Course:KIN355/2020 Projects/Relationship Awareness- To Other Objects
Defining the Concept and Its Importance
Relationship awareness, in regard to objects, is what the body relates to, in which the movement includes an individual or group of objects and the relationship of these objects to a person (Bredin, 2020). Relationship awareness has two aspects, relationships to other people, and relationship to objects. When considering relationship awareness to other objects, the focus is on how humans move in correlation to the objects surrounding them (Bredin, 2020).
Relationships to objects are specific in the activities associated with it because these activities require and involve moving with equipment (Bredin, 2020). Relationship awareness to other objects is important as it relates to activities that require movement on an apparatus, moving within boundary lines, and engaging and moving with equipment (Bredin, 2020). When examining the relationship of movement to activities, some of the movements involved are used in gymnastics when the individual moves on, off, and around the different pieces of equipment, and engaging in play on the playground equipment. As many children engage in gymnastics and climbing on playground equipment, having the awareness of the objects around them allows them to navigate over, around, and under the equipment proficiently (Poole, Miller,
& Booth Church, 2020). In many sports where you are confined to boundary lines such as soccer and moving with the ball at your feet and volleyball and trying to avoid hitting the net. Relationship awareness helps in understanding how to move alongside and within these boundaries. This is also very important for individuals who have visual impairments as these individuals will rely heavily on their sense of touch to be able to understand and learn the orientation of the objects around them (Jafri, Aljuhani, & Ali, 2015). Relationship awareness helps these individuals with visual impairments associate shapes and development of this can start at a young age with having children hold and feel their sippy cup and know that they are able to drink from this, or when they are moving from the carpet to a hard floor they can associate how to move along these by touching them (Jafri et al., 2015). Looking more into child development, relationship awareness is developed within the first couple years. Many of the toys that are given to children are big shapes or blocks and will often make noises. This helps them associate between the different toys as well as learn and understand how certain objects will move when using them and how they may interact with other objects (Healey, Mendelsohn, 2019; Poole et al., 2020). This gives further understanding and subconscious learning to children that, if they roll a ball, they know it will go far, but if they try to roll a block, it will not move very much. This can also help then understand the structure of the object and how they may be able to build using blocks but not with a ball.
Role in Childhood Development and Contemporary Considerations
Relationship awareness to objects contributes to child development because children have to be able to grasp and manipulate objects in order to further develop object awareness skills (Poole et al., 2019). Being able to grasp the object and shaking it to create sound forces the child to associate their movement with the noise of the object and learn that when they shake or move the toy, it will create sound (Bredin, 2020; Poole et al., 2019). As children grow to roughly age 2, they start to explore furniture around the house and on the playground to start to climb onto any apparatus that is near (Ness, Farenga & Garofalo, 2017; Poole et al., 2019). This contributes to relationship awareness and child development because this is the first time a child will start to utilize the furniture to get to higher places and start developing their musculoskeletal system. With the strengthening, coordination, development of these muscles, the child is creating neural connections within the brain that will help them in future activities like gymnastics and playing on the playground (Robinson, 2011). This connects to relationship awareness to other objects because throughout the child’s development, they are gaining an understanding of how their body moves on, around, and alongside objects within their house and they now know how to manipulate their body to efficiently and easily move with the surrounding objects (Poole, 2019).
During COVID-19, the world has had to come up with many regulations such as wearing masks and social distancing. Another regulation is reducing the number of shared items. This is specifically important for children as they can easily carry and pass on the virus to those around them. Toys and objects have been known to pass on bacteria from one person to another so understanding the objects around you is important as we are now having to keep track of the items that are our own. As mentioned earlier, relationship awareness to other objects can help us control our actions and understand how to move in relation to objects around us and therefore, help us during COVID-19 to avoid touching certain and sharing objects.
Within the classroom and education, relationship awareness is particularly important in relation to other people as well as objects. School is a place where we learn about possession and how to share the materials in the classroom. This also relates to having to navigate through a classroom the furniture within it. If the classroom is set up with the desks all over the place and there is little room between them, young classes may find themselves bumping into chairs and desks; but if the desks are organized, the class will be able to navigate easier and work on developing their relationship awareness to the furniture surrounding them (Miller et al., 2018). In regard to physical education (PE), relationship awareness is prominent as students have to be able to move out of the way of objects and navigate through obstacle courses that are full of different apparatuses that have to be avoided. As for sports, individuals have to stay within the perimeter during a sports activity or game (Hollett, Sluder, Taunton & Howard-Shaughnessy, 2016). With the lack of development of relationship awareness to objects, students may not fully understand how to go over, under, through, on, off, or stay within boundaries when engaging in physical activity or PE (Miller, Wilson-Gahan & Garrett, 2018).
