Kinaesthetic or body intelligence is about a person’s ability to use her body to relate and react to her surrounding and herself. This means being able to respond at the right speed – be it fast or slow to get something done, or catch a baseball or pick up broken glass. It means judging how fast or slow something is moving and being able to react with the right amount of physical strength, flexibility and stamina.
Get Baby Moving
In the first five years of life, make physical activity part of a child’s life. Give babies lots of opportunities to move around, making safety a priority, of course, which can mean putting baby in a play pen or fencing off an area in the yard where it’s safe to play. In the early years it can mean just giving baby some tummy time, as it is recommended that babies sleep on their backs, and see how she enjoys it.
Once baby starts reaching and moving for things, get a favorite toy and encourage her to reach for it. When she starts crawling, make sure to give her time to practice her skill and support her efforts to move around.
Get Kids Active Everyday
Make it part of a child’s routine to get out there and be active every day. Starting this habit in the first years of life is helpful because a child will just think it is as natural as brushing her teeth everyday. There are toddler gym times and swim times designed for little ones. There are also many classes, from Baby and Me swim classes to even yoga workouts that involve babies, offered these days. There are numerous classes and sports from gymnastics to hockey for older kids as well.
But it doesn’t have to be an organized sport or class. Mom or dad can spend time with kids everyday playing all sorts of sports in the yard or at a park. Another idea is to make outings like swimming, skating and skiing special family events to do together.
Play Ball Games
When a child is young, roll a soft or fluffy ball back and forth. Then, slowly work to get him kicking, throwing and catching a ball. As a child gets older, get him to work on his hand-eye coordination with other ball-related sports such as soccer, basketball, volleyball, golf and baseball.
Value Physical Activity
There is some prejudice in the society still when it comes to being physically skilled. There are the stereotypes of the jock who excels in sports but does poorly in school and of the geek who does well in all his classes except for PE. Parents need to value all aspects of a child’s intelligence from math and verbal skills to physical and sensory skills. Think of an Olympic athlete – she requires determination, concentration and dedication to be at that level of physicality, and that kind of ability easily translates to being focused in school, work, volunteering, etc.
Children can improve their body intelligence by having parents who help them work on their physical skills from an early age – by getting physically active every day, and playing ball games. Understanding the value and importance of improving physical abilities is also crucial.
Also check out Math Intelligence in Children, Verbal Intelligence in Children and Sensory Intelligence in Children.
Reference:
Buzan, Tony. Brain Child: How Smart Parents Make Smart Kids. Hammersmith, London: Thorsons, 2003.
Tami Nicholson - Tami is the Topic Editor for Parenting Methods at Suite101. She is a mother of two with a background in education and journalism.
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