Children want to jump higher, run faster, throw harder … But sometimes without realizing it, we as adults cut off their wings.
Often we find children with large wings, who feel capable, and show ease performing all those physical activities that are proposed. Other times, we find children with small or even cut wings. They do not feel able to perform certain skills like the rest of the children their age. Spin, run, jump, fall, swim, amongst other things. It is there when their gaze speaks, and they manifest sadness or rejection for the activity.
It is our duty as adults to ensure their safety, but also their development. In the combination of these two lies the key to success.
Falling teaches them to fall, to put their hands, to protect their heads, to learn how not to hurt themselves. Swimming early with autonomy exponentially reduces the risk in the water. To dominate your own body in relation to the environment is not just a pleasure, but a necessity. If we take them away from these lessons in order to protect them, we go against their innate will and therefore against their development.
Some of the secrets reside in:
Becoming aware of your joint responsibility. You’re the protagonist of their development.
Knowing the skills that exist to guarantee global learning.
Understanding that any time and place is good.
Being their safety net.
Saying less “no” and more “yes”.
Identifying the millions of opportunities that exist. The world is a great motor room.
Childhood is a state of consciousness that ends on the day that a puddle is perceived as an obstacle and not as an opportunity. Play! Courage is innate to us.
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