Another aspect of development with relationship awareness is learning about spatial concepts. This is understanding when an object may be in or out, on top or under, as well as near or far (Poole et al., 2019). This is important for sports that involve manipulating an object and trying to score a goal, get a basket, or get a point. Soccer, hockey, basketball, volleyball are just a few sports where individuals have to understand where an object may be in order for them to move into the right position to score a point or prevent a point from occurring. The development of depth perception can start to develop from relationship awareness because individuals have to locate the object, orient their position, and then enact their plan of action for how they will deal with the object (Poole et al, 2019). These concepts are very important for sports and movement because, without the skills to understand where your body is or how to move your body in relation to the objects around yourself, you may find yourself bumping into pieces of equipment, classroom desks, and household items.
Practical Applications
Relationship awareness to other objects is an important skill to learn at an early age because it helps to further develop the relationship to one's self and can assist in progressing to gain relationship awareness to another partner, larger group size, and the overall complexity of the relationship (Bredin, 2020). Lack of development in early childhood years can impact the ability of children to acquire more complex motor skills. Especially in a PE setting, relationship awareness to other objects is key to providing fun and educational ways to help navigate through objects so that children can utilize these skills in the future. Listed below are practical recommendations to help develop relationship awareness to other objects from initial to mature learners. These are activities that early childhood educators, elementary school teachers, grassroots coaches, or physical activity leaders can use and apply in a real-world setting.
Practical Recommendation #1
Activity Title: Green, Yellow, Red… Vroom!
Purpose Statement: The purpose of the activity is to create awareness between the child's movement in relation to the scarves in an interactive environment by learning how to move the scarves over, under, in front of, and behind oneself.
Target Age: 1-3 years old. This activity is designed to introduce the relationship between the object and individual to initial learners.
Apparatus/Equipment/Environmental Space: open space (gymnasium, living room, etc.), juggling dance scarves (figure 1), and music (optional)
Set up: Each child will get one scarf and stand around in a circle (facing inside the circle) with the other children and the activity leader/coach. The children will be spaced out to ensure that they have enough space to extended their arms out towards the other children. In consideration of COVID-19, this activity can also be done at home with a parent, an early childhood educator, elementary-school teacher, grassroots coach, or physical activity leader participating via one-on-one.
Instructions:
This activity is similar to a "repeat after me" activity (such as "Simon Says") .
There are four cues (green, yellow, red, vroom) that the physical activity leader can call out alongside showing the movement to the children during the activity, that the child will replicate.
In between the cues being called the child can hold the scarf in any comfortable position, either beside, in front of, etc.
The four cues/movement patterns are the following:
- Green: Using one hand holding the scarf, the child will raise the scarf over their head and wave in a horizontal movement, as high as possible reach.
- Yellow: Using one hand holding the scarf, the child will wave the scarf in a horizontal movement, in front of them at chest level.
- Red: using one hand holding the scarf the child will slightly bend their knees and wave the scarf in a horizontal movement, as low as possible towards the ground.
- Vroom: When they hear the leader say "vroom", the child will throw the scarf in an upward motion behind them.
The leader will repeat the cues until the children are able to follow the movement patterns presented or the time duration set is completed (approximately 10-15 mins).
Modifications:
To modify the activity to make it easier for children, the physical activity leader can do the following:
- #1: Reduce the amount of cues to only one and when the children hear the cue, they can replicate the single movement.
To increase the challenge in the activity, the physical activity leader can do the following:
- #1: The physical activity leader can call out the cues without showing the movement and have them replicate it or the demonstrate the movement and have the children call out the cues (green, yellow, red, vroom), to helps the children build upon their memorization skills and associate the movement to the specific words.
- #2: The physical activity leader can use additional cues and movements in the activity, such as moving the scarves inside or outside their legs, around a specific body part, etc.
- #3: Using a different types of objects instead of scarves such as a ball, pool noodle, bean bag, etc. to help associate between the objects and learn how they move when using them.
Practical Recommendation #2
Activity Title: Epic Obstacle Course
Purpose Statement: The purpose of this activity is to get children moving equipment, on an apparatus, and within boundary lines in order to interact with different objects in their environment.
Target Age: 4-6 years old. This activity is designed to introduce the relationship between objects and individual during early childhood years to begin laying down fundamental gross motor skills for future physical activity.
Apparatus/Equipment: 5-6 soccer cones, gym bench or a training balance beam, 2-3 bean bags, 1 hula hoop, 1 tube tunnel, gymnastic floor mats.
Environmental space: Open space (specifically gymnasium, activity room, etc.)
Set-Up: There are four stations that need to be set up around in a circle (Figure 3).
- Station #1 (cone set-up): Using five to six cones, place them in a straight line with approximately one-meter space in between each one or enough space to walk in between.
- Station #2 (tunnel set-up): Place the tunnel with it being perpendicular to station #1's cone set up.
