Did you know you actually have 7 senses? Five that you remember from childhood: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. And two more that have sensory receptors inside your body!
- Proprioception – is your body’s sense of where it is – where you are – in space. It allows you to touch your own nose with your eyes closed and helps your central nervous system take in constant information that it uses to know where your body is in space without needing to look at it constantly.
- Vestibular Sense – this is your balance sense. Our vestibular sense helps us balance when we run or walk and helps us stay upright when we sit or stand.
Your vestibular sense receptors are located in your inner ear and are comprised of 3 semi-circular fluid-filled tubes that make up all planes of motion. When your head rotates in some way, the fluid in the ear changes position (due to gravity and movement) and stimulates tiny hair follicles. These hair follicles connected to your vestibulocochlear nerve signal to the brain changes in speed and direction of rotation. This is how your body stays balanced.
One reason adults do not like swinging, spinning, being upside down, or rollercoasters as much as children are that as we age, the fluid in our inner ear becomes more viscous – it thickens and takes longer to stimulate our nervous system and can cause us to feel dizzy or nauseous.
What does this have to do with parenting?
A lot actually! You need to develop your vestibular system so that you can:
- Sit down and upright at circle time
- Follow the teacher’s movement with your eyes
- Track moving objects in sports
- Track words when reading
- Maintain attention when looking at a whiteboard and then back at your own work.
Children need to have a well-developed vestibular system to do well in school!
How can we stimulate children’s Vestibular Systems?
Children and naturally good at stimulating their own vestibular sense – we just need to guide them and facilitate opportunities! Because the vestibular system senses movement, children develop their vestibular sense through movement. Daily movement is key!
- Playing on playgrounds on swings, slides, teeter-totters
- Hanging upside down
- Being upside down on heads or hands
- Obstacle and parkour courses
- Spinning
- Rolling down hills
- Trampolining
- Skipping, running, jumping, and moving on different surfaces
- Gymnastics and tumbling maneuvers: Somersaults, backward rolls, inversions (upside down)
What can you do to help your child develop their vestibular sense today???
Happy Moving!
References
Ayres, A, J & Robbins, J, 2005, Sensory Integration and the Child, Understanding Hidden Sensory Challenges, 25th Anniversary Edition, Western Psychological Services, Los Angeles CA.
Bundy, A. C, & Murray, E. A, 2002, Sensory Integration: A. Jean Ayres’ Theory Revisited.
In: A. C. Bundy, S. J. Lane, & E.A. Murray, (Eds.), Sensory integration: theory and practice, pp. 3-29, Davis Company, Philadelphia: FA.