Born to move – you just need to give them space to do it

Your toddler learns about themselves and the world by moving. When you watch your child, you will notice more and more that they have a natural, curious desire to move and investigate all the movements they can make. 

Words of wisdom about children on the move

We love this quote from Maria Montessori: "Watching a child makes it obvious that the development of his mind comes through his movements" (although nowadays we’d prefer it to be gender neutral!).

Maria Montessori was renowned for her philosophy on education. She challenged a lot of conventional ideas about how adults support young children to learn and develop. She believed in following children’s natural curiosities and in doing so, would support their own unique learning and development journey.  

Maria's educational method spread throughout Italy in the early 1900s and is still used in nurseries and schools today.   

The focus on being ‘child-led’ was a revelation at the time and her approach allowed children the opportunity to make choices and build confidence and self-esteem – none of which had been a focus before. 

Embrace the challenge 

This can be quite a challenge when you’re getting used to them moving more. But by embracing your toddler’s natural urge to move and giving them lots of new and challenging ways to do this, you will help them build their strength and brain connections.  

By just giving them space and time to move you are laying the foundations for thousands of skills to come.  

Look at our activity ideas for inspiration today 

Check out your latest gross motor activity suggestions for ideas on how to support your child in challenging their movements. You can find all the activities linked to your child's active skills on the activity tab.