As a child I loved to cook with my grandmother, who was an amazing cook.  Her specialties were biscuits (which no one has been able to replicate so it has sadly become a lost art!) and pie.  If I helped her cook, I would get the first piece of pie which I would eat at her kitchen table while she watched.  It was a treat reserved for the helper and was always guaranteed to make any non-helping cousin or sibling regret a refusal to be kitchen assistant.

A pie bakes from the outside in.  Children are exactly the opposite.  They “cook” or develop from the middle out, from the middle of the body out to the fingers and toes.  But if the middle of the body doesn’t have an opportunity to get strong, or for some reason fails to get strong, then the appendages, arms, fingers and legs, are hard to control.  If the middle of the body isn’t strong, it means coordination and balance are extremely difficult.

Over the past few weeks we have been practicing balancing, which has allowed teachers to analyze where their kids are landing on this crucial developmental skill.  Balance may seem like something that is just fun and recreational.  Far from it.  We need balance from the moment we are born to the moment we lie down for the last time.  Not only is it a fundamental life skill and strength, it is one of the most important driving factors for classroom success.

There are two kinds of balance: static, which is everything from tree pose to sitting in a chair and dynamic, which means balancing while moving, whether it is on a beam or wall, on a bike, skates or even running.  As adults, we may remember learning to balance on one foot or how to ride a bike, but we don’t remember learning how to sit in a chair or how to run.  But these are all skills dependent on balance.

If we take time to notice, children gravitate towards activities that let them develop these skills: they love to climb anything they can find, they search out walls or logs on which to balance.  This is mother nature’s way of the body helping the brain organize and build neural connections. 

According to these occupational therapists, if balance is not adequately developed, it doesn’t just mean they can’t balance on a beam in PE or movement class.  It is much more significant than that.  Children with poor balance have weak core muscles and are less coordinated than their peers.  They will tire easily, or bump into things regularly when they shouldn’t.  They will have a hard time using the stairs like not alternating feet at 3 years old, or they have to sit down to get dressed.  They may push too hard, run all the time (which is easier than standing still) or struggle walking on uneven ground.  When they are preschoolers this is one thing.  But in elementary school, they need to sit in a chair and pay attention.  If they can’t hold themselves up, they will not be able to concentrate, and learning becomes extremely difficult.

When kids are challenged with poor balance, the rite of passage of learning to ride a bike or scooter becomes an almost insurmountable task.  Other childhood social activities become equally as challenging, like swimming, bowling and general play with friends.  Ultimately this is likely to lead to low self-esteem when a child realizes he or she simply can’t keep up.  Additionally, fine motor skills like writing, become very difficult making the classroom an unhappy place.

A good rule of thumb is to watch your child in action.  How can you check to see if your child or a child you work with is challenged by balance?  Does he or she:

  • Fall easily
  • Trip often
  • Have a hard time recovering from falling or can’t catch themselves when about to fall
  • Move stiffly or in a floppy manner
  • Avoid opportunities to get physical
  • Demonstrate delay in reaching developmental milestones like riding a bike, throwing, catching, climbing
  • Seem less skilled than their peers when they are in group activities
  • Demonstrate fear of new physical activities like swinging
  • Demonstrate fear of heights where peers are unafraid

I find that one of the best ways to see where a child is lagging behind or finding success is to see him or her with peers at play.  I always encourage parents to really analyze what and how their children are moving compared to their peers.

How can you encourage kids to improve balance?

  • Yoga poses like tree, triangle, downward dog and plank
  • Walk on walls, logs and unstable surfaces.  Perhaps at first holding their hands, then holding fingers as they gain confidence, then one finger, then the back of their shirts, then just touch the backs of their shirts
  • Climb.  Again starting with holding them, and then slowly supporting less and less
  • Walk on thick cushions at home
  • Walk up hill
  • Always use the stairs
  • Ride scooters, trikes or bikes
  • Jump on a trampoline
  • Hop
  • Practice makes perfect so keep at it!

Physical activity isn’t just for health.  Physical activity, the strengths and skills that come with it, are crucial for classroom success and ultimately life success.