Oh no! There goes the cup again!

Being aware of our body and its size is important in many aspects of life; it helps us judge things like how close to get to people when chatting and how far to reach when picking things up. Now that your toddler is becoming aware of their body size, they may realise they are too small to reach the kitchen surface, or their arms are longer than they realise when they go to pick up their drink, or they are too big for their doll’s buggy. 

To gain awareness of body position your toddler relies on sensory information received from muscles, joints and limbs. 

The muscles send sensory information from moving limbs to the central nervous system.^[1] The information provides your toddler with an understanding of where their limbs are, helping them to judge the space they are moving in and exploring.  

This information helps them to feel and understand their body size and its relation to the space it is in. 

When your toddler achieves greater sense of their body and its size, it will help them with things like: 

• Physical activities, such as ball games and climbing on playground equipment 
• Free flowing movements when walking, running and jumping 
• Moving around a space without bumping into objects or people 

Understanding their body helps them make sense of their size in relation to people, objects and things around them.  

They could come across a tunnel in a park and know that they are too big to fit through, or they might see a shelf with their toys on it and realise they are out of reach. 

Over time, understanding their body and its size will help movements become automatic. 

For now though, while they are still developing a full understanding of their body, size and relationship to space, your toddler may still knock a few drinks off the table! 

Reference: 

[1] Tarakci, E. (2016). Growth, Development and Proprioception in Children.