Creative Ways to Add Movement into Your Young Child’s Day
This episode of the Learn With Less® podcast is the final of a 4-part series about incorporating play, language, music, and movement, into everyday routines. These episodes feature a conversation between Ayelet Marinovich (pediatric speech-language pathologist, founder & creator of the Learn With Less® curriculum) and Miranda Zoumbaris (early childhood educator & interventionist, licensed Learn With Less® facilitator, and entrepreneur).
In this series, we’ll explore the four pillars of the Learn With Less® framework, and examine how we can incorporate more of each of those into our everyday routines to support connection and early learning.
For each episode, we chose one routine and one everyday object, and explored the ways in which we could infuse developmentally enriching experiences into everyday life, and helping families see they can do this using the time, energy, and materials they already have.
Be sure to check over at our Instagram and Facebook pages (linked below) for additional content that may support your understanding and experience of these episodes. As we release each episode, we’ll link to them here in the show notes so you can access them easily.
In this episode, we discussed:
- What is MOVE (as we define it in the Learn With Less® curriculum), and how it can be woven into everyday routines
- How to take the routine of dressing (putting on and taking off coats, zippers, etc!), and incorporate more opportunities for movement into these moments
- How we can adapt movement activities based on our body’s needs or the needs of our children
- Adapting an environment to include opportunities for movement and integrating a child’s needs
- How to incorporate movement into simple routines, using simple, everyday objects
- How to include young children within an activity by facilitating opportunities for movement
- The value of learning in community, of parallel processing with other families, and of experiencing the practice of following your child’s lead, through caregiver and child classes like those led by licensed Learn With Less® facilitators
Helpful Resources to Acknowledge For This Episode:
Daily Routines Freebie: download Miranda’s free handout about winter dressing, and get ideas for incorporating play, talk, sing, and move into your everyday routines!
Free Infant/Toddler Development Blueprint: what are the four major areas of early development… and how can you use the pillars of Learn With Less® to support that learning, using the time, energy, and materials you already have?! Download our free blueprint today.
How to Incorporate Play into Everyday Routines: our first episode in this podcast series, featuring a conversation with Miranda Zoumbaris and Ayelet Marinovich
How to Incorporate Language Into Everyday Routines, the second episode in this 4-part series!
How to Incorporate Music Into Everyday Routines, the third episode in this 4-part series!
The Power of Play Through Movement, a Learn With Less® podcast episode featuring physical therapist, Wendi McKenna
What Is Sensory Processing?, a Learn With Less® podcast episode featuring occupational therapist, Christie Kiley
Learn With Less® Facilitator Training & Certification Program, helping educators and therapists create lasting impact in their communities with a high quality, evidence-based, “plug & play” program
Expand Your Impact Workshop Bundle: for early childhood educators and developmental therapists hoping to serve new families in their community and support themselves, using their existing skills
Learn With Less® Bundle: our best infant and toddler development resources for families and educators alike, including our bestselling books Understanding Your Baby and Understanding Your Toddler, our acclaimed family music album, recorded Learn With Less® “caregiver & me” classes, and a caregiver handout featuring ideas for carryover in the home
Learn With Less® Stories: Testimonials from educators who’ve provided the Learn With Less® infant/toddler family enrichment curriculum and families who’ve experienced our programming.
Connect With Us:
Miranda: Website / Facebook / Instagram
Ayelet: Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest
Text Transcript of this Episode
Ayelet: Okay, welcome back to the Learn With Less® podcast. And welcome to my co-host for these four episodes, Miranda Zoumbaris! Hi Miranda!
Miranda: Hello! I’m glad to be back.
Ayelet: I can’t believe this is the last one, of this installment. Tell us over on the socials: did you enjoy this? Was fun to have Miranda join us in all four episodes. This is so fun. I had a great time. It is nice to have a co-host, actually. Thank you so much, Miranda, for all your contributions to the last few weeks of content and things that we’ve been talking about. This conversation has just been so much fun to have and connect with people over on social media, Instagram and Facebook over on @learnwithless and @earlyinterventionmama!
Why don’t we go ahead and finish out our series of our four Learn With Less® pillars, with the final installment of MOVE. So again, just like we’ve been doing in the last few episodes, and if you haven’t already listened to those, go ahead and check those out. We’ve got three other wonderful episodes for you about the other three pillars of Learn With Less® which include PLAY, TALK, and SING.
But today we’re going to talk about MOVE, what move is. We’re going to give you some examples about how this pillar of MOVE can be woven into those everyday routines. And the routine that we’re going to be talking about with relation to one particular object… we’re going to talk about this notion of dressing, coats, zippers.
