Guest blog: Movement Makes Your Kids Smart (P.S. It can do a lot for you too!)

Need another motivator to get fit? Movement can make your kid smart, according to Annie Kirschenmann, M.S., BC-DMT, NCC, Certified Corporate Business Coach, Certified NLP Practitioner.

 Woo!

Get me some dancing shoes, Scrunch and I need to groove !

See the post below from Annie:

Brain Rule #1:  Exercise Boosts Brain Power

We were made to move.  That’s what John Medina points out in his book, “Brain Rules:  12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home and School”.  He notes that our ancestors walked – on average – 12 miles a DAY.  Wow.  Therefore, for much of our evolutionary history, our brains were supported on Olympic caliber bodies. It was a time when movement meant the difference between life and death.  Far cry from our modern life styles, where our bodies spend most of their time crammed into office cubicles, cars, couches and other sedentary modules.

 

Right.  This is a blog on familes, so what’s my point?  Let me ask you a question.  Does your child love to move?  Or would that be an understatement of sorts?  From an extremely early age, most kids will spontaneously — and often with grand enthusiasm – engage in movement activities.  Count the boo-boos as evidence.

 

Children do this because it is biologically critical.  Medina tells us that movement will help improve the ability to think, because it “. . .gets blood to the brain, bringing it glucose for energy and oxygen to soak up the toxic electrons that are left over;  it also stimulates the protein that keeps neurons connecting.”

 

Think about this: growth in the first five years of life is quantum.  It would take volumes to detail everything that is going on for your little one physically, psychologically and developmentally before age 6.  And all this growth is fueled by movement. 

 

Yet, we tend to have some cultural stuff going on that runs counter to our children’s natural inclination to move exuberantly.  “Sit down and be quiet.”  “Children should be seen and not heard.”  We put our kids in small classrooms with tiny desks to educate them.  Paradigms like these tend to come out of adults needs, not those of our kids.  Time to reverse that trend.  Of course as the caregiver, you want to maintain your sanity as well!  Here are some ideas that might help serve you both:

 

·         Play the movement mirroring game with him.  Follow his movement; let him follow yours.  When it’s your turn to be the leader, slow the movement down a bit.

·         Freeze!  Small children LOVE this game.  Move, move, move, move – then FREEZE like a statue.  Hold it.  Repeat.

·         Play an all movement “Simon Says” with her.

·         As he gets a bit older, “nap time” can become “quiet time.”  Be sure there is plenty of “movement time” as a routine that you encourage and support in his day.  Enroll him in some type of moving class for kids his age if he is starting to tucker you out!

 

Which leads us back to you.  Turns out, what’s good for your kids, is also good for you.  Science used to think that we were born with all the brain cells we would ever have.  We now know that we can and do produce new ones throughout our lives.  And what stimulates that growth?  Yup.  Movement. 

 

So it might be time to get with the program.  As a guideline, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends that adults get 2 1/2 hours of “moderate intensity aerobic activity” (e.g. brisk walking) every week.  That’s only 150 minutes per week, or a little over 20 minutes a day.  Easy, right?  Start with some easy steps – literally steps – that you can incorporate into your day:

 

·         Park at the end of the lot and hoof it to the door

·         Take the stairs instead of the elevator

·         Use the long way, instead of the short cut, to anything whenever you are on foot

·         Keep a set of 5 pound weights at your desk – stand up several times a day, and lift them while you walk around a bit

·         Put your exercise machine in front of the TV and use it while you watch the news

 

Or, you just keep moving with your child.  Whatever you choose, get on it now.  Because every day she is closer to being smarter than youJ

For other movement ideas, visit Let’s Move at LetsMove.gov.

 

 

Annie Kirschenmann is a board certified Dance/Movement Therapist and a non-verbal communication expert; a Nationally Certified Counselor; a Certified Corporate Business Coach; and a Certified NLP Practitioner. She holds her M.S. from Hunter College (NY) and her BA from Macalester College (St. Paul).  Annie’s award winning master’s thesis is on the therapeutic benefits of smiling, laughter and humor.  She is the owner and lead coach/consultant for A.K. Coach and Company (AKACoachAndCompany.com).  She can be reached by email at:  Annie@AKACoachAndCompany.com