by Craig Valency, MA, CSCS
It’s one thing to recognize a shape drawn on a piece of paper, but it is another thing to draw that shape.
Now, to take it one step further, what if we were to have kids create a shape with their body? Not only are they unable to see what they are “drawing,” but they now must direct their limbs, torso, and head to coordinate, move, and hold a specific pose.
While at face value it might seem that having a child make their body into a triangle is easy, it really tests a child’s preconceived notion of where they think their body is in space versus where it actually is.
Kids will look around and see different interpretations, and we will see how aware each child is of their body in space. With this information we can better tell what kids will need to work on just to be proficient in the language of movement.
If a child simply doesn’t know what a rectangle is, for example, this then becomes a great way to increase cognitive learning. When playing Body Shapes with kids we can guide them by telling them a triangle has 3 sides and a wider base, but we should not correct too much. We want kids to explore movement and figure some things out, not feel that they got a geometry question wrong!
Doing body shapes can be a challenge so a great way to get kids to create variety in movement and improve body awareness is to start with movement variables. These are simply ways to tweak a common movement, such as a skip or crawl, by changing the shapes, space, effort, or relationships of various body parts. For example, kids could be instructed to crawl with their legs wide, while moving in a zig zag pattern, at a slow speed (for a free complete movement variable chart click here).
Try Body Shapes with your kids and you will be amazed at how it gets them moving and thinking. You’ll learn a lot about how they can move and they’ll have fun figuring out new ways to move their bodies.
We would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below and let us know some of the fun shapes your kids made and how they did with it.
BODY SHAPES
Age: 5+
Total time: 1-2 minutes
Equipment: None
Group size: Any
Set up: None necessary
Fitness component: Awareness/Coordination
- Arrange children randomly in the space.
- Instruct them to make their body into various shapes, such as a round shape, a triangle shape, a twisted shape, etc.
Craig Valency, MA, CSCS, president and co-founder of SPIDERfit, has been a personal trainer for the last 11 years. He is currently working at Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego, an elite personal training and athletic conditioning facility. He specializes in youth strength and conditioning programs that promote physical literacy, injury prevention and optimal performance. Along with training youths from 6 to 18 years of age for general fitness, Craig has also worked with some of the top junior tennis players in the world. He has been a physical education consultant for the Stevens Point school district in Wisconsin for the last 3 years, helping revamp the district wide programming for the K-12 PE curriculum. Craig earned his bachelor degree from UCLA, and Masters Degree in Kinesiology from San Diego State University.
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