Crawling alternatives. Any form of crawling movement can help develop the brain synapses needed to reset the central nervous system. This can benefit your child throughout the day. The brain-building benefits of physical literacy. Movement and learning: How does that work?
Gross motor skills and your child. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. October 18, , One Comment. I started walking because it was easy. Now I walked with purpose. I walked so I would get out of bed in the morning. October 29, , No Comments. A skipping rope is such a versatile toy! Check out these eight fun games your kids can play with one indoors or out. November 1, , No Comments. Movement enhances kids' learning.
Find out more about how active play and physical activity can help boost their brain power! May 14, , No Comments. Bodily strength, brain development, and perception are all developed through crawling. First steps are a big milestone and parents often encourage early walking by helping the child along. Modern society often wishes for children to skip crawling and walk as early as possible for convenience, however, crawling helps brain development in ways walking early does not. In early development, brain hemispheres are learning to coordinate.
One way this happens is through bilateral coordination or the skill of working both sides of the body at the same time tandem. Crawling involves moving the right arm at the same time as the left leg to be followed by the left arm and right leg movement. This part of brain development allows each side to be exercises equally and also coordinate.
Human development is very dependent on both sides of the brain being connected and crawling encourages that. While crawling, babies learn different surfaces and textures which increase sensitivity in the hands. Babies will also learn changes in elevation, such as a dip in the floor or a sudden drop as with stairs, to develop the ability to assess possible dangers. In addition to brain development, crawling also enhances muscle development. Crawling strengthens wrists, hands, elbows, shoulders, and the spinal column.
The strength translates into fine motor skills that are helpful when learning to write or use silverware. It is not uncommon for children who did not crawl to exhibit messy handwriting or experience difficulty with upper body strength, such as climbing monkey bars at recess. An important lesson of brain development involves assessing objects. Dropping or throwing an object puts it further away and necessitates movement to retrieve it again.
Likewise, some objects, like trees, remain stationary and others, like toys, can move away. Skills such as rolling over, lifting the head and chest when on the tummy, and grabbing both feet while on the back, all happen during this time.
All these movements strengthen muscles on both sides of the body, which enables a baby to develop the skill of sitting and reaching for a toy without losing their balance. Vision is also developing from near sight to being able to see objects and people at a distance. If all these skills build on previous skills, does crawling also build skills that benefit the baby later?
Occupational therapists and physical therapists have long studied and observed the many benefits of crawling. They work with hundreds of babies and young children and take a thorough developmental history to learn whether each child craw led and at what age.
Several important skills have been discovered that seem to have a direct link to crawling. For the body : Joint stability and postural control appear to develop as a result of crawling on all fours. Basically, babies gain more variety in moving which helps them play and move in way s that contribute to smooth and controlled transitional movements past the crawling stage.
They also develop bilateral coordination which is a skill that results from both sides of the brain communicating to both sides of the body to work together. Skills such as clapping, getting dressed , and holding a piece of paper while coloring are such milestones.
For Fine Motor hand development : Crawling on the hands contributes to lengthening finger muscles, development of hand arches, and separating the two sides of the hand. Notice that the thumb side of the hand is used for skills while the pinky side of the hand is used for stabilizing. Look at your hand when you write! For sensory systems: The visual system continues to be refined during crawling. As a baby crawls, they scan their environment which is when their eyes coordinate for tracking left to right and back again.
One study even showed that crawlers scored better on visual perceptual tests later in childhood than non-crawlers.
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