🧠 Why Body Awareness Matters

Body awareness is your child’s internal GPS system.

It helps them understand:

✅ Where their body is in space

✅ How much pressure or effort to use

✅ What “calm” or “out of control” feels like

When kids lack body awareness, you might see:

• Bumping into people or furniture

• Seeming “clumsy” or too rough

• Struggling to sit still or follow movement cues

• Trouble knowing how to calm down

But when they have strong body awareness, it’s like giving them a map back to themselves.

It’s foundational for regulation, attention, coordination, and confidence.

🛋️ Real Life Moment

I started introducing the concept of body awareness to my kid when he was little by playing songs like “Head, Shoulders”. I found that playing this song with repetition, along with pointing to each body part both on him, as well as on me has given him the ability to learn his own body parts, as well as apply the fact that other people have these body parts too.

🧩 How to Build Body Awareness Through Play

These activities help kids “check in” with their bodies and develop the awareness they need to regulate energy and emotions:

1. Start with Songs

• “Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes” helps with body part identification

• “The Hokie Pokie” teaches left vs. right, rotation, and sequencing

⏱️ Play once a day—after naps, during transitions, or as a morning warm-up.

2. Play Twister (or DIY It)

Call out left hand, right foot, and different colored spots. 

✅ Builds cross-body movement, balance, and planning.

🔁 5–10 minutes of Twister-style play 3x/week can make a huge difference.

3. Try “I Can Calm Myself” Brain Gym

This short movement sequence helps kids connect breath, movement, and self-control.

Use it:

• Before school

• During meltdowns

• As a family calm-down reset

🔬 Why It Works

Self-regulation starts in the body—not the brain alone.

When kids can feel and sense their body in space, they can respond to it.

These activities activate proprioceptive and vestibular systems—foundational pieces of sensory regulation—and wire the brain to notice, adjust, and settle.