Philly.com – Sarah Levin Allen, Ph.D., CBIS
“No touching. Keep your hands and feet to yourself. Stay still. Stop fidgeting. These are just some of the things we say frequently to our children. Despite our constant nagging, our children still naturally play physical and rough…With a behavior that so naturally occurs and typically develops, why is there such a push to ban it? Why are we moving toward policies both at home and school that restrict physical contact like hugs and play fighting? In an effort to protect kids from harm, have we gone too far?…developing our motor skills throughout childhood actually further enhances our ability to think abstractly, problem solve, and control and regulate our thoughts. Research has even shown a link between well-developed early fine motor skills and increased academic performance…It turns out that the same parts of our brain that control our body also control our thoughts. So, when you exercise and strengthen the motor control system, you’re working out your thought control system.”(more)