“Crawling is one of the most essential developmental phases for optimal future learning.” writes Sharon Promislow, an educational Kinesiologist and Educational Consultant. Not only does it strengthen the neck, arm, link, and trunk muscles of a young child, but the mechanics of crawling actually stimulate different areas of the brain which influence the child’s ability to learn. Neurophysiologist Carla Hannaford, in her book entitled, Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head, states: “Physical movement, from earliest infancy…..plays an important role in the creation of nerve cell networks which are actually the essence of learning.” In fact, according to Rebecca Anne Bailey and Elsie Carter Burton, authors of The Dynamic Self: Activities to Enhance Infant Development, whenever babies move any part of their bodies, there exists the potential for two different kinds of learning to occur: learning to move and moving to learn.

Besides the fact that infants are built for movement, there are a great many reasons why infants need to move Rae Pica, nationally known children’s movement specialist and author of Your Active Child: How to Boost Physical, Emotional, and Cognitive Development through age-Appropriate Activity writes that the truth is, even though a baby’s movement capabilities are quite limited, “movement experiences are now thought to be more important for infants than for children of any other age group”. She is not alone in her beliefs. Many educators work from the premise that basic functions affect higher functions. This means that movement skills (basic functions) affect cognitive abilities (higher functions). Linda Hartley, in her book entitles Wisdom of the Body Moving states that “movement is in fact essential for the future physical, sensory, perceptual, psychological and mental development of the child.”

This helps to explain why we need to encourage our children to crawl. Research has revealed that through the repetitious movement of crawling, the infants neural network connections in the brain become stimulated, organized and better developed. This allows the brain to control cognitive processes such as comprehension, concentration and memory more efficiently. 

The production of myelin is increased when a baby starts to crawl. This is important because myelin, a substance coating the neuron, helps the brain send and receive messages faster and more clearly. The more myelin, the faster the transmission….in fact, according to Dr. Lise Eliot, a Neuroscientist with Chicago Medical School, myelin sheaths enable brain signals to travel 100 times faster! Information that has been ‘myelinated” in the brain through movement is fundamental to all future learning.

The cross-lateral movement of crawling strengthens and integrates both hemispheres of the brain. This helps to simultaneously coordinate the use of both eyes, both ears, both hands and both feet. This enhances learning by not only allowing the brain to share important sensory information, but by helping the brain store and retrieve information more rapidly. Shayne Niehaus, a registered Specialized Kinesiologist in South Africa, feels that crawling is a crucial milestone for a developing child. She found that crawling stimulated the “receptive” and “expressive” parts of the brain and formed such a vital phase in a child’s life that if the process was hindered or interrupted in any way, the child might, at worst, exhibit learning difficulties, or at best, “create adaptive, compensatory and less efficient learning methods.” Niehaus estimates that babies need to make about 50,000 crawling movements to create enough neural pathways to integrate left and right hemispheres fully, and to enable optimal learning capabilities as they grow older.

Crawling refines both gross and fine motor skills by strengthening the large and small muscle groups. This facilitates hand/eye coordination strength, muscle tone, balance, finger dexterity and language development: skill sets later used for reading, writing and physical activities. Recent research has determined that the cerebellum, the part of the brain previously associated with motor control only, is now know as Eric Jensen, author of numerous books on brain-based learning, and founder of the Jensen Learning Corporation puts it as, a “virtual switchboard of cognitive activity”. In fact, numerous studies have confirmed the connection between the cerebellum and such cognitive functions as memory, spatial orientation, attention, language and decision making, illustrating clearly that a child’s earliest learning is based on the development of their motor skills.

Furthermore, crawling stimulates the near and far, visual and tactile senses of the child. Up until a few years ago, neuroscientists believed that the structure of a human brain was genetically determined at birth. They now realize that although the main “circuits” are “pre-wired” for such functions as breathing and heartbeat, the sensory experiences that fill each child’s day are what actually determine the brains ultimate configuration and the nature and extend of that child’s adult capabilities. The more sensory experiences an infant has, the greater the development of their brain. In fact, when crawling, the baby starts to understand where they are in their environment, stimulating abstract thinking skills, which, when developed, will assist them with tasks such as mathematics.

Crawling also assist with the understanding of language, which is stimulated when an infant crawls, as they use both ears simultaneously and develop binaural hearing. The child must look down and focus in the distance when it is learning to crawl which helps to develop their binocular vision. Paul Dennison Ph.D., founder of the Educational Kinesiology Foundation and author of the Brain Gym ® program, believes that the efficiency of the development of visual and auditory skills establishes dominant input in the learning process. Part of the vestibular system, this input turns on our entire brain and unlocks our sensory channels enabling more efficient learning.

Paul Dennison appreciates, as do many others, that movement is the door to learning. The earlier a child crawls, the stronger their body and their brain become, increasing their cognitive and physical potential. Encourage your child to crawl and let them crawl. Infants need plenty of free, safe movement on the floor to integrate reflexes, complete developmental stages, and develop a strong neurological foundation. Everyday millions of babies try their best to move and develop, but are prevented from doing so. They are placed and kept in carriers, jumpers, swings, playpens, cribs and strollers which restrict their freedom to move. Simply allowing for and supporting early developmental movement on the floor will prevent major learning and behavior difficulties from developing. A study by McEwan et. al., demonstrated that infants who did not crawl scored lower on pre-school assessment tests than those who did crawl. It verified the influence that early crawling experience had on the child’s learning ability, and noted that the process of crawling provides not only hand-eye coordination, but superior vestibular processing, an improvement of physical balance and equilibrium, spatial awareness, tactile input, kinesthetic awareness and social maturation.

