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:
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.