Learning About Motor and Sensory Development
So that’s what we’re gonna be chatting about today. Let me go ahead and introduce the ways that we define this pillar of move within the Learn With Less® curriculum and framework. So movement, as we know, can be very big movements, very small movements, proprioceptive movement. Gross motor movement and fine motor skills, all kinds of visual spatial movements, there’s lots of different pieces to movement, and then motor and sensory development, in addition to how MOVE can support all other aspects and areas of early development.
First of all, movement, whether we’re talking about a child who is developing along a typical progression of learning and within, you know, quote, unquote, “normal limits” of meeting milestones and things like that, or whether we’re talking about a child with severe motor needs and limitations, movement is learning and movement is life. We can always help to create more opportunities for movement, even with a child who has more motor challenges.
In general, with all of our movers, babies and toddlers are learning how their body moves, where their body ends and begins, and where the rest of the world ends and begins in relation to themselves and their own identity… through exploration and movement. Through touching the surfaces on which they’re laying down or running around on, or whatever it is.
And we want to think, even from that very beginning, of when our children are just starting to learn how to move, to consider various planes of movement, when they’re on us, or on the floor, forward and backward and side to side, up and down, vertical and diagonal. Really remembering that when we’re talking about exploration of movement, yes, we can think about a “yes space” kind of a thing, a place where everything is available to our children. And also thinking about, that can be inside or outside.
One of the physical therapists that, I love her work, and we’ve had her on the Learn With Less® podcast in the past, Wendi McKenna, and I’ll link to the episode, she talks about how our homes are just giant containers for our children. I love that notion of the idea of yes, it’s really important to have a space that you feel comfortable for your child to explore in, and also get outside, right?
Your children can explore spiderwebs, and the gravel and the broken sidewalk, and the little pebbles between their toes, and the grass, and the dew, and all of the things. It doesn’t matter whether you are in a rural or urban or suburban setting or any other place, there is so much to explore. And movement is how our young children do that.
So that is the basic outline that I wanted to start with, a–nd let’s move into how we can use this understanding of this pillar of MOVE in relation to, say, putting on coats and zipping up and zipping down zippers, and really just dressing in general. So Miranda, why don’t you get us started on the ways that we can utilize this pillar of movement and MOVE in relation to everyday routines.
How we can embed movement into everyday routines
Miranda: Yeah. So I don’t know my brain just goes to the really tiny infant side of things first in terms of developmental spectrum. Thinking about, at first, you’re kind of moving your tiny human through dressing. Putting their arm through a shirt for the first time and those sensations that they have, putting their hand through it.
Then, thinking about how when they start moving their fingers and really moving from involuntary grasping onto something to voluntary grasping on something: your hair, a necklace maybe you’re wearing, or your shirt, the zipper, feeling how that feels different. So just really thinking about those smaller movements. And then working up… there’s this meme that’s going around the internet that shows instead of a toddler trying to get dressed, it’s wrestling an alligator.
Ayelet: Yeah, every parent and caregiver of a toddler knows this. Even if they’ve never seen that, they know exactly what you’re talking about.
Miranda: And I think the tagline says, “recent photo of me getting my toddler dressed,” or something. All of that is the movement – playing chase to get away from your mom because she wants your coat to go on to go outside! You don’t want to go! So those parts of dressing routine is movement.
Or, keeping in mind, you’ve done such a great job Ayelet, of just how we adapt, based on our own body’s needs. So if you are a parent that is wheelchair-bound, how you might need to move your body to be closer to your child using a wheelchair and describing that to your child. Thinking about how we get around, or how we get how to get around, impacts every area of development, whether it’s the parent or the child that’s working on movement.
I’m just going to share as we’re talking through this, I am just reflecting on the last couple months, my husband had a significant break in his ankle. And I was gearing up to have a big season of Learn With Less® classes, and instantly one Chipotle curb took him down for months! So really, it just changed our whole perspective, I think, on movement, and just what he could and couldn’t do.
Thinking about, for him, his ankle was completely immobilized, but he was allowed to move his toe – and how important it was for him to have that little bit of movement in his foot up to when we regained full mobility and the celebration we had around him running around the kitchen. Oh my god! So yeah, really put some perspective, I think, for me, on what an impact movement is on development and you know, just in daily life.
Working on Balance, Weight Shifting, and Independence in Dressing
Ayelet: Yeah, so, so true. Let’s give a few fun ideas and examples for families who are looking for a few more tools, because it’s interesting, I like to ask before Learn With Less® class that I hold, I like to ask people about which of those four pillars of PLAY, TALK, SING and MOVE, are they most confident or at least confident or comfortable in supporting, or doing, or participating in?
