Viewing Children’s Movement Through an Ecological Lens: Using the Interaction of Constraints to Design Positive Movement Experiences

Abstract

Successful movement experiences for children should be carefully designed to ensure the highest chance of success, making it more likely that children will enjoy movement and engage in active play. The theory of constraints, from the ecological perspective of motor development, provides the guiding principles that allow teachers to match the most important characteristics of the child with the environment to help them design tasks so that desired movements are more likely to emerge. The constraints of a child which may influence movement may be physical such as size and strength measures of hands, arms and legs, but may also include functional measures such as fear, motivation, experience or peer pressure. The maturing of balance and coordination also influences movement possibilities. Matching individual constraints to equipment size and weight and adapting tasks accordingly will establish a climate for each child to achieve movement success. Therefore, constraints become an important factor for practitioners to consider in planning for active play opportunities.