What To Do With Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers

for School ReadinessPresented by Christine Roberts, Founder

Nurturing Pathways® nurturingpathways.com ©2017

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“Exercise provides an unparalleled stimulus, creating an environment in which the brain is ready, willing, and able to learn.” -John Ratey, Spark

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Dendrite Dance™• Breath

• Tactile Touch

• Upper and Lower

• Body Side

• Body Cross

• Spin

• Breath 3

• SIX BUILDING BLOCKS FOR

SENSORY MOTOR DEVELOPMENT™

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Proprioception: Knowing where your body is in space in relationship to others and objects. Developed through heavy work, press, push, reach and pull. Provides inner security and safety.

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Proprioceptive Movement Baby Ball Old MacDonald - Toddlers Animal WalksBlock PushingCalming Quilt

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Heavy Work List! Carry the books to the shelf! Push heavy objects! Play tug –o –war! Rough house! Scoop, shovel and dig! Vacuum! Rake Leaves! Plant a garden! Ride a bike! Lift heavy objects and load and unload them into a wagon! Be in charge of recycling, trash day and filling the water jug! Walk like a Dinosaur! Crawl like a puppy! Move like a Lizard! Swing with ribbons and then pull them between two hands! Chug, hop, gallop, skip, and jump.! PUSH AND PULL, PRESS and LIFT

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“Heavy work is one of the most

important components of a complete and

healthy sensory diet.” - Lucy Jane Miller

“The effects of heavy work dissipates after two hours.”

-Vicki Kerr, O.T.

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Vestibular: Position and movement of the head in relation to gravity; maintains posture and balance. Children’s confidence is groundedin a strong sense of balance. At the root of feeling capable.

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Baby on the Ball

Swing Your Leg

Chuckim Balance

Tip tilt, turn, slide, balancing

shape

Vestibular Movement

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Tactile: Touch creates the framework for body image. Touch is vital for healthy emotional development and long term mental health.

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Tactile Touch

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Hickory Dickory Dock

Sensory Props:Science with Cello Ribbon Pull and Play

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Kinesthesia: The body’s sense of itself from the inside out.

Body Image: Holding your physical self within your mind’s eye.

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Movement Patterns: The basic neurological patterns ofupper/lower, body side, and body cross. -Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Body Mind Centering

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Slimy Little Lizard

Source: Nurturing Pathways®Nursery Rhymes and Chants for Babies & Toddlers

Movement Patterns

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Motor Planning: The body’s ability to break down amotor task and move smoothly through all the steps using the movement patterns.

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Obstacle CourseMotor Planning

Row Row With Bean Bags17

School Readiness Skills*Self-Control*Sharing *Knowing Your Own Space *Creative Capacities*Having Empathy *Bonding and Attachment is Secure *Beat Competency *Listening *Attention Span *Ability to Wait *Body Awareness *Muscle Strength – fine and gross motor

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• My best teacher • My greatest gift

Sam

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“I have a strong love for music too I just wish I had a body that let me sing, dance and compose like I want to.”

-Sam Roberts 3/30/15

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Play Materials, Certification and On-Site Trainings

Visit nurturingpathways.com

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Resources/BibliographyHannaford, Carla.  Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head.Arlington, VA: Great Ocean Publishers, 1995.Stokes, Beverly.  Amazing Babies, Essential Movement for Your Baby in the First Year.   Toronto:  Move Alive Media, 2002.

Ratey, John.  A User’s Guide to the Brain, Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain.  New York: Vintage Books, 2001.Ratety, John. Spark: The New Revolutionary Science of Exercise and The Brain. Little Brown and Co., 2008Diamond, Marian and Janet Hopson.  Magic Trees of the Mind: How to Nurture Your Child’s Intelligence, Creativity, and Healthy Emotions from Birth Through Adolescence.  New York: Penguin Group, 1998.Eliot, Lise, PHD.  What’s Going On In There? How The Brain And Mind Develop In The First Five Years Of Life.  New York:  Bantam Books, 1999.Siegel, Daniel & Hartzell, Mary.  Parenting From The Inside Out, How A Deeper Self-Understanding Can Help You Raise Children Who Thrive.  New York. Penguin Books, 2003.

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