Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Directions, Levels, and Pathways

Defining the Concept and Its Importance

Fundamental motor skills, which include body and spatial awareness, are a necessity in a child's early life in order to assist in the development of more complex skills (Hollett et al., 2016). There are four fundamental movement concepts a child needs to learn to be able to build a good basis for any further specialized movement/motor skills, for example tactical skills needed in sports. These movement concepts are space awareness, body awareness, effort awareness, and relationship awareness (Stevens-Smith, 2004). Directions, Levels, and Pathways are all divisions of one of these movement concepts, which is spatial awareness. Spatial awareness is defined as the ability to interpret spatial information and use it in an organized, systematic way for planning movement (Yarmohammadian, 2014), in other words, understanding where objects are in space and your body’s position relative to them and the ability to move appropriately based on this information. Directions, Levels, and Pathways are more concerned with the movement in space aspect of spatial awareness.

Directions do not only incorporate the child’s ability and understanding to propel their body forward, back, left, and right, but also movement in relation to objects. It is the child’s ability to take 3 steps backwards (interaction between child and space) and to take one step over the toy (interaction between child, space, and another object) (Children's Occupational therapy spatial awareness, n.d.). It provides the child with a sense of what they can do in space and where their new position in space will be as a result of that movement. As for levels, the child needs to understand that there are low, middle, and high levels in space relative to their body. The space around their lower body is a low level, around the torso is a middle level and around the head is a high level (Hollett et al., 2016). Children should be encouraged to move at all levels so that they understand these levels are present and movement is possible in all of them. Pathways are the path a child’s movement takes through space and these can be straight, zigzag, circular, and curved (Hollett et al., 2016). Practicing these will help the child understand the different pathways their body is able to perform and the child will be able to put them into use under more sophisticated scenarios.

Focusing on improving these divisions of spatial awareness would help the child attain and improve their physical literacy, which is the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activity for life (Whitehead, 2011). Physically literate children are more likely to move with confidence and competence across the full spectrum of physical activity settings and opportunities. They are also more likely to engage in physical activity, reducing their risk for early or accelerated health problems (Longmuir et al., 2015). By understanding and practicing spatial awareness, a child would be a quarter way done into gaining the skills needed to exceed in complex movements.

Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations

Body and spatial awareness are learned concepts that generally start when children are toddlers and are not usually completely understood until the early school years (Hollett et al., 2016). However, traditional physical education programs, like kickball, do not meet the developmental needs of children; skills and tactical thinking must be learned before children can be successful during game play (Stevens-Smith, 2004). Preliminary programs in pre-primary school level can be introduced to indirectly develop the child’s spatial awareness. The teacher should evaluate the children’s motor skills, and perception of the stability of form and if the teacher sees any problem in these skills, he/she should strengthen them (Yarmohammadian, 2014). Without spatial awareness, the child will not be able to infer 3 dimensions by looking at 2-dimensional representations nor represent a 3-dimensional environment in 2 dimensions (Matthews &Geist, 2002). Making maps, drawings, and models that represent actual real-world physical conditions is hard to interpret by a child with no spatial awareness. Since design and the creation of new and original ideas must often be represented as maps, drawings, and models, concepts of spatial awareness are also linked to the development of imagination and the creation of original creative content (Matthews & Geist, 2002).

In the context of sport and group physical activities, good spatial awareness prevents injuries from collisions and helps children practice and develop skills without interference from others (Stevens-Smith, 2004). Moreover, skills improving spatial awareness are not just important for increasing movement proficiency and confidence, but for academic learning as well. Research has shown that, regardless of sex, students with higher spatial awareness are more successful in mathematical ability and vice versa (Yarmohammadian, 2014). It was also proven that there is a meaningful positive correlation between mathematical ability and intelligence, so by practicing and improving children’s spatial awareness, they will improve mathematical abilities and, ultimately, general intelligence for greater success of the child (Yarmohammadian, 2014).

