Psychomotricity for children from 0 to 6 years: everything you need to know
Psychomotor skills for children is a childhood activity born in the sixties in France and developed in the eighties in Italy. Today it is a very widespread therapy and suitable for all the little ones of the house. It can be interpreted as a therapeutic intervention in the case of neurological disorders, but it can also be understood as a fun journey within the school context. For children, everything is a game, this video explains how many benefits it can bring to their growth!
Childhood psychomotor skills: play with space
The term psychomotricity combines two fundamental entities for the growth of a child in developmental age: movement and the design study behind it.
Psychomotor skills could therefore be defined as the means of expression that the child has at his disposal in his first years of life to relate to the surrounding environment. It is thanks to the movement that the little one learns to know his own limits and those of the other; just think of a newborn who tends to get closer to his mother or father, or the first steps timidly taken around the first year of age. Behind these shifts there are invisible and complex calculations that go hand in hand with the emotional and cognitive development of the child.
Movement is not just a mere mechanical act, but also an action performed on a mental level and which was implemented to explore and to be happy and carefree! In short, for our little ones everything is really a game, even the bike.
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What is psychomotricity for in developmental age and to whom it is addressed
The first few years of an individual's life are fundamental from many points of view. It is certainly a very 'intense' period for a child, because motor, emotional and cognitive areas develop and this is where the neuromotor discipline fits.
Precisely because it is in the childhood period that body language has a greater value than that of words, by applying psychomotor skills already at an early age in the form of a game, children will be able to develop greater confidence in their abilities, improve concentration at home and at home. school and in general be happier and more serene.
Discipline helps children aged 0-6 to harmonize body and emotions, as well as cognitive aspects. This age group is the one that best responds to the proposed activities, but it can also be extended up to 8 years, starting from 8 months of life (when the child approaches the environment by crawling).
The ultimate goal for educators is to make children feel better about themselves, and this feeling is triggered when you have more confidence with your body in space and in relationship with others. Therefore, not just balance and coordination, but growth that also develops in self-esteem.
Psychomotricity in developmental age is aimed at the whole world of childhood, but in particular to those subjects who are shy, insecure, with difficulty concentrating or who even have pathologies such as psychomotor retardation, cognitive and language delays, behavioral disorders, etc. .
To diversify the approaches according to the subject, educational psychomotor skills and therapeutic psychomotor skills are distinguished.
Educational psychomotor and therapeutic psychomotor skills: comparison models
Let's start with educational psychomotor skills, a practice recommended for everyone and particularly suitable for preschool children who have difficulty in relating, or for hyperactive children.
This discipline supports the child and his physiological development and is practiced in nursery and primary schools of first degree with special courses held by specialists, often external to the teaching staff. Objectives and results of the course: greater self-awareness, confidence in one's abilities, venting anger and frustration in the game, improving concentration useful at school. In general, through educational psychomotor skills one can learn to face challenges and to relate to the possibility of failure.
Let us now analyze the therapeutic-rehabilitative psychomotricity which, unlike the previous one, takes place purely in hospitals or rehabilitation centers. While in the first model a collective course is structured, with therapeutic psychomotor skills the specialist focuses on the single individual (at most on small groups); depending on the child's needs, family involvement may also be required. Objectives and results of the course: try to reduce as much as possible those pathologies and disorders present in the person concerned, help the development of language if there are any delays and allow motor expression in a reassuring space.
The typical psychomotor session
A path of child psychomotor skills is established with the reference figure, who, according to the subjects involved, will establish the most appropriate ways and times. In general, these courses can last several months, on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, for one hour of lessons. If organized by schools, they have an affordable price for all families and can normally be divided into some installments distributed throughout the year, while in private contexts the price can slightly increase.
The psychomotor session follows well-defined rules, which are repeated for all the lessons; only in this way does the child come into contact with the method and find safety in the gestures that are repeated exactly week after week.
