5 Reasons Children Move, Squirm, and Fidget
Squirming is learning.
“Stop moving”, “Sit still”, “Stop touching everything”. Parents and teachers repeat these words until they are blue in the face, followed up with “how can I help this child stop squirming”.
There is a time when squirming is actually beneficial for a child, and adult intervention can hinder a child's growth and learning. Understanding the benefits of movement and squirming and how it supports children, including neuro-different children such as sensory processing, or ADHD children, a road map of support from caregivers and parents can be created.
What's happening when a squirming takes place? Squirming is a sensory movement and can be seen in all children. It is especially noticeable with children who struggle with sensory processing, ADHD, and many other neurological differences. Sensory processing takes place in the brain. The brain investigates the incoming information and organizes it for the body to respond. The brain relies on this organized information and processes it through using visual, touch, taste, hearing, smell, spatial surroundings, both proprioceptive and vestibular, as well as interoceptive.
5 Reasons Children Squirm:
1. To Help Regulate Emotions
Emotions are strong reactions to sensory information. For example, we might smell something cooking that brings back happy memories of our grandmother cooking. Our brain organizes this sensory information (smell) and sends a signal to the rest of our body to be happy. The same can happen when we see a picture we might not like. Again our brain takes in the information (sight), organizes the information, and sends out a signal to the rest of our body to feel the emotions of sadness, or possibly anger. Squirming helps the body organize and process the income information.
2. To Focus the Brain
Movement, squirming, and fidgeting, allows the brain to filter out irrelevant information and focus on the task at hand. This sensory input and filtration provide support for the brain to organize incoming sensory information to be used appropriately.
3. To Help with Sensory Overload
Just as movement, squirming, and fidgeting filters out irrelevant information to help the brain focus, it can also filter out incoming information. When multiple senses are triggered at one time, the brain takes the information and filters through it. Movement allows the brain to organize the overflow of information and process what is needed.
4. To Help with Energy Release
This seems self-explanatory. Movement burns energy. When energy builds up, the brain sends signals to the body to start moving and release the energy. Movement, fidgeting, and squirming are visual indicators of the brain's signal to release energy.
5. To Help with Boredom
Boredom stems from internal discomforts. Movement, squirming and fidgeting trigger ‘comforting’ signals within the brain to ease internal discomforts. These signals will continue to release information when movement, squirming, and fidgeting is in action until the desired comfort is reached.
So how can parents, teachers, and caretakers support children who move, squirm and fidget?
By providing simple, easy, and usable tools to allow for movement and fidgeting while limiting disruption to those around the child.
Fidget bands
Playdough
Bees Wax
Doodling
Balance Balls
Cotton balls and pipe cleaners
Stress Balls
Push Pop Fidgets
A shift is beginning to take place with parents, teachers, and caregivers as they continue to discover that movement and squirming are in fact learning, and not a hindrance to a child's growth. Understanding the simple contexts behind the movement and why children move and providing support such as fidget toys, opportunities for movement, and encouraging children to respond to their body’s desires to move, can create a road map of success for children with ADHD, Sensory and Neurological differences.