One of the most efficient ways that has been shown to improve spatial awareness in children is ‘safe danger’ play, which is an activity that feels dangerous but is actually safe (Day & Midbjer, 2007). Activities that are perceived dangerous by children modifies their behaviour, encouraging care and responsibility. The element of danger forces the child to put effort into being aware of their environment and of others around them (Day & Midbjer, 2007); therefore, this element can be good for establishing spatial awareness. Children are naturally drawn to danger and adventure, so the parents just need to provide the environment/activity of perceived danger for the child to explore and prosper. Such activities include using a long swinging rope over not-too-deep water or climbing a tree (Day & Midbjer, 2007). In the process of climbing a tree, children become more versatile as they find their way around awkward angles or up a place where a long stretch is necessary; the child gains new realizations of directions, levels, and pathways that they are capable of moving in. Like Kittens, however, children climb first and look down later, making tall trees dangerous (Day & Midbjer, 2007). After all, danger, even in terms of play, is still dangerous. Few parents want their children to play somewhere unsafe, but life without this challenge can be developmentally-stunting for the children’s spatial awareness and other skills. Litigation-conscious design is making parks/playgrounds too safe to be fun and so less played in, which poses the question of ‘is less fun a reasonable price to pay for increased safety?’ (Day & Midbjer, 2007). Parents might be able to shut down their children’s access to dangerous playgrounds, but they cannot shut down their children’s desire for adventure; unfortunately, children denied opportunities for adventure seek them out and often in really dangerous areas, like railway tracks and building sites (Day & Midbjer, 2007). Over 700 children are killed by traffic each year in Britain, when ‘dangerous’ play would have kept them engaged, off the road, and safer (Day & Midbjer, 2007).

The topic boils down to either forcing the child to play in a too-safe-to-be-fun environment, so they are less likely to play and their development will be hindered, or allow the child to execute dangerous play and risk them getting into accidents. Adventure vs safety is a sensitive and controversial topic. Children should be provided with environments that have a perceived risk, while actual risk is kept to acceptably low levels. For example, in the tree climbing scenario, children can be provided access to trees that are about 2.7 m high (eye level for an adult, adventurously high for children). Playtime should have some exploratory aspect where the children feel as though they are exploring their own boundaries, yet caregivers should maintain some control and supervision over the activity.

There are specific games that help to develop body and spatial awareness in children. Soccer and Block Play are two great games that allow children to become aware of their surroundings in proportion to their own bodies.

Practical Applications

Given the importance of fundamental motor skills including spatial awareness, it would be advantageous for young children if their parents implement activities that encourage the learning and application of the 3 movement concepts: directions, levels and pathways. Below are two games/activities that a young child can play in order to learn and master these movement concepts.

Soccer

Soccer is a game that is connected to all three areas of spatial awareness, such as: directions, pathways and levels. The purpose of this game is to allow children to become aware of their surroundings on and off the field. It allows the child to play with their head up, keeping control of the ball and make a mental map of the game around them. During soccer you play at different levels, some children jump up high to be able to kick the ball still in the air, while others prefer to kick it low on the ground. Some children even dive for the ball like the goalie, at this point in time they are moving towards a lower level close to the ground in comparison to up high. Directions are also greatly used in soccer, the children run forwards, backwards, left and right to be open for other teammates and to make game winning moves. Pathways are also incorporated immensely in soccer. A child can run straight or run zigzagged when trying to dodge another player with the ball. All of these spatial awareness tactics are used in this game.

The target age a child should start learning soccer is between 3 and 5 years old. At this age children start to develop social skills and make friends; this game is great for children to become more social and aware of their surroundings. This allows the child to develop their basic soccer skills at young age while developing interest in the game. To play soccer you need a soccer ball, an open field, and a net of some sort so the children know where to score the ball. In the basic soccer rules the point of the game is to get the ball in the opposing team’s goal and the team with the most goals after the specified time is the winner. As long the ball stays in the field the game is in play. The game begins at the centre of the field. The team who kicks off passes the ball to a teammate at the referee’s signal. Only the goalie can use their hands. The definition for hand ball is any part of between your fingers (including nails) to your upper arm. At this age the game will be kept simple, the goal is to kick and pass the ball to your teammates to score a goal on the opposing team without the ball getting taken from you. The modifications on this game are the size of the play field, size, weight and material for the ball, for children ages 3-5 the soccer ball of size 4 is recommended. This size of ball will be used until they are 11-12 years old then they will upgrade to size 5, which is the ball the adults use. The width between the goal posts and height of the crossbar from the ground can also be modified. The duration of play and substitutes can also be modified based on the number of players you have. This activity increases cognitive and motor skill development, as the child becomes more aware of the space around them.

