Nursery World - Learning and Development: Movement

Young children's motor and mental development could be suffering because of physical inactivity. Annette Rawstrone hears from experts about the effects.

Children's increasingly sedentary lifestyles are leading to a generation who are not just unfit, but possibly unfit to learn. Simple movements, such as babies stretching and crawling, toddlers running and jumping, and four- and five-year-olds throwing and catching, enable children to tackle such tasks as concentrating, reading and writing once they start school. Without firm foundations children may struggle to gain their full educational potential.

Sally Goddard Blythe, co-director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology, says the problems can start in babyhood. 'Modern baby equipment is convenient but does not give babies the opportunity for physical play,' she says. 'The feet-to-foot campaign has been a success for reducing cot death, but it means that babies do not get the same tummy time when they are awake, which helps them to learn how to control their head and neck and upper back muscles, the first part of postural control.'

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