Movement and learning aren’t often associated together. We’ve learned about the benefits of outdoor play, but what about moving and learning? Is there a link? Not surprisingly, there is!

Many early childhood teachers will tell you there is, and in my experience teaching yoga, these kiddos remember every pose, every story, every activity. I am sometimes shocked at how much the children remember of our yoga portion of class. This is a great thing for me because I don’t have a great memory — good thing I have them for reference.

There is a biological link between movement and learning. Oxygen is essential for brain function, and increased blood flow increases the amount of oxygen transported to the brain. Physical activity is a great way to increase blood flow (therefore oxygen) to the brain.

If you are interested in a very good, very thorough post on the subject, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development has a post on their website. I’m going to hit the highlights in my post, but the article there is *really* good. It’s an except from a book Teaching With the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen. I thought it was so good, I just ordered the book from Amazon because I want to read more about the subject.

Movement and learning didn’t always use to be connected. In the teaching world they were considered completely unrelated topics. Now, however, we have realized that movement strengthens learning, improves memory of what is being learned and movement can be a big motivator for some students and helps with their overall demeanor.

This concept is so crucial to what I do. Yoga teachers for children don’t *just* teach yoga. That’s why we have classes with themes and lessons that are connected to certain topics. Even teaching about mindfulness, kindness, friendship, etc. are accentuated by using yoga. For the kids, they’re just having fun!

So if you’re a parent, try to incorporate movement into activities at home. Keeping children busy and active also has the physical benefits we have come to know so well. Try doing a family yoga night for a family activity. There are so many DVDs, yoga pose cards and activities, family yoga night could become a regular activity.

For teachers, the more you are able to teach with movement, or with frequent breaks where the children can move around (even for just a few minutes) is helpful, especially for those kiddos who may have a hard time focusing and sitting still.