Discover how movement-based activities enhance brain development, boost cognitive skills, and improve focus in young children through active learning and play.
Children are born with the strong biological drive to move and for very good reason, because that’s what the brain needs and children’s bodies are designed to seek out the physical input required. The development of mind and body go hand in hand, and one cannot function without the other.
Physical activity increases the flow of blood to the brain, produces new connections (memory) and releases dopamine which makes the mind ready to learn (along with making children happy). Young children need to explore the world using their whole body, this sensory experience.
Before children can concentrate, sit still, and learn new information, we must first develop their fundamental sensory systems. By giving children unrestricted opportunities for movement, we are transforming their brains into the perfect state for learning. And where better than the outdoors, the ideal environment for ‘embodied learning’. A space where children can run, swing, jump, spin, roll, and hang upside down. The opportunity for this type of physical activity is less likely indoors. Therefore, adequate time spent freely in a well thought out outdoor space that offers lots of opportunity for physical challenge and different ways to move is vital for children.
Fundamental Sensory Systems
From birth, children explore the world through their senses. Touch, smell, sight, sound, and taste but two more senses that aren’t as widely known and incidentally, (alongside touch) are the most important when it comes to child development are the vestibular and proprioception senses.
Think of a child’s development like a tree. The Tactile, Proprioception and Vestibular senses are the roots that need to be firmly implanted to grow. Without first developing these senses children are unable to thrive in other areas of development.
Each sensory system requires huge amounts of stimulation daily to become finely tuned. Children’s bodies are designed to seek out experiences that feed these senses and when they receive the sensory input their bodies crave, their endorphin levels (happy hormones) increase, and blood pressure decreases.
Fundamental Senses Entail and How Physical Activity in the Outdoors Supports them Best
Tactile: How our skin sends messages to the brain; hot, cold, pain, pressure. When this information relates to sight and sound in the brain, children gain control and preciseness. Outdoors, children have access to a wide array of different textures and temperatures in an ever-changing environment. Do you let children go barefoot outdoors? The information that comes through the sensitive sole to the brain is crucial for healthy and effective walking, running, and balance.
Proprioception: Located in our muscles & joints, it helps us to know where our body is in relation to space and to safely move in the environment, to feel our body from the inside. To develop this sense children need to feel resistance. To push, pull, stretch, hang and carry heavy loads. Outdoors resources are bigger and heavier and there is more opportunity for physical challenge and ‘rough and tumble’.
Vestibular: The first sensory system to develop, like our own satnav, the vestibular system includes parts of the inner ear that help to control balance, eye movement, spatial orientation, and posture. This sense is crucial in organizing all other senses and helps to regulate emotion. Experiences that stimulate the Vestibular system require fluid in the ear to be moved back and forth, movements such as spinning, hanging, rocking, swinging, rolling, sliding, jumping, bouncing, falling, and moving super fast! The outdoors provides the ideal space to do this with its uneven surfaces, slopes, steps, hills, and freedom to run.
The Connection Between Movement and Brain Development
Children’s brains are rapidly developing, forming new neural connections as they interact with the world around them. Movement, particularly through activities like crawling, walking, running, and playing, helps establish and strengthen these neural pathways.
Neuroplasticity and Movement
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change and adapt by forming new connections in response to learning and experience. Movement stimulates neuroplasticity, allowing children to develop motor skills, coordination, and cognitive abilities simultaneously. Physical activity increases blood flow to the brain, delivering oxygen and essential nutrients that support neuron growth and synaptic connections.
Motor Development and the brain
Fine and gross motor skills are deeply connected to cognitive function. When a child learns to balance, throw a ball, or climb, they are also developing problem-solving abilities, hand-eye coordination, and spatial awareness. Research shows that children who engage in movement-based activities tend to perform better in subjects such as mathematics and reading, as these skills require spatial reasoning and sequencing abilities, both of which are enhanced through movement.