Usually the lesson is characterized by 3 phases: welcome, where the child sits with his companions and tells stories and experiences. A motor phase where you play by moving in space and with the objects in the room. Finally, a final phase focused on representation; after having vented the innate need of children to move, the figure of the psychomotricist proposes some alternatives such as making plasticine constructions with his own hands, drawing, coloring ... all activities that allow the child to express himself creatively passing from the physical plane to the psychic one.
What do children play with in the room? Fabrics, cushions, mats, chalks, large cubes, constructions. Safe objects but made of different materials, all to be manipulated and explored.
The figure of the psychomotorist
It is the contact person who dictates the times and methods of the journey; has a very specific task, that is to interpret the needs of the child and intervene through the game on the development of the neurological, motor and relational areas of children. To ensure that psychomotor skills have positive effects on the subject it is essential to be able to make use of a certified professional who structures the lessons in a studied way. Normally, the psychomotorist identifies with the acronym TNPEE, which is an age-related neuro and psychomotor therapist who has a degree in motor science plus a postgraduate master's degree in psychomotor skills.
It operates in the educational field, which can be both school and social-health and is responsible for preventing and treating all motor, behavioral and relational problems that arise in children at an early age.
To work in contact with children in this area, a knowledge of pedagogy, psychology, neurology, anatomy and neuroanatomy, as well as neuropsychiatry is certainly required. As you can see, the skills required are many, but speaking of developmental age, they are indispensable figures to achieve excellent results.
It is not possible to improvise psychomotor skills, but it is possible to carry out simple psychomotor activities in protected environments that can be useful in managing time with children; let's see them together divided by age groups.
Psychomotor activities to be carried out at home with small children
In general, some simple rules apply: having large spaces available without dangers for children, possibly colorful rooms full of objects of various textures and materials. We give you some suggestions depending on the age of your child, to spend beautiful moments together that benefit both you and him!
Psychomotricity 0 years - babies from 8 months upwards
Infants move in a limited way in the environment, but this does not prevent them from being stimulated by their parents or caregivers.
Try starting from the moment of the change: on the changing table, look him in the eye for a few moments and try to move from one side to the other. This activity will help him follow you by employing new muscles and calibrating the space around him.
The same movement can be proposed with objects in bright colors or in contrast such as white and black.
Psychomotricity 0-3 years
At this age, the child grows visibly and acquires new skills every month. Depending on his age, you can offer him increasingly complex activities with a greater degree of difficulty. They still need your support: your presence in the room in grasping an object will make them feel more secure and confident in their abilities.
A simple psychomotor game for the little ones? The game of the cuckoo, which works on the concept of permanence of an object. When the baby is a few months older you can propose manipulation games, putting objects made of different shapes and materials in their hands.
Around one year of age, a very educational game is the treasure chest, which can be easily replicated at home with commonly used objects.
For the 'older' 2 and 3 year olds, a very fun activity that enhances their sensory abilities is the obstacle course: create a fun path with household items (for example a chair, a mattress, pillows and a tube in which to slip) above which the child can relate to obstacles with bare feet. Other games that you can offer him are walking with his feet in front of each other on a paper tape placed on the ground and organizing a home bowling match with empty bottles.
As can be deduced, the more the child grows, the more complex and engaging the activities become!
Psychomotor activities to be carried out at home with children aged 3-6
Probably this range is the one where it is possible to stimulate children to the maximum. It is the age of playing alone and playing with others, of adult imitation and the development of eye-hand coordination.
The playful activities to be proposed, compared to the previous evolutionary phases, are more 'difficult' and involve more spheres.
Think back to your childhood: who has never played jump rope? This is an excellent pastime to increase motor skills by relating to the space around and with other children. Other activities can be interlocking games, imitation games of animals, emulating verses and movements, and treasure hunts that develop in all rooms of the house. All accompanied by explanations and game rules, which will help your little ones to enrich their vocabulary and to express themselves more and more correctly.
Remember that to spend quality time with your children, it is good to limit the use of tablets and electronic devices as much as possible, which keep the little ones away from moving and relating to the external environment, which we have argued to be innate and essential. for proper neuromotor development.