Block Play

Block play such as Building Blocks is a great activity to get children to develop spatial awareness. The purpose of this activity is to allow children to understand more about spatial concepts such as over, around and through. Children are able to put things together and take them apart, seeing how each part fits together while rotating the blocks to make it fit properly. Children are able to visualize and plan three dimensional objects, as the understanding of space around them grows, so do their spatial abilities. They are able to manipulate the direction of the block by moving it forward, back, left and right to them put the block into the right interlocked position with other blocks based on what they are building. Children are also able to understand levels with the blocks, whether they start to build something up high and move their hands up towards their head to build something tall, or whether they want to build something on the ground towards their feet, they are moving these blocks to different levels. Pathways are also used with building blocks; they are able to build things that are curved and in different patterns as opposed to just straight.

The target age for block play is 1-3 years old. At this age the child is able to stack and balance blocks while they are developing coordination and begin to understand the concepts of how certain shapes fit together. Children are able to manipulate their buildings the way they desire. Fine and gross motor skills grow with block play, which is essential for cognitive development. A child at this age should use larger stacking blocks, preferably larger than Legos. The blocks can have ridges in them like Legos where the pieces need to be interlocked to stay in place, or they can have a flat surface just for stacking and building purposes. To get your child to start playing with blocks place the blocks in front of you and begin stacking them on top of each other. You can encourage your child to knock the blocks down so you can start over. As your child grows more confident, they will begin to build their own block towers. This is a great activity for a group, as it will provide a lot of teaching opportunities for babies and toddlers alike to develop and practice a variety of social skills. The modifications with this activity can be the choice on size and type of blocks you would like to use, you can use big or small blocks, bright colours and even hard or soft blocks. Building blocks are a very adaptable activity, they can be used inside or outside, just ensure the space is large enough if the building was to fall over. This activity will help the children learn the basic movement concepts such as spatial awareness, which is an important building block for more complex concepts in the future.

Summary

Directions, levels and pathways are extensions of the movement concept of spatial awareness; a concept which is crucial to build in order to progress into further specialized movement skills.  Directions, levels and pathways are all focused skills that enable children to move confidently and competently in physical activity and lay the groundwork for further engagement in physical activity such as various sports. Proper spatial awareness limits injuries and aids in development of other skills. However, it is important to consider setting up games and playtime such as block play or soccer, to keep environments exploratory yet controlled and safe.

References

Children's Occupational therapy spatial awareness. Wales.nhs.uk. Retrieved from http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/861/Spatial%20Awareness.pdf.

Day, C. & Midbjer, A. (2007). Environment and Children (pp. 33-36). Taylor & Francis.

Hollett, N., Sluder, J., Taunton, S., & Howard-Shaughnessy, C. (2016). Teaching Body and Spatial Awareness in Elementary Physical Education Using Integration of Core Content Subjects. Journal Of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 87(7), 31-35. doi:10.1080/07303084.2016.1202800

Longmuir, P., Boyer, C., Lloyd, M., Yang, Y., Boiarskaia, E., Zhu, W., & Tremblay, M. (2015). The Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy: methods for children in grades 4 to 6 (8 to 12 years). BMC Public Health, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2106-6

Matthews, D., & Geist, E. A. (2002). Technological applications to support children’s development of spatial awareness. Information Technology in Childhood Education Annual, 2002(1), 321-336. Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/10759/

Stevens-Smith, D. (2004). Teaching Spatial Awareness to Children. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 75(6), 52-56, doi: 10.1080/07303084.2004.10607258

Whitehead, M. (2011). Physical literacy: Throughout the Lifecourse (p. 11). London ; New York: Routledge.

Yarmohammadian, A. (2014). The Relationship between Spatial Awareness and Mathematic Disorders in Elementary School Students with Learning Mathematic Disorder. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 3(1), 33-40. doi:10.11648/j.pbs.20140301.16