Today on our 30-day Executive Function Festival on Instagram and Facebook, we are doing some cognitive-motor activities to enhance self-regulation. Here are some of the benefits of motor movement for calming. https://www.instagram.com/drlynnekenney
The benefits of coordinative cognitive rhythmic movement for children's self-regulation include:
Activating executive functions: Cognitive-movement stimulates the brain, strengthening attention, impulse control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility.
Modulating arousal levels: Rhythmic movement helps children regulate alertness and emotional states, promoting balanced energy and calmness.
Improving sensory integration: Movement engages the vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile sensory systems, enhancing body awareness and sensory processing vital for self-regulation.
Releasing neurotransmitters: Exercise activates dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine release, supporting mood, motivation, and stress management.
Developing motor control: Coordinated movement builds the motor skills and muscle control needed for physical self-regulation.
Providing rhythmic structure: Patterned, repetitive sequences offer predictability that teaches previewing and planning while grounding and organizing the nervous system.
Offering emotional outlets: Rhythmic movement allows healthy expression and processing of feelings and sensations.
Enhancing social engagement: Cognitive-movement activities foster connection, cooperation, and interpersonal attunement that support co-regulation.
By strategically integrating brief doses of cognitive-movement (1-5 minutes) over time, children build the underlying capacities for self-awareness, adaptability, self-regulation, attention, and memory in physical, cognitive, emotional, and social domains.
Bolduc, J., Gosselin, N., Chevrette, T., & Peretz, I. (2021). The impact of music training on inhibition control, phonological processing, and motor skills in kindergarteners: A randomized control trial. Early Child Development and Care, 191(12), 1886–1895. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1781841
Kenney, L. & Comizio, R. (2016). 70 play activities for better thinking, self-regulation, learning, and behavior, Eau Claire, Wis. PESI Publishing & Media.
Williams, K. E., & Berthelsen, D. (2019). Implementation of a rhythm and movement intervention to support self-regulation skills of preschool-aged children in disadvantaged communities. Psychology of Music, 47(6), 800–820. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735619861433