Why Your Kids Need Physical Activity To Be Smart

You want to give Junior the best start in life, of course! That's why you purchased a pregnancy music belt and introduced him to Bach in the womb, why you decided to use Baby Einstein, and why you committed to chanting Latin declensions instead of singing nursery rhymes. By the time Junior was four years old, he was able to read fluently in three languages and was completing lap books about cell biology.

Your home, you made sure, was filled with every conceivable book right from the start, because you know that a two-decade long study proved that an "early childhood surrounded by books and educational toys will leave positive fingerprints on a person's brain well into their late teens".

You also take your food very seriously and have stocked only organic since you weaned Junior when he was three. You know, though, that honey and peanut butter can be deadly, and you take care to avoid those and make everything from scratch rather than putting that processed poison into Junior's mouth. While caring deeply about Junior's academic achievements and shining future, you're also safety conscious.

You wouldn't want any chance of toxoplasmosis or anything like that, so you've kept your antiseptic hand wipes on hand from the time he was born, and also used a bicycle helmet whenever you went for walks in the park, just to prevent him from cracking his skull.

Modern parenting is certainly fascinating. No previous generation has gone all-out to attain academic success for their special snowflakes to quite this extent, and no previous generation was this fragmented. Hot-housing is now normal, while allowing your kid to play in the park on his own at age 10 will have Child Protective Services knocking on your door in no time. Ironically, though, the things this generation of kids aren't growing up with any more might be precisely those things that most stimulate the brain.

It's time to bring back risk-taking, rough-housing, and muddy hands. Here's why.

Yes, Jumping Around, Crawling In The Mud, And Climbing Trees 'Grow' The Brain

Mouse studies astonishingly showed that the hippocampi of those mice that run about three miles on a running wheel daily are about twice the size of the hippocampi their sedentary counterparts possess. The hippocampus, of course, is a brain region that plays a key role in learning.

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Could the same apply to humans?

Actually, yes. We know know that regular cardio exercise does such incredible things as promote the growth of brain cells, the development of new neurons, and brain plasticity while reducing the risk of memory loss. Kids who engage in lots of physical activity perform better at cognitive tasks, have larger hippocampi, and can concentrate better for longer.

You may have been thinking that sitting at home reading a book about quantum physics was the best choice for your kid, but, as it turns out, the story is more complex.

Want A Smart Kid? Don't Forget About The Role Of Physical Activity!

You Spin Me Right Round, Baby!

All kids like to spin around, from the time they start walking to well into elementary age and perhaps beyond. (That's to say, once you become a parent and allow yourself to do silly, childish things again together with your kids, you may well find that you still enjoy them.)

I remember spinning around and my aunt telling my mom that she'd heard it could be a sign of "mental retardation"; something I clearly remember to this day. The opposite, it appears, is closer to the truth. The vestibular/cerebellar sensory system, relating to the inner ear and motor activity control, is the first to fully develop. A complex system that allows the body to maintain balance, it certainly requires lots of practice! Young children are naturally drawn to spinning around, jumping on the bed, rocking back and forth, and rolling down hills for very good reasons! Rather than worrying whether they're neurotic or suffering from developmental delays, know that your child's brain is doing exactly what benefits it most right now.

Sensory Exploration

If an adult teaches themselves to sew or paint without taking a course, we call them an autodidact. When a kid tries to make sense of the world by exploring it the only way they know how, we try to stop them? Somewhere in my family album is a picture of me eating soil — something that will sound familiar to any parent. Young children naturally explore with their available senses, and that includes sensory feedback from their bare feet, hands, and mouths.

Too many parents — worried, no doubt, about E. Coli and other nasties — actively prevent their infants and youngsters from exploring the world the way they themselves did. Sensory play is absolutely crucial for normal brain development. You don't, however, have to allow your toddler to eat bugs or soil to stimulate his intellect. Instead, you can:

• Allow your young child to mess around with (non-toxic) playdough, finger paints, or kinetic sand.
• Engage in gardening with your child.
• Let them play with their pudding.
• Allow your child to walk bare foot around the house and perhaps the garden.
• Let young children explore the textures and tastes of cooked and raw foods, without mashing them up, from as early as six months.

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Risk Aversion Poses Risks, Too

While we all want to keep our kids safe, 21st century parents too frequently forget that it's by allowing children to take some risks that we encourage them to develop. How can kids ever learn to chop vegetables if their parents are too afraid they'll cut themselves? How can children ever become competent writers if their parents secretly sub-edit their essays? How can kids learn to function in the world if we don't, at some point, allow them to walk to school or to the shops on their own? 

Life is a gigantic mess of perpetual risks. One of those risks, however, is the risk-averse culture we are living in today.

Sometimes, the very things we do to stimulate our child's brain end up crippling their intellectual development. In addition to traditional academic teaching, kids require physical activity, sensory exploration and healthy risk taking to thrive. Don't be afraid to allow your child to reach their full potential.