“The Wind Goes Inside of Me”: Kindergarten Children’s Theories About Running Fast

Abstract

Children in a kindergarten class had difficulties with physical movement—bending awkwardly to tie shoes, going downstairs using two feet to a step, standing disengaged during exercise time. Debbie wondered whether she could design an emergent curriculum responsive to the movement potential of these children, promoting more fluent body awareness. She wanted to try supporting the project with Reggio-inspired pedagogy using documentation, changes to the environment, and adding many graphic materials. The entry point was an argument after recess about who could run fast. The children’s interest in how they run fast led to conversations about running, investigations of running outside, and theories of what permits fast running. Documentation and the illustration of theories through drawing and 3-dimensional figures led to deeper considerations by the children about how bodies work, and strong
reflection by Debbie on the necessity of continual movement possibilities for young children in schools.