There is a reason why babies need to crawl – they are designed to learn through whole-body movement. Encourage your child to crawl……the benefits will last them a lifetime!

For more detailed information about the benefits of crawling or to discover the unique new line of clothing specifically designed to encourage your child to crawl, stimulate their senses and enhances their learning profile, please view our online catalog. For additional information on the Educational Kinesiology Foundation and the author of the Brain Gym ® program, please visit www.brainby,org.  

Your Child's First Step Toward Higher Learning

Most infants first learn to move by crawling. This important developmental phase is first characterized by babies dragging their tummies across the ground and ending with the infants moving proficiently on their hands and knees.

Researchers have described this phase as being made of specific stages; each stage a triumph over gravity on the way to upright locomotion:

• lifting the head and chest off the ground
• pivoting in circles
• pulling forward with the tummy dragging along the ground
• hopping forward with the tummy alternately on and off the ground
• rhythmically rocking on hands and knees
• creeping on hands and knees
• and crawling on hands and knees1

The mechanics of crawling stimulate different areas of the brain - areas that are critical to future learning.

At birth, the brain contains billions of nerve cells. Simplistically put, the infant brain is an unwired circuitry board. "It has been established that through movement, especially the repetitious act of crawling, these neurons are stimulated, organized and our electrical system is switched on. This allows our brain to control cognitive processes such as comprehension, concentration and memory."2 Movement moulds the circuitry and repetition makes it efficient.

The development of neural networks is the first step to higher cognitive learning.
"Myelin is a dense, fatty substance that helps neurons send and receive messages
faster and more clearly so that motor pathways in the brain, brain stem and spinal chord become better at controlling and coordinating the movements necessary for sitting, crawling and walking."3 At birth, newborn infants do not have very much myelin. The better the child becomes at motor skills, the more finely tuned the brain connections become. "Crawling is key to developing motor skills and therefore also crucial for myelination."4

Gross Motor Skills include all the major muscle groups. Included in this skill set are hand/eye coordination, strength and muscle tone. "Crawling strengthens the trunk and link muscles, both crucial for the development of Gross Motor skills."5

When an infant crawls, it visually determines where it wants to go, and physically moves in that direction. The infants' hands become the guides and the child's first test of hand/eye coordination becomes established. This skill set is used in later life for reading, writing and sports activities. Well developed Gross Motor skills enhance the Near Senses. The child will be more physically confident.

Fine Motor Skills encompass the small muscles especially hand control and the muscles around the mouth. Mouth movement and the palms of the hands are located on the same neurological loop, therefore, it stands to reason that sharpening these areas will affect language development, handwriting and finger dexterity (written and verbal communication). "Crawling refines these muscle groups by strengthening them. Stimulation of the palms triggers the language centers of the brains."6
When the baby crawls and grasps, its fine motor skills are enhanced; key abilities when the child is old enough to feed himself or hold a pencil.

"Crawling allows for the integration of sensory information, giving the baby a complete picture of his/her environment."7 When these senses are stimulated, the child will acquire balance, develop space perception (proprioception) and depth perception (which are the Near and Far Senses).

While crawling, the baby starts to understand where they are in the grand scheme of their environment. "This serves as an anticipatory and preventative measure as they learn to avoid obstacles in their world."8 Understanding where they are in their environment stimulates abstract thinking skills, another essential skill which, when developed, will assist them with tasks such as mathematics.

Crawling stimulates the inner ear or the vestibular system especially through the infants' head movements which will affect the child's overall balance.

Tactile stimulation during the crawling process stimulates the kinaesthetic process giving the baby a sense of themselves, choosing what they like and don't like by exploring, and by facilitating confidence in "choice- making" in later life.

A child must look down and focus in the distance when it is learning to crawl thus developing their binocular vision. "We believe when a child creeps, his near-point vision is developed."9

Reception and interpretation of language is stimulated when a baby starts to crawl as the infant uses both ears simultaneously and develops binaural hearing. "The efficiency of the development of visual and auditory skills establishes dominant input in the learning process."10

"Educational kinesiologists believe creeping on the tummy and then crawling are particularly crucial because they get both sides of the brain working in concert, creating pathways that can transmit messages from one side of the brain to the other. This message highway, called the corpus callosum, allows the body to coordinate the use of both eyes, both ears, both hands, both feet."11

Crawling is a cross lateral movement which strengthens both the left side and the right side of the brain, including the corpus callosum. "This enhances learning, as the left brain names, sorts and files information, while the right brain stores it in memory."12 Communication between the two sides of the brain allows us to share sensory information, by thinking and moving at the same time.

Crawling also allows the left and the right parts of the body to work together making walking and running more efficient. "This integration of the physical and the neurological, helps to establish our learning profile."13

The crawling process is a critical stage in your baby's development. Anything that can facilitate this endeavour must be looked upon as a necessary component to their everyday routine.

"These developmental years are not just a chance to educate, they are actually your obligation to form a brain, and if you miss the opportunities you have missed them forever".14

Crawling begins with the baby having time on its tummy. Recent research has stated the merits of having the child sleep on its back, however, during waking hours, it is important to ensure that the infant has ample opportunities to be placed on its stomach. This will allow the child's motor skills to be properly honed, and will result in the more rapid development of its cognitive and perceptual abilities.

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