Play: Feet First

Play can bring children's feet into action with their stream of:

• running
• skipping
• sliding
• galloping
• hopping
• jumping
• landing
• scooting
• bounding

A list of words to describe motion in youngsters is almost endless.
And then by adding another layer of movement: qualities of action, we see:

• slow
• fast
• rapid
• staccato
• gently
• abruptly
• choppy

Again, the words that describe the qualities of movement vary as widely as the globe.
Movement exploration opens doors of self-awareness and mastery of motion.

So, when your children or students are active in play, whether on a playground or in an open room space, use those minutes to not only give your children opportunities to release their energy but to gain knowledge about controlling their bodies.
Their feet are a powerful route for information from attempts to move, balance and ascend from the ground...those experiences deliver showers of good information to the brain!
In the action of playing, kids learn to move. And as they move they build thousands of pathways between muscle and their mind.
These neural pathways serve their immediate needs to get from here to there but in practicing motion while playing, these information highways become established as channels for information transfer for:

• Cognitive gains
• Motor sequencing
• Perceptual sensory integration
• Body awareness/kinesthetic learning

Quick skill practice, which can be done on the playground or indoors:

Open the BARN DOORS!

1. Ask the child to place their feet, side-by-side: Big Toes Kissing!
2. Then suggest that under their feet are tons of farm animals, in a BARN.
3. Ask them to 'swing' their toes apart, keep their heels touching.
4. Then placing weight on the balls of their feet, 'swing' their HEELS apart.
5. This series of foot motions will cause their feet to move to the SIDES.
6. Alternate 'toes swings' and 'heel swings' to GET the farm animals out of the BARN.
7. Then reverse the actions to herd the animals in to the BARN, at night.

This activity will build awareness of the sole of the foot and the subtle weight shifts that can give a child control of their body.
Let's remember that PLAY is a great way to both:

• Learn to Move and
• Learn to LEARN

If you are teaching youngsters and may need a curriculum to guide preschoolers movement development, perhaps the KidSKILLS Movement and Sports Training series of Manuals would give you a progressively organized plan. 

There is a complete curriculum from Play Builds Kids to guide you own children or students.