Hey Everyone,
Happy Friday! I have to get this off my chest and even if it gets one kid to move a bit more, it's worth it. I’m always watching how people move. Whether in classes at ANCHOR, our sports performance kids, or watching my son run around and jump and play. I am always observing movement. Recently, in one of the sports performance classes we grabbed jump ropes to get a nice warm-up in and one of the kids couldn’t jump rope. In my mind, I’m thinking this is just a basic movement pattern, we should all be able to jump rope. I went over a few cues and improved it a bit. But, kids should be able to run, climb, crawl, jump, squat, etc. I don’t feel like at such a young age, I should have to teach myself how to jump. And then I remembered what year it was.
The amount of time that is spent behind computers, cell phones, electronic games (used to be Nintendo, but guess I’m showing my age on that one;), tv, etc., is just way too much. Kids don’t play anymore and therefore have no clue how to move.
How many of you used to play outside until the street lights came on? How about riding bikes in the neighborhood and shooting hoops with the neighbors? I certainly spent a good time in the winter months playing Nintendo, but I also remember the crazy amounts of football in the snow. We would get dropped off to go sledding and back then we didn’t have cell phones and we would just keep moving up and down the hills so that we wouldn’t freeze and hope our parents would pick us up on time.
In the summer months, we would ride our bikes to go get ice cream. We spent Friday and Saturday nights playing manhunt and capture the flag. Or dodgeball on a trampoline…. (probably not the safest game, but somehow none of us ever got hurt). We played volleyball in the pool.
We would play roller hockey that would last hours and any time the ball went into the sewer, one of us would have to crawl into the pipes under the road where the water was flowing from the creek to retrieve the ball). I remember how much movement I got in as a kid. Today, it seems like the most movement kids get in is using the thumbs to text and scroll. The addiction to technology/social media is out of control (I am on my cell phone way too much and on social media, so I get it)! But, is there a way to get the kids to move a bit more just like we used to?
Could it be just delaying the age that the kids get cell phones?
Is there a limit on tablet/tv use?
Do you do family walks after dinner or have a catch?
Is it just setting boundaries?
With social media being so addictive, I totally get WHY movement is becoming less and less attention which leads to poor movement patterns over time.
So, I have questions for you:
What was the best movement memory from your childhood?
If you are a parent, how do you handle the technology? What rules do you have in place?
The good thing is, it is NEVER too late to start moving.
Until next time,
Plan a cooked meal at home with friends or family and then get outside for a walk afterwards!
Charlene
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