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Movement and

the Brain

Does it appear that for some children to be able to learn,

they have to be up and moving? Movement can improveconcentration, mood and even behavior. This article

explores how DC4K gets kids up and moving during

DC4K.

by Linda Ranson Jacobs

ecently I was visiting with a DC4K leader

when she said something that caught myattention. She said, For years I have worked

with stressed out children and children

displaying aggressive behaviors. Early on in

my career I figured out if I got these children

up and moving around, then our day went

better. It seemed like the more stressed out a

child was, the more he or she needed to get up

and get moving, whether it was running or

jumping or whatever. It was as if the child

had to be moving in order to learn. Reading

the research in DC4K validates what I have

known for many years. I have been on target

all along, but now the research is proving me

right. Now I have something to back me up.

Developmental experts have known for years

that active movement improves school

performance, concentration, mood and

behavior. Now we are learning that

movement stimulates childrens brains, and

organized movement helps the brain to focus.

Not only do kids need to be up and moving,

but they need organized movement as well.

Dr. Becky Bailey1 touts that stressed out

children need more blood moving to the

brain. Just standing up gives a person 1015%

more blood flow to the brain. Many children

will arrive in your DC4K classes stressed tothe max. When they are under tremendous

amounts of stress, their breathing tends to

become shallow. If you watch, you will notice

some of these childrens shoulders will be

tense, and their breathing appears to be rapid

and carried high up in their chest. Exercise

with stretching and breathing included will

send oxygenated blood flow to the brain.

When oxygenated blood is supplied to thebrain, then a child will have better

concentration, faster thinking skills, along

with improved reasoning and understanding.

Kathie Nunley2 in her online newsletter

(February 4, 2004) says, Exercise has been

shown to greatly reduce cortisol levels in the

brain as well as increase norepinephrine.

Cortisol is secreted as a result of stress andspecifically targets the memory area of the

brain Increasing norepinephrine can

reduce behavior problems which is generally

good news for everyone.

Pam Schiller3 in an article in Child Care

Information Exchange May 1998 (p. 52)

R

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states, Cross lateral activities encourage

children to integrate the use of the left and

right hemisphere of the brain. In seminars

she also says to use extensive hand motions

when singing. The more extensive ways you

move, the better you can get the message to

the brain. She includes shaking your hands

and hugging yourself, and she says to

encourage the children any way you can to

cross lateral and cross midline.

In DC4K we have included these activities

within the lesson plan but also in the Alphabet

Stretches flip chart. I would highly encourage

you to use the Alphabet Stretches each week.

One leader says she does the stretches while

the children laugh with her and probably at

her. Laughter is good. It gets the children

moving and elevates their moods, and if you

get creative, you can pull them into stretching

before they realize it.

Besides the stretches, encourage the children

to create their own movements to the music.

If children make up their own moves, they

will take ownership of the music. If you as a

leader feel conspicuous, then start out by

playing the music in the background at every

opportunity you can find. Children will begin

to hum and then sing along. It wont be long

before you will see them starting to sway with

the music or tap their feet or even clap. Select

a child who has good rhythm and ask him orher to create some movements to teach to the

other children. Hip-hop movements work

great with the songs on the CDs.

Elaine Austin, a DC4K leader from Dallas, isworking on her masters degree, and she

shares a website she found from the North

Carolina Department of Public Instruction(www.ncpe4me.com). It suggests great

classroom movement activities. Some

examples:

High five my right hand to your left hand.

Touch my left elbow to your right elbow.Touch shoulder to shoulder.

So many children entering your groups will

be coming from chaotic home environments.

Even if things are calm in their homes, its the

childs perception that things are out of

control. The children will bring that out-of-

control and chaotic presence with them toyour groups. Teaching organized movement

will help bring a sense of order to their brains.

It will help them gain mastery and control

over their own bodies and activities.

Get to breathing use the diaphragm tosupport the breath while you breathe in

through the nose and out through the mouth

s-l-o-w-l-y.

Get to stretching tighten those muscles and

then relax them.

So get to moving cross lateral and crossmidline.

Use the music CDs to put rhythm and a beat

to the movement times.

Start drinking water, and encourage the

children to drink water.

Above all have a good time and laugh a lot:

The cheerful heart has a continual feast

(Proverbs 15:15).

Enjoy your merry heart.

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Resources

1. Dr. Becky Bailey is the author ofConscious Discipline published by Loving

Guidance, Inc. Visit her website at

www.consciousdiscipline.com. Dr. Bailey

is a national conference presenter for

school systems and other organizations.

2. Kathie Nunley is the author ofA StudentsBrain: The Parent/Teacher Manual

published by Morris Publishing. Her

website is www.brains.org.3. Pam Schiller is the author ofStart Smart

published by Gryphon House. She

frequently speaks at conferences and

workshops, and does radio and televisioninterviews.

MMVI by the author and/or Church Initiative. Allrights reserved. Reproducible only when used with a

Church Initiative ministry program.

Linda Ranson Jacobs is the DC4K creator and

developer. For more information, email

info@dc4k.org. To discover more about DivorceCare

for Kids or to find a DC4K group near you, go

to www.dc4k.org.