- Station #3 (bean bag set-up): Place two to three bean bags approximately two meters away from the hula hoop that is flat on the ground.
- Station #4 (balance beam set-up): Place the gym bench/balance beam parallel to station #2's tunnel set-up with the gymnastic floor mats surrounding the entire area for safety purposes.
Instructions:
There are four stations within the obstacle course that the individual needs to complete, that challenges the child to move on an apparatus, within boundary lines, and with equipment. There will be only one child participating on the obstacle course at a time to ensure that the physical activity leader is keeping an eye on their movement and preventing possible hazards. The stations are conducted counter-clockwise as seen Figure 3.
Station #1: Cone Walking
In the first portion of the obstacle course, the individual will attempt to weave in and out of the cones, as close as they can. This will require the child to change direction by moving in and out and around the individual cones. This component will teach the child to use their body and move in accordance with the specific rule (boundary lines presented).
Station #2: Tunnel Crawling
Afterwards, when approaching the tunnel, the child will need to get on all fours with their hands and knees on the ground, moving one hand and the opposite foot forwards at an equal distance until they reach the other side of the tunnel opening. This component will teach the child to go through the apparatus within the specific boundaries of the tunnel.
Station #3: Bean Bag Toss
After the tunnel crawl, the individual will stand up and walk towards the bean bags and attempt to toss the bean bag into the hula hoop. Some cues that you can remind the child when underhand throwing the bean bag are the following: face the target, step with your opposite foot (the one not holding the object) towards the hula hoop, throw the bean bag in an upwards and forward motion, and follow through with your arm. The physical activity leader will put the bean bags back in the starting position as the child walks towards the next station.
Station #4: Balance Beam
In the last station, the child will step on the balance beam or gym bench and attempt to balance and walk across it one foot and step at a time. They can put their hands out in an "airplane" or "T" position to help balance. For the safety of the individual, make sure that the physical activity leader is spotting the child, in case of a misstep or fall. This component will help develop the child's ability to move across an apparatus that they might not be familiar with.
Modification:
To modify the activity to make it easier for children, the physical activity leader can do the following:
- #1:The physical activity leader can assist the child with each station by motivating and giving them cues to successfully complete the obstacle.
- #2: For station #2, change the bean bags and use a bigger objects so that the child doesn't have to be as accurate and precise in throwing the object into the hula hoop.
To increase the challenge in the activity, the physical activity leader can do the following:
- #1: For station #1, you can put the cones closer together, making it more challenging and requiring quicker changing of direction when weaving in and out of the cones.
- #2: For station #2, instead of having them crawl on their hands and knees, you can challenge them to bear crawl (crawling on their arms and feet with their knees lifted up) across the tunnel.
- #3: For station #3, you can smaller or different density objects (such as a tennis ball or ping pong ball) to increase their precision/fine motor skills and introduce them to different tactile sensations or increase the distance between the throwing object and the hula hoop.
- #4: For station #4, you can use an apparatus that has smaller width such as multiple foam building blocks to make it more difficult to balance on.
Summary
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References
Bredin, S (2020). Module 4: Developing Fundamental of Movement. KIN 355 Movement Experiences for Young Children, School of Kinesiology, University of British Columbia
Healey, A., Mendelsohn, A., & COUNCIL ON EARLY CHILDHOOD. (2019). Selecting appropriate toys for young children in the digital era. Pediatrics (Evanston), 143(1), e20183348. doi:10.1542/peds.2018-3348
Hollett N., Sluder J. B., 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
Jafri, R., Aljuhani, A. M., & Ali, S. A. (2015). A tangible interface-based application for teaching tactual shape perception and spatial awareness sub-concepts to visually impaired children. Procedia Manufacturing, 3, 5562-5569. doi:10.1016/j.promfg.2015.07.734
Miller, J., Wilson-Gahan S. & Garrett R. (2018). Health and Physical Education: Preparing Educators for the Future. Cambridge: University Press, 3, 136-157. Retrieved from https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=z3lnDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR5&dq=contemporary%20approaches%20fms%20midline&ots=JIM885BDZr&sig=Vv_NcQVipKrAA4unMFmGhdkUJ4I&redir_esc=y&fbclid=IwAR2csQI_AqNN-5xeBH5bIYsZHK1p3oB8RLfec8W3X8CwtV6jx4j01pHN8CE#v=onepage&q&f=false
Ness, D., Farenga, S., Garofalo, S. (2017). Spatial Intelligence. New York: Routledge, https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.4324/9781315724515
Poole, A., Miller, S. A., Booth Church, E. (2020). Ages & stages: all about body awareness. How young children learn about themselves and their bodies in relationship to people and objects around them. Scholastic Inc. Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/ages-stages-all-about-body-awareness/
Robinson, M. (2011). Understanding Behaviour and Development in Early Childhood. London: Routledge, https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.4324/9780203842881