to gain better control of the neck.
Crawling is also vital for brain development. Early introduction of
baby walkers have a detrimental effect on development as they put
the baby into an upright position too early, when they are not
developmentally ready to do so. This can have an effect on vision,
brain development and co-ordination. Contrary to popular belief, a
baby that learns how to walk early does not make him smarter -
crawling is essential for developing the corpus callosum (part of
the brain), binocular vision (visual coordination) and the frontal
lobes of the brain (important area for processing information later
in life).
Example of physical movements
that you can do with your baby
An example of good movement that you can do with your baby is to lay
him on his back and gently take one hand and the opposite ankle and
bring the two together so the hand and toes touch, then swap and
bring the other hand and foot together. Keep alternating and doing
the cross patterning movement for a minute of two. This movement
helps to develop the ability of the two hemispheres (left and right
portions) of the child's brain to communicate with each other.
Physical movement continues to have an important role in learning
and brain development as your baby grows. Physical activities such
as play produces neurotransmitters (natural chemicals in the brain)
that help develop the neural pathways in the brain. Play is also
important for social and behavioural development.
Example of physical movement
that you can do with your young child
Children are very active and are also naturally curious. Allow your
child to play and move around freely as this assists in brain
development. Too much sitting is developmentally inappropriate for
toddlers and children below five or six. It interferes with the
natural development of the brain. Children may obey and sit and
'write' and 'read' when they are very young, however it goes against
the way the various parts of the brain develop and can cause
learning blocks at a later date.
The cross patterning movements described previously is a great
movement for young children to do. They can do it themselves this
time by standing and lifting one knee and tapping it with the
opposite hand, and then changing sides. It is fun to do with music,
preferably at a medium speed. You can reasonably expect a child of 4
to do the movement with a bit of practice. If a 5 or 6 year old
finds it difficult do it then it is suggested to send them to some
classes that teach body movements such as Brain Gym, Kids Yoga, Judo
etc.
With these facts, we can now conclude that physical movement is
indeed vital for brain development. Please give your baby plenty of
time on the floor, rolling around, kicking his legs, and crawling.
As he grows older ensure that he has plenty of physical activity.