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| |    Moving and Learning: How They're Related by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. reviewed by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. What is the connection between moving and thinking? Is a baby who can roll over or walk early any smarter than the baby who hits these milestones later? The simple answer is no. Movement is controlled by specific areas of the brain that are largely separate from the areas that control thinking and learning. On the other hand, as any baby watcher will tell you, babies' movements do tell you a lot about what is going on inside the cognitive (or thinking) parts of their brains. So there is a connection, but not one that's simple or direct. The relationship between thinking and moving changes over the first two years of life. Newborns are locked in bodies that they can't control. Reflexes run the show, determining their body posture and arm and leg movements. Startle them, and they'll throw open their arms. Put a finger in their palms and they'll grasp it. These are automatic responses, like your leg jumping when the doctor taps your knee. For his first six months, a lot of a baby's efforts are devoted to learning to control movement. Watch a four-month-old staring at his hand while he thoughtfully opens and closes his fingers. At the same time that his brain and nerves are maturing, allowing more conscious control, the early reflexes are fading out. Your baby no longer needs them. After six months, movement becomes a way for him to learn about the world. A baby grabs, shakes, mouths, bangs, and drops a rattle in the process of discovering all of the things this interesting object can do. Child-development professionals call the first 18 months of life the period of sensory-motor intelligence, which means that a baby's main mode of learning is through his senses and through his body movements, or motor development. You can tell what a baby is thinking by watching what he does. In fact, to a large degree, what he does is purely thinking. After about 18 to 24 months, language begins to take over as the main vehicle for thinking. Rather than having to move actual things around, the child begins to use symbols (that is, words) as a main way of understanding how things work. For example, your child might say "blocks in!" while looking at a pegboard; up until this time, his only way of signaling that the pegs fit in the holes was to actually put them in. With language, the early tight links between movement and thought loosen considerably. Practical matters What does all this mean for you as a parent? Knowing that infants need to practice in order to achieve control of their bodies, you can look at their seemingly random, constant movements in a new light. You can appreciate the incredible tenacity and intensity by which even the most laid-back baby goes about taking charge of himself. You also play a role in a baby's body intelligence. Tickle games, loving touches, the body contact of everyday activities such as feeding, bathing, and holding all contribute to your baby's growing self-knowledge and control. By tuning in to your baby's signals, you know when he wants stimulation, and when he's had enough. Your sensitive responses also teach your baby to know himself. You can't rush the process. Brain maturation sets the timetable. What you can do is ensure that your baby has many different opportunities to practice his body intelligence. He needs time on his back and on his tummy; time to study his toes and your ears; tickling time, time being held, and time alone to regroup and let the all of this learning sink in.
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