Work Matters: Training: Early Movement - Moving with the babies

An innovative project designed to promote movement in the under-threes and its link to later learning has been hailed as a great success in Nottinghamshire.

Funded by Nottinghamshire County Council's Early Years and Childcare Services, the project, Building Active Minds, was developed by a small team of early years specialist teachers and involved the participation of ten day nurseries from across the county.

Running from September 2007 to March 2008, the aim was to improve practitioners' knowledge of the impact of movement on early brain development, and to ensure that movement became an integral part of practice in baby and toddler rooms.

Floor play and balancing

Project leaders worked with an educational kinaesiologist (from the scientific study of human movement) to provide an initial day's training, focusing on the links between early movement and brain development. Practitioners enjoyed 'being' babies and toddlers, as they practised a range of movements necessary to develop neural connections, balance, core stability and head control.

They reflected on the value of children having time to play on their tummies, to roll, crawl, creep and balance. They learned the connection between these movements and postural control, holding the head up, co-ordinating hand and eye movements and focusing the eyes on a page - all of which are important for reading and writing. They were encouraged to evaluate their environments and routines and to consider how to maximise time and opportunities for children to move.

Each nursery was given a range of equipment, which included a bubble machine, scarves, Lycra and other fabrics, a bolster cushion, a crawling tunnel, various balls and equipment to promote floor play and balancing. Practitioners were encouraged to provide an area in their rooms where children could spontaneously perform a range of movements throughout the day.

The participants shared the key messages of the project with parents. They involved them in a variety of ways, such as sending information home, producing displays, encouraging parents to offer similar experiences at home, and sharing information during parents' evenings. Some parents had the opportunity to use the resources themselves, while others borrowed them to use at home with their children.

Reflection and sharing

Two months into the project, practitioners enjoyed a further half-day of training, where they were able to share their successes and experiences. They discussed issues and next steps, and received further input and ideas from the educational kinaesiologist and project leaders.

The project culminated in a wonderful day of celebration. Practitioners enthusiastically presented their visual records in the form of a photo book and DVD. They shared the learning journeys of the children they had tracked during the project, demonstrating the huge impact that they felt the project had had on the children's all-round development. Not only were the children more physically skilled and confident, but they were more content, more confident and adventurous, more purposeful in their play, and less easily frustrated, while their concentration and behaviour improved.

Practitioners' own learning journeys were equally impressive, as shown by their commitment to the project, their confidence in talking about its impact and their enthusiasm for permanently changing practice within their settings. Many have offered to support other practitioners in Nottinghamshire, and the project leaders feel that their enthusiasm will be infectious and inspire others.

The long-term effects of Building Active Minds have yet to be realised, but initial anecdotal evidence suggests clear benefits for both staff and children. Perhaps most important of all, staff and children have had a lot of fun!

Following the success of the project, additional funding has been allocated from Nottinghamshire County Council's Early Years and Childcare Services, to enable more settings to receive training and spread the message of the importance of early movement.

Ro Lynam, Juliet Roberts and Claire Saville are early years specialist teachers with Nottinghamshire's inclusion support service

The practitioner's role

Childcare practitioner Emma Beckham says the programme has been invaluable to her in her current role working with birth-to-threes.

'We learned a lot about the primitive reflexes of babies and how this relates to current lifestyles,' she says. 'These days there is a danger of babies being far too sedentary and cocooned - partly due to the fact they are travelling around in cars and being moved from one seat to another a lot of the time. The course provided ideas on how to give them plenty of opportunities for movement and exploration, particularly with tummy time. Some of the babies did not like this initially, but we have persevered and as a result have seen their strength and balance increase significantly.

'After the course we held a parents' open evening to highlight what we had learned. We demonstrated the kind of physical play that helps babies develop strength in their upper arms and torso, and the benefits of letting them down on their tummies to explore.

'We've also introduced resources such as river stones and wobble shells which can be used in all sorts of ways to increase physical skills. It is all about emphasising the importance of physical play, while also stressing that all children do things in their own time and if a child prefers to crawl rather than walk, then that is fine. It is important that babies and young children develop an appreciation of where their bodies begin and end, and that we as practitioners create an environment that provides plenty of physical possibilities.'