Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Force Absorption: Increasing Area to Distribute Force
Force Absorption: Increasing Area to Distribute Force
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
When we are making a movement or playing some sports, force absorption usually occurs in our muscle groups (HSC PDHPE, 2020). There are three ways to absorb force safely (especially when absorbing large forces during gross motor skill performance), which includes extending the time of absorption, increasing movement length used for force absorption, and increasing area to distribute the force absorbed (HSC PDHPE, 2020). One example for how increasing area in which the force is absorbed aid in safe force absorption could be that landing on the hands directly when falling or rolling backwards might lead to finger or shoulder injuries while landing on the entire back will less likely to cause an injury during gymnastics or other relevant physical activities. This is due to that landing on hands, elbows or shoulders provides only a little surface area for the initial contact while landing on the back provides a relatively larger surface area when contacting, hence the force will be dissipated with more space provided and the damage brought to the muscle groups or bone will be minimized. For children, this method for absorbing force safely could be applied to a variety of concepts, and the most important one would be increasing area to distribute force while playing.
It is crucial for children to apply this strategy or concept to their movement experience, especially during exploratory play, outdoor play, physical play, risky play, and rough and tumble play. Usually, a few types of play could occur at the same point (Bredin, 2020), when a child is exploring an artificial cliff in an outdoor playground by climbing up onto its top and jump down, the scene contains all of exploratory play, outdoor play, physical play and risky play. Therefore, when children are involving in those playing situations, it will be a big caution for children’s parents, teachers or coaches to be aware about the safety of the playground, but sometimes the playground themselves are fixed and maybe not ideal while choices are still limited. Thus, children’s safety could only be improved and satisfied if they are educated with certain skills or strategies to protect themselves during the risky outdoor plays or rough and tumble play. Research has stated that risky outdoor play has a few categories, which includes great heights such as climbing and jumping from a high surface like cliffs and trees (Brussoni et al., 2015). For landing safely from high surfaces, children have to know how to land properly with the least amount of physical damage accompanied with the landing, and one of the core skills which could be taught by almost all levels of educators would be landing on body parts with larger surface area, such as landing on back rather than landing on arms/hands, or landing on two feet rather than on a single foot. This is also applicable to indoor risky plays such as landing movements in gymnastics, therefore it is important for educators to teach children that expanding surface area on contacting will aid in force absorption and hence helps to ensure the safety of certain plays and physical activities.
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
As it is mentioned earlier, this topic/concept is important for children’s development since the strategy of increasing area to distribute force is commonly applied in risky plays and physical activities for ensuring certain level of safety. This topic plays a crucial role in helping children to develop fundamental movement skills, especially helps children to develop a better sense of effort awareness and their relationship with force and grounds in a given space (Bredin, 2020). When children are developing certain skills such as jumping and landing during outdoor plays or risky players, there has to be a balance clarified between development on those skills and children’s safety (Brussoni et al., 2012). This means that for parents, childhood educators and teachers, rapid improvement in children’s motor development by risky plays will only occur if children’s safety are guaranteed to a certain extent. Injuries occurred to muscles and bones during risky play will leave acute or even long-term negative effects on children’s motor development, thus, it will be ideal if children can get educated on how to protect themselves from potential injuries which might pop out during risky physical activities (Brussoni et al., 2012). When motor skills such as landing from high surfaces or catching a basketball pass are acquired or under development for children, educators should teach children on how to perform those skills safely, especially on how to absorb forces in an effective method with minimal counteract force detected. Strategies such as landing with two feet flat rather than landing on single foot and catching basketball passes with 2 hands rather than with one hand only are good examples for absorbing force safely and effectively by distributing the force to a relatively larger surface area. As a result of performing this strategy during risky plays or rough and tumble play, children can gain improvement in their motor development with less fear about potential injuries and their negative impacts on children’s health and motor development.
While educating children this strategy does not need a lot of time and practice, it is not always effective in risky physical activities as some movement requires more than just distributing force to larger area for ensuring the safety. Usually, for absorbing force in the safest and most effective way, children need to increase the time of force absorption, increase the movement length of force absorption and increase area in which force is absorbed at the same time (HSC PDHPE, 2020). If a child just gets educated on increase area of contact to distribute force, the child might still be in danger during risky plays, such as jump from a cliff and land on two feet while the legs are staying straight. This may lead to potential injuries to tendons, ligaments and bones since some force is absorbed by distributing it to a larger surface area while the movement length applied to absorb the force is too short which does not help with absorbing the remaining of the force. Therefore, we could say that when childhood educators are considering educating children with force absorption, all three strategies should always be taught together and children should apply them at the same time whenever possible. If the educating process on force absorption is done partially, potential injuries are still more likely to occur and hence brings negative impacts on children’s motor development (Bredin, 2020).
Another contemporary issue on this topic is that this strategy for absorbing force safely is usually taught for some fixed terms or situations, such as jumping from a cliff and land safely (Brussoni, 2015). However, outdoor environments are sometimes non-artificial and some risks may not be the same with those frequently seen ones. For example, if a slope appears instead of a cliff, children will face to possible injuries if they still try to jump and land on two feet since the ground is not flat. For absorbing the force safely, children need to be educated to fall backwards and increase the surface area for absorbing the force when sliding down with the back rather than feet or arms. Meanwhile, childhood educators usually educate this topic/strategy to children for outdoor risky plays, while risky plays could also be set up for indoor areas such as indoor basketball games or gymnastics (Harper, 2017). This will bring negative impacts to children’s perception on when to be cautious on performing strategies to absorb force safely. Therefore, the education brought on increasing area to distribute force and other safe force absorption concepts should be taught by parents and teachers in a flexible way with on-site guiding, which provides children an enhanced understanding on wht should be done to absorb force safely.
