Take Time for Big Body Play

08/22/2016

You cannot do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American essayist

As school starts for many, it’s useful remember the difference between structured and unstructured gross motor activities. In Big Body Play: Why Boisterous, Vigorous and Very Physical Play is Essential to Children’s Development and Learning, author Frances M. Carlson notes,

“There are two avenues to physical activity for young children: (1) the structured, directed kind that children get in a school physical education program and (2) the unstructured free play of big body play—the rough-and-tumble activities and the exuberant and spontaneous gross motor movements that come naturally for children. Both types are important and valuable for children’s health, kinesthetic, intellectual and overall development.”

In other words, let the children in your care play… with their whole bodies!

Contributed by Heather Fox

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