For those of us who do have more challenges with integrating movement, or maybe our children are not as interested in movement, bow can we integrate more of that pillar into our daily life, in say, the routine of getting dressed or zipping up coats and things like that? Do you have some ideas for us, Miranda?
Miranda: Yeah, of course. So I’m envisioning, if you have a little one who’s working on balance, and you’re working on getting on snow pants, or just regular pants, or shorts. Or working on weight shifting, right: lean to the left, lift your foot up, put it in! Lean to the right, lift your foot up, put your foot down. So we’re working on balance, or if you have an infant who you’re working on getting them to really push their hand through that shirt to get their hands out, playfully helping them slide that hand through.
Let’s see, other things… You know, of course, those zippers, we’re talking a lot about, I’m envisioning gross motor things here. But that fine motor movement is so important, right? Being able to pinch something to pull it up, or oftentimes they’re gonna start by pulling down the zipper on us if we’re wearing something. And scaffolding it.
If they can’t quite pull it down, helping them by aligning the zipper a little bit better, right or giving a cue: tug, tug, tug or pull down! Scaffolding that interest that they might have in dressing to give the least amount of support that your child might need in order to be successful. Do they need two hands to step into their shoes? Do they need to sit down? Do they need you to put on their shoe, but they can shove their foot the last little bit?
Ayelet: Yeah, or encouraging them to ask for help in whatever way they can. Whether it’s looking at you or signing the word help or saying something approximation of the word help – I love that.
Miranda: Visually searching for the coats and the gloves that didn’t return to where you hoped they would be when you needed to leave! All the movement that comes from that!
Ayelet: That’s right, yeah. Or racing to get to the door from the outside. If you’re not interested in running around in the home and things like that! Just using movement to warm up – my gosh, to warm up or slow down. Playing with the different kinds of movements that you can do. Again, a little bit of levity. Oh, how slowly can we put on our coats? I wonder, slowly, we can bring up the zipper or whatever it is, right?
Miranda: Love that. We just did the same thing in Target today. My little one did not want to hold my hand. And it was, well, do you want to hold my hand and go fast? Or do you want to hold my hand and go slow? And yeah, that helps helped us move forward with our grocery run.
Creating an Inclusive, Child-Friendly Space Allowing Movement
Ayelet: That’s a great example. I love it. Amazing. What else? Have we got anything else to share with folks? I mean, I feel like we’ve given people a lot to hold here. And so many tools for all four of our pillars of the Learn With Less® framework. Oh, one other thing I wanted to make sure that we chat about in terms of MOVE is that idea of moving in and out of a space that’s created, and exploring a space, and moving in and out of a physical space. And the comfort level of the group, and the caregiver, and the Learn With Less® facilitator, for instance. I wonder if you can share a little bit about experiences.
You shared in our SING episode, a little one who was interested in exploring and needed to regulate their body by moving away. And how you pulled in that child and their caregiver by creating opportunities to continue to involve themselves in the class, even though they had moved away from the space. So I wonder if you can talk a little bit more about how MOVE is integrated into your classes, even within the physicality of the space and the need for movement, or sometimes disregulated children and/or caregivers.
Miranda: Yeah, I… oh my gosh, this is something that I think can be really stressful for parents. They envision oftentimes a class, sitting down all together, nobody moving away. And just as the facilitator, I think it’s our job to really set up the situation to say: your child is going to need to move, let’s do what they need to be comfortable, you need to move! And then us, as facilitators, attune to what those needs are. And maybe say it out loud, Oh, I see everybody is ready to get up and go let’s just take our stuff with us.
I think for me, it’s really being as responsive as possible. We have certain classes that are designed to focus on movement. But for me, when I run out for classes, just really reading the group. And if we need to move out of the space that we are in to go on a walk, and we sing about the trees, or we… I had – one of my favorite examples, we were pulling the branches on a pine tree down, and using our muscles, and then letting it go and fling up. And it would like fling snow on us.
Ayelet: Oh my gosh, that’s so fun!
Miranda: How fun to do again and again. But you know, it was in response to… we needed to warm up, we needed to move our bodies. And you could tell that some of the children were getting restless. And so yeah, I think just ensuring that your space that you have, or that parents are comfortable in your space to move around in whatever way they need to. Referencing what you talked about at the beginning, that you know, your home is a container like your classroom space is a container, too, and guess what, sometimes the door needs to be open so your little one can go up and down the hall instead, and take a break from class and use their body that way.