Practical Applications
Increasing area to force distribution is an essential area of study to ensure that force absorption is happening safely. There can be elements added to Force absorption that allows optimal absorption to decrease the risk of injury. This is through increasing the time of absorption, increasing the movement length used for force absorption, and increasing the area to help absorb the force's impact (HSC PDHP2, 2020). Some practical examples, such as the hula hoop jump game and leapfrog, will help children with their force absorption skills through the impact of jumping. These games will help children land safely and correctly as they learn and develop different jump to land techniques through engaging games such as leap frog and the Hula Hoop Jump game.
Hula Hoop Jump Game
Purpose statement
This game aims to help children understand how to absorb force using their legs through different force absorption variations such as jumping using two feet, single foot and alternating feet, which is an important developmental concept. This Hula Hoop jump game is a jump targeted game that helps children learn to absorb force on their feet using fun and different coloured hula hoops as an obstacle course!
Target age
The target age for this activity is 3+. This is because this is a beginner game to help build fundamental jump absorption skills in children. This game is created for children learning to jump and absorb force. Building a strong foundation in children and learning to absorb force the correct way is important in different play types such as; exploratory play, outdoor play, physical play, risky play, and rough and tumble play.
Apparatus/equipment needed and environmental space/set-up
This game is very versatile and can be played indoors at schools in the gym or outdoors. There is minimal equipment needed, which is beneficial for easy setup. The only equipment needed for this game is about ten hula hoops that form a circuit to allow children to jump in and out of. Creating the circuit can be done in any order allowing the hoops to be placed anywhere. Hoops can be placed further to allow for a more challenging further jump or placed closer for an easier jump.
Instructions
Start by having a parent, teacher, or coach create the hula hoop circuit to start the game. Give all the children a breakdown of the activity and how to play the game. The instructor can start by giving an overview and explaining the steps to absorb force safely. This is done by increasing the surface area to land safely. You want to ensure that children are bending their hips and knees, landing on the ball of the foot to the heel and are contracting their leg muscles. You can create different missions, so the game does not get repetitive and boring. For example, having all the children complete the circuit with landing on both feet, then changing up the rules and having children land only on the right foot, then only on the left foot to help get comfortable absorbing force on both feet and on a single leg stance.
Modifications
level of difficulty: if the difficulty level is too challenging with the hula hoops for a child, a regression down from hula hoop is using chalk marked "X" on the ground and trying to jump close to the X rather than having to jump over an object. If hula hoops are too easy, you can use cones to jump over as this will make the activity more challenging due to the increase in height.
Leapfrog
Purpose Statement:
The purpose of this game is to help build interaction with peers while also working on force absorption. This is a creative and fun game for all children to engage in and has many benefits for learning about optimal force distribution leading to absorbing force through this gross motor skill game.
Target age
The target age for this game is 5+. This age group is old enough to understand the game and play with their peers safely. Children should have a basic understanding of jumping to implement into the game of leapfrog.
Apparatus/equipment needed and environmental space/set-up:
Leapfrog is a great game that helps with force absorption that can be played at home or in schools. This is because this game does not require any equipment, just an open and clear space. Ideally, leapfrog is to be played in an open area, away from any equipment that could be harmful to a child's safety. Since leapfrog does not require any equipment, it is a great game to play at school due to having a teacher or supervisor close to help.
Instructions:
Leapfrog is a game that encompasses multiple players. Leapfrog is a children's game where players jump over other players that are crouched down. One player will be crouched down, and the other participant will be leaping over the person crouched down. The player who is jumping over the other player is to have their hands on the back of the person crouched down. The child then leaps over with their legs straddling on each side of the participant crouched over. Children can leap over a single player and then take turns repeating or leap over a row of participants depending on the number of players and their preferences. Players can also be divided into teams and have leapfrog races. When participants leap over the player crouching down, it helps with force absorption as they leap and make contact back to the ground.
Modifications
The number of players: if there are many players, dividing into teams might help facilitate the game. However, if there are no other players, a solo player can also participate in leapfrog and leap over objects such as a small stool, steady box or an exercise ball.
Difficulty: if leaping over players is too challenging, to begin with, leaping over objects is a good starting point to help children build confidence until they feel ready to begin leaping over their peers.
Summary
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References
Bredin, S. (2020). Module 1: Play, KIN 355 Movement Experience for Young Children. Retrieved from https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/60344/files/9634695?module_item_id=2378629
Bredin, S. (2020). Module 4: Developing fundamental movements, KIN 355 Movement Experience for Young Children. Retrieved from https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/60344/files/10170664?module_item_id=2453771
Brussoni, M., Gibbons, R., Gray, C., Ishikawa, T., Sandseter, B. H. E., Bienenstock, A., Chabot, G., Fuselli, P., Herrington, S., Janssen, I., Pickett, W., Power, M., Stanger, N., Sampson, M., & Tremblay, S. M. (2015). What is the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children? A systemic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12, 6423-6454. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120606423
Brussoni, M., Olsen, L. L., Pike, I., & Sleet, A. D. (2012). Risky play and children’s safety: balancing priorities for optimal child development. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 9, 3134-3148. doi: 10.3390/ijerph9093134
Harper, J. N. (2017) Outdoor risky play and healthy child development in the shadow of the “risk society”: a forest and nature school perspective. Child & Youth Services, 38, 318-334. doi: 10.1080/0145935X.2017.1412825
HSC PDHPE. (2020). How the body absorbs force. Retrieved from https://www.pdhpe.net/the-body-in-motion/how-do-biomechanical-principles-influence-movement/force/how-the-body-absorbs-force/