Early childhood professionals know movement contributes to the overall development of young children. In the physical realm, movement not only helps essential motor skills develop and mature properly, but it also promotes physical fitness, which is especially important considering the current childhood obesity crisis and its related health issues. Socially and emotionally, developmentally appropriate movement activities help children learn cooperation skills and how to take turns and share space with others. And recent research shows movement is critical to brain and cognitive development. Still, many early childhood programs don’t include movement activities beyond the daily trip outside or the occasional dance to a children’s recording. Why? The most common reason: lack of space. After all, how can you manage physical activity for several lively children when there’s barely enough room for them to sit at circle time without crowding each other?
Take It Outside!
While it would be lovely to have just the right space in which to conduct movement lessons, such a space is rare. Teachers with access to a gym, multipurpose room, or extra classroom are among the fortunate few. But also lucky are those with ample playground space. The outdoors is undoubtedly the best place for young children to practice and master emerging physical skills and to experience the pure joy of movement. It’s also the place where they’re likely to burn the most calories, which is vital in the fight against childhood obesity.
On paved areas of the playground, children can work on their bouncing and ball-rolling abilities. Grassy areas are perfect for practicing dribbling with the feet (the grass helps keep the ball under control), and any open area is great for throwing, catching, kicking, volleying, and striking. These, of course, are typical playground activities. However, you may not have considered the open areas of your playground for large group activities that are inconvenient or impossible indoors. Games like “Cross Over” (Shipley, 1998, pp. 346-47), for example can be made more challenging with ample space to move and explore. To play “Cross Over,” children form a large circle and note those standing on either side of them. On a signal from the teacher, the children try to cross through the circle to the opposite side without bumping into or touching one another. When they have crossed over, they should be standing next to the same children as they were when on the other side. This excellent activity reinforces the concept of personal space and promotes social development. Cherry (1976) proposed teachers construct “skinny paths” by laying “unit blocks or pieces of rope, wood, or board in parallel rows that allow just enough space for the children to move cautiously between them” (p.71). These narrow walkways provide balancing challenges unlike those fostered by beams or planks raised off the ground. Parachute, hoop, and ribbon activities are often more practical outdoors, too. And the possibilities for obstacle courses, using small and large equipment, are endless. You can start your obstacle course small, changing it often, even daily, and gradually increasing the challenge. The course should give the children experience with such concepts as over, under, through, around, and between. Eventually, the children can even help you design the courses.
But what if outdoor space is limited? How do you get children moving when you only have an indoor environment available to you? Where there’s a will, there’s a way. You simply have to find or create the most open space you can.
The “Inside” Track
If you must use your indoor classroom for movement activities, push the furniture to the walls to create the most open space possible. When you rearrange the furniture, invite the children to help and make the task fun by asking them to pretend to be construction workers, Santa’s elves, or Snow White’s dwarves (Clements & Schiemer, 1993). As you prepare the space, be sure boundaries are clearly defined and that equipment and objects providing either a safety hazard or an overwhelming temptation are removed. If material distractions can’t be removed like tables “begging” to be climbed on, or wheel toys just “asking” to be ridden, consider covering them before your movement sessions to eliminate the temptation. Place safe obstacles along concrete walls and wrap floor-to-ceiling columns in padded material to protect children from injury.
Sometimes what seems like too little space, like the area set aside for circle time, can actually be adequate for movement; you just have to be a bit clever in how you use it. For example, asking the children to gallop in a circle, rather than back and forth across the area can ensure they have a chance to gallop “full out.” You can also divide a large group in two, inviting half the group to act as the audience while the other half performs an activity. You’ll want to keep the activities brief i