Psychomotor skills in early childhood education. 10 benefits of practicing it

It is not until the beginning of the 20th century that the psychological aspect of motor skills is recognized. Psychomotricity is defined as the relationship that is established between the psychic activity of the human mind and the capacity of movement or motor function of the body, and is divided into two parts: the motor and the psychic . The union of the two is a vital part of the process through which the integral development of people passes. Jean Piaget’s theory says that intelligence is built from the motor activity of children, nothing more and nothing less.

During the 20th century, numerous educational movements appeared, such as the New School, which with its active methodology, tries to turn education into a field of real experiences, not only theoretical, but directly related to the environment. Thus, psychomotor skills are acquiring a leading role in “the integral education of the individual.”

Today, and for a few decades, Early Childhood Education is considered of vital importance by society, configuring itself as an independent educational stage , with its own characteristics that define it and, in turn, distinguish it from higher courses.

Early Childhood Education tries to train in the competencies, skills, habits and attitudes that will facilitate their adaptation to Primary Education later, being an essential element in it, psychomotor skills , of course.

How does psychomotor activity influence the development of the child?

In the first years of life, psychomotor skills directly influence intellectual, emotional and social development.

  • At the motor level, it allows the child to master their body movement.
  • On a cognitive level, it manages to enhance their memory and attention.
  • On a social and emotional level, he manages to know his limits and face them as well as favoring the relationship with his peers.

Through movement, the mental map of the outside world is being outlined, so that psychomotor activities in Early Childhood Education are aimed at achieving, with physical movement, the activation of the mental.

  • Picq and P. Vayer, authors of the test that measures the motor skills of children and of the book “Education and motor skills”, believe that there is a close parallel between the development of motor functions, movement and action, and evolution of psychic functions. By performing psychomotor activities daily, the child acquires notions of space, time, laterality, relative to his body, objects, situations that facilitate the acquisition of new learning …

Benefits that children obtain derived from the practice of this discipline

  1. Be aware of your own still and moving body.
  2. It makes it possible for the educator to observe the child freely to follow his development closely and take action if needed.
  3. Master balance.
  4. Motor coordination.
  5. Control your breathing at will, which is essential to learn to relax.
  6. Placing the body in space in a total way.
  7. Develop the rhythm more easily.
  8. Memory enhancement
  9. Mastery of the horizontal and vertical planes.
  10. Positive distinction of colors, shapes and sizes.

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