Learning Through Movement

Young children are constantly on the move. This is not because they want to tire us out, but because at this stage of their development they are inherently kinetic creatures. For young children, moving is a way to explore the world, gain knowledge, and master new skills. Therefore, movement should not be restricted only to the outdoors.

The Montessori classroom is set up so that it promotes movement. Instead of having “work stations” like in a traditional classroom, the children can decide where they want to set up their work. Setting up a work in itself requires a lot of movement: first the child walks over to the rug box to get a rug, next, they unroll the rug, then they walk over to the shelf to get the work, and finally they take it to their rug.

If it is a desk work, the set-up involves getting an art mat, coloring pencils, writing pencil, paper, etc., all of which the children carry over to their desks one at a time. By the time the child is done with the set-up, they have walked across the classroom several times, sometimes carrying large baskets or balancing delicate glassware on their trays. By the time everything is set up, the children are ready to sit down for a few minutes to complete the work itself. And when the work is completed, they are on the move again to put all the supplies back on the shelves.

Besides the set-up, the works in the Montessori classroom also involve numerous opportunities for movement.

Building the pink tower entails multiple trips between the rug and the shelf to get one cube at a time before they finally arrange them from biggest to smallest into a tower.

Learning about various backyard birds can become a kinetic activity if it involves walking around the classroom and looking for birds with a pair of home-made binoculars and a clipboard with a checklist.

A counting work may involve throwing, such as the ladybug tossing game that starts off as a tossing exercise and ends up with counting all the dots on the ladybugs that landed on the big green leaf.

Even a writing work can be set up so that it satisfies the need for movement for a 4- year-old. The children at our school get one letter-sound at a time to lay out their sentence on the rug before they sit down to copy it onto paper.

Learning in the Montessori classroom goes hand in hand with movement. While the children are on the move, they explore their world, gain knowledge, and master skills.