This post is part of a two-part series on the movement skills that underlie academic learning. For the companion post on temporal awareness and how jumping builds the foundation for reading, writing, and math, read this next: [link to Jumping/Temporal Awareness blog]
It is 8:30 at night. You have had a long day followed by a desperate run to the grocery store. Walking into the house, you have your keys in one hand, the groceries in the other, work bag thrown over your shoulder. Without dropping anything, you manage to unlock the door and flip on the lights inside.
Juggling all this, your right side is doing one thing, your left side is doing something completely different. Did you think about it? No — more likely you were spending your mental and physical energy trying not to drop your keys or the groceries.
This is bilateral movement — when the two sides of the body are doing different jobs. We use bilateral movement all the time: when we drive a car, when we hold a bowl with one hand and stir the contents with the other, when we ride a bike, and when we write with one hand and hold the paper with the other.
Bilateral movement is functional. We use it every day in our life tasks. And children need it for school tasks. But here’s what most parents and educators don’t realize: bilateral movement is also the foundation beneath reading fluency, writing development, and academic coordination. And it gets built primarily through one thing — moving the body.
What Is Bilateral Movement — And Why Does It Matter?
Bilateral movement involves the two sides of the body working together in a coordinated manner to achieve a goal. Because the right side of the body is controlled by the left side of the brain, and the left side of the body by the right side of the brain, successful bilateral coordination means we have an appropriate conversation across the corpus callosum — and the two hemispheres of the brain are working together as they should.
Running is the clearest execution of bilateral movement forward. Over and over, the arms and legs coordinate this beautiful dance — right arm forward with left leg, left arm forward with right leg — building the neural pathway that connects the two hemispheres with every stride.
Three Types of Bilateral Movement
There are three forms of bilateral movement: symmetrical, reciprocal/alternating, and leading hand/supporting hand.
Symmetrical Movement
Symmetrical movement takes place when each hand, arm, or leg is doing the same thing at the same time. To be successful, both sides must be moving simultaneously with the same amount of force. Think jumping jacks, jumping rope, and clapping.
Reciprocal Movement
Reciprocal or alternating bilateral movement takes place when one hand, arm, or leg moves and then the other moves rhythmically in the same way. Skipping, swimming, pulling a rope hand over hand, riding a bike, and marching are all reciprocal movements. Running is the most powerful and accessible example.
Leading Hand and Supporting Hand
Leading hand/supporting hand bilateral movement is when a dominant hand is supported by the other. Both hands are equally important in the task, but have very specific roles and must work together in an organized and coordinated way for success. Writing is the perfect example — the writing hand leads, the other hand holds the paper, and if the underlying bilateral coordination isn’t there, that system falls apart.
How Bilateral Movement Shows Up — And When It Doesn’t
We know bilateral movement is integrated properly when we see both sides of the body working equally together — children jumping in a coordinated and smooth way, galloping and progressing to skipping, taking off mittens, or successfully using scissors.
But sometimes that integration lags. You see it when one arm, leg, or hand is doing more work than the other when they should be working together. When movement is lopsided when it should be smooth and even. When movement is jerky and uncoordinated. When one hand fails to assist the other.
And you see it in the classroom too. A child who switches hands mid-task while coloring or cutting. A child who rotates their whole body instead of reaching across it. A child whose reading fluency is choppy — because tracking text across a page requires the eyes to cross the midline dozens of times per line, and if that bilateral coordination isn’t solid, the eyes struggle to track smoothly. A child whose handwriting is effortful and inconsistent — not because they aren’t trying, but because the underlying coordination that writing depends on hasn’t been built yet.
Why Bilateral Movement Matters Academically
We need bilateral movement for everyday self-care tasks like brushing hair, zipping coats, putting on shoes, and eating. It is also essential for classroom tasks like writing and scissor work.
But there is more. Several studies have proven that academic success is tied to appropriate bilateral movement in other, more complex ways. Well-developed bilateral movement improves cognition, concentration, and attention. (Harris 2018) The link is likely that smooth bilateral movements indicate an efficient conversation between the two brain hemispheres, improving mental acuity across all learning tasks.
Think about reading fluency. A child with strong bilateral coordination tracks smoothly left to right across a page — because the eyes are crossing the midline efficiently and both hemispheres are communicating well. A child with bilateral coordination gaps loses their place, skips lines, or re-reads the same sentence — not because they don’t know the words, but because the underlying coordination that smooth tracking requires isn’t there yet.
Think about writing. Forming letters — especially letters like b, d, k, and x — requires the hand to cross the midline, to coordinate left and right, to sequence movements in a specific order. A child who hasn’t built bilateral coordination through big-body movement will struggle with these tasks even when they know what the letters should look like.
How Can You Help Kids Practice Bilateral Movement?
The best and most effective way to help kids build these skills is big-body play. Kids crave it because it is the way they were designed to develop these vital skills.
Symmetrical movement: jumping jacks, jumping rope, clapping patterns Reciprocal movement: skipping, swimming, pulling a rope hand over hand, riding a bike, marching, running Leading hand and supporting hand: writing, threading beads, stirring a pot, using scissors
In the classroom, use movement transitions deliberately. Every bear crawl, every animal walk, every cross-crawl march before a writing task is building the bilateral foundation that academic learning depends on.
There’s a Deeper Layer: Temporal Awareness
Bilateral movement is the what — the two sides of the body working together in coordinated, purposeful ways. But underneath it is a concept that explains the why behind so much of what we see in classrooms: temporal awareness.
Temporal awareness is your internal understanding of rhythm, timing, and sequence. It’s what tells the body when to act, what comes next, and how long something takes. And it develops primarily through big-body movement — through jumping, throwing, climbing, skipping, and yes, running.
Think about throwing a ball. A successful throw requires seven steps to fire in a specific order: pull the arm back, lead with the elbow, step with the opposite foot, rotate the trunk, follow with the forearm and hand, extend the arm, release the fingers. Miss a step — or do them out of order — and the ball goes anywhere. That is temporal awareness in the body. And it is the same sequencing skill that reading, writing, math, and following directions all depend on.
When temporal awareness is well developed, children read with natural rhythm and flow, hold multi-step directions in working memory, and execute math sequences with confidence. When it isn’t — you see the child who loses their place reading, forgets step two of a three-step direction, or can’t hold a number sequence long enough to complete a math problem.
The good news is the same as it’s always been: movement builds it. Jumping, throwing, clapping patterns, hopscotch, singing, reading aloud — these are all temporal awareness workouts disguised as childhood.
Want to go deeper? Read our companion post on how jumping builds the internal timing system that underlies academic learning here.
Is your classroom ready to move? Take our free five-minute self-assessment: Is Your Classroom Movement-Ready?
Ready to jump right in? Check out our Top 5 Movement-Based Transitions and other great ideas here.
Citation: Harris, BH et al. Impact of Coordinated-Bilateral Physical Activity on Attention and Concentration in School-Aged Children. 5/28/18 BioMed Research International Volume 2018, Issue 1. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2018/2539748
Harris, BH et al. Impact of Coordinated-Bilateral Physical Activity on Attention and Concentration in School-Aged Children. 5/28/18 BioMed Research InternationalVolume 2018, Issue 1 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2018/2539748
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