- Physical Development & Health
- Brain Development
- Social/Emotional Development
- Approaches to Learning
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Brain research reinforces what children instinctively know: “playing makes me smart for school.” Being physically healthy plays a major part in how well children develop cognitive skills, including reading, writing, mathematics and creativity. Discover how the brain works, what affects brain development and how children learn best when moving. Learn how to increase moderate to vigorous physical activity and promote motor skill development through hands-on activities using music, simple equipment, and homemade play props.
- Teachers will discover how to create an environment, situations, challenges, and activities that allow children to develop physical skills and realize their potential for movement.
- Children will build a foundation of basic motor skills and improve their overall health, coordination, and self-confidence.
Participants will be able to:
- Understand and discuss basic information about brain development and its connection to movement, physical activity, play, and learning.
- Learn how to intentionally plan and create movement learning environments and curriculum that classroom teachers can implement to satisfy the required 30 to 60 minutes of daily structured physical activity and 30 to 60 minutes of daily unstructured physical activity.
- Learn how to integrate physical activity throughout the day in other curricular areas while addressing language, literacy, math, science, and the arts.
Get your motor running and your heart pumping as you join in cooperative group games, exercise with the parachute, and use simple equipment to increase moderate to vigorous physical activity. Learn how to make “active play” materials using inexpensive items and experience first-hand the fun of moving and learning. By encouraging and participating in physical activity, teachers demonstrate the importance of health and fitness through their actions as well as their words!
When children engage in physical activities, research indicates that the cognitive domains of the brain are automatically stimulated. It is essential that we take advantage of this information so that we can provide for the development of the mind as well as the body of the learner. A common misconception is that children’s fundamental motor skills (jumping, hopping, throwing, catching, etc.) “naturally” develop as children get older. This is not true. Acquiring motor skills requires practice, encouragement and instruction in a variety of daily vigorous activities. Numerous studies have documented the realities of physical inactivity, combined with poor diet, and the resulting health concerns for children. A movement education program will not only improve children’s health and quality of life, but it will develop every child’s unique movement and physical abilities to their optimum level.
This workshop will be presented in PowerPoint discussion format interspersed with participants engaged in active play that puts “theory into practice” of how the body teaches the brain.
- Brown, S. Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul, 2009, Penguin Books; New York.
- Hannaford, C. Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, 1995, Great Ocean Publishers; Arlington, VA
- Healy, J. Your Child’s Growing Mind: Brain Development and Learning from Birth to Adolescence, 2004, Random House; New York
- Ratey, J. SPARK: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, 2008, Little, Brown and Company; New York
- www.aahperd.org/NASPE
- www.americanheart.org
- www.smallstep.gov
- www.aap.org
- www.cdc.org
- www.movingandlearning.com
Length of Session: 3 hours
Audio Visual: Power, Projection Screen
Group Size: Variable, according to individual needs
Room Set Up: Theatre-style or classroom style, based on hands-on materials
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