Ayelet: Yeah, beautiful. Thank you for that. That’s really wonderful. Yeah, I think that it’s really important for people to know that, too, just about how because that is a really distinguishing marker for how, say, a Learn With Less® class functions versus sometimes other caregiver and child infant-toddler classes, that maybe people are used to. And really how, also your ability as a facilitator, to manage all of that.
Because, you know, we have people who are early childhood educators who are maybe more used to managing groups of children, but not necessarily managing caregivers and children. And then we have more interventionists, developmental therapists, who are more maybe used to managing that caregiver and child dyad, but not multiple ones, and not outside of a therapeutic context. So we give a lot of training around all of those things, and how to manage a group and how to really facilitate engagement, and movement, because that is such a big part of it.
Supporting Motor and Sensory Development Can Be Simple
Miranda: And I think we’re so conditioned to have movement be very prescriptive, almost. You think about – none of this is right or wrong, like you’ve talked so much about. And… use your phrase, Ayelet!
Ayelet: It’s not “but,” it’s “and!”
Miranda: Yeah, it’s not, you know, so we can attend a dance class AND we can have a dance party with our family at night, that’s not this very structured thing that’s just free. We can go for a run, AND we might just chase our child down the hill. So I think helping again, to just stretch that muscle in your brain and think about what does movement mean? It can mean your baby working on tummy time.
But it can also mean that they are stretching their arms up or grabbing their toes, all those things are movement and doesn’t have to be this prescriptive look at movement – that we often see in school, nowadays, right in school. Like this is when recess is, this is when gym time is. I’d love seeing more movement happening in classrooms throughout the day.
Ayelet: Yeah, for sure. So good. Yay. Well, Miranda, this has been such a pleasure. Is there anything else you want to add?
Miranda: Oh, gosh, no, but I just want to like, I’m ready, I’m ready to move now. And… ready for a dance party?
Ayelet: I know, I feel like we need to get moving! So everybody, thank you so much for tuning into these last four episodes. This has been so fun to do with you, Miranda. I really appreciate your time and energy and brain because it’s just so fun to put our heads together and chat about these things that we’re both very passionate about. And I’m just so happy to have you in this space. And as part of Learn With Less®. So thank you for everything you do. And anybody who’s in Lansing, Michigan, especially Miranda, do you want to just share a little bit about what you have going on your community specifically?
Miranda: I would love to! And I will just say, too, before I get into that, I just so appreciate all the support Ayelet. And getting to come and talk about this. Yeah, so I am in the process of actually opening up a physical space in Lansing called The Emerging Parent, where I will have Learn With Less® classes and open play, and some other classes and hopefully lots of collaboration with local early childhood providers and parent support people.
And so my vision is to really serve families that have young children, who are looking for places to get out and build community in a space that feels safe. You know, here in Michigan, I think one of the things I’ve noticed running classes, it is hard to get out in the winter, it’s important, it’s essential. Oftentimes, parents want to have that opportunity to linger and be together and connect. And so that’s what I’m doing. I’m building a space that will allow us to do that, you know, indoors as well as what we’re done outdoors. So yeah.
Ayelet: So special. And you can learn more about that over at Miranda’s website, earlyinterventionmama.com. Again, it’s called The Emerging Parent. So anybody who is or knows anybody with a little person in Lansing, Michigan, head on over because it’s gonna be awesome! All right. And then Miranda, you have a special freebie that pulls together some of the routines we’ve talked about in these last four episodes, can you let people know where to find that?
What Do You Think of Our Podcast Series?
Miranda: Yeah, you can find that earlyintervention.mama.com/dailyroutinesfreebie.
Ayelet: Amazing. And then again, you can also download the Learn With Less® infant and toddler development blueprint that goes through all of these four pillars of PLAY, TALK, SING, and MOVE, in terms of the framework that we use here and how it relates to early development. And that’s over at learnwith less.com/blueprint. We will have all these things in the show notes. And we can’t wait to connect with you. We want to hear all about how you have enjoyed these last four episodes and all the content that we’ve created for you over on Instagram and Facebook with regard to the more visual aspects of the things that we’ve been chatting about. So Miranda, thank you so much. It’s been a pleasure. Let’s do it again sometime.
Miranda: All right, that sounds like a plan. Thank you for having me. And like you said, I just look forward to connecting with everybody on socials.
Ayelet: Yeah, so @earlyinterventionmama and @learnwithless – head on over and let us know how you enjoyed these episodes! Alright, talk to you soon.
Miranda: Bye!
