Ms. Kay’s Story

It was circle time one school morning this past spring.  All the 4-year-old children in Ms. Kay’s class were settling into their spots, but Charlie couldn’t sit still.  Not only was he unable to sit still, he was doing donkey kicks at his spot.  Ms Kay knew this was going to sidetrack her plan for circle time so she put her books and tools down and asked all the children if they could show her what it looked like to bear crawl. Then she had all the children explore their classroom, every bit of it, while bear crawling.

After about 2 minutes of exploration, she called them all back to the carpet where each found their spot including Charlie.  For the rest of circle time, Charlie was attentive and on-task.

What happened?  Ms. Kay had given Charlie a constructive outlet for his ants in the pants.  By choosing bear crawl, Ms. Kay accomplished several things at once.

• First, a bear crawl puts pressure on Charlie’s hands, arms, and joints, something his brain was clearly demanding when he was doing donkey kicks.  That pressure, satisfied by bear crawling, allowed him to come back to circle time calm, attentive, and ready to learn.
• Second, Ms. Kay gave all the children an opportunity to experience that same pressure that also helped them build strength in their arms, hands, and core.  These strengths are essential for writing success.
• Third Ms. Kay knew that putting all the children upside down helped stimulate their vestibular systems so their eyes could build a focal point needed for both reading and writing.
• Last, by having the children bear crawl around they were seeing everything from a new and unique perspective.

A minuscule time investment with powerful results.  What have you done lately that uses physical play to reset the wiggles in your students?