Child Development: Criss-Cross Applesauce
Posted on Sat, Mar 05, 2011
One of the most important brain exercises you can do for your children is encouraging them to cross the midline of their body. Picture an invisible vertical line running from your head to your feet, dividing your body in half. In simplistic terms, the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa. The two sides of our brain are connected by the corpus callosum. So every time we cross the midline of our body (with our hands, feet, eyes, etc.), we are strengthening the corpus callosum.
Studies have shown that women have larger corpus callosums than men (perhaps this is why women multi-task so much easier than men?). And, more importantly, studies have shown that students labeled "learning disabled" tend to have smaller corpus callosums than non-learning-disabled students. This is where we can help our children develop their brains to their fullest potential through some very easy exercises.
Crawling is one of the earliest examples of movements that require cross-lateral coordination (crossing the midline). Every time a baby moves his left leg with his right arm, he is building his corpus callosum. Another way babies instintively build their corpus callosums is by tracking objects with their eyes. Walk in front of your baby and watch his eyes cross from the right to the left. You've just witnessed his corpus callosum at work.
As children get older, activities that require this communication between the two hemispheres of the brain include stirring, reading, writing. In order to stir a batter, we hold the bowl in front of us (hopefully directly in front of us and not off to one side). We use our arm to cross from one side of the body to the other in circular motions. When we read, we need our eyes to track across a page from one side of the body to the other. And when we write, we need not only our eyes to follw across the page, but also our hand needs to be able to start on one side of the body and finish on the other side.
All of these are things that ideally happen in the course of normal development. But what do you know if your child isn't doing these things? There are activities and games we can play to encourage this type of cross-lateral development. When they are babies, we can physically reach our little one's hand across his body to touch his opposite foot. This simple action helps develop the corpus callosum.
As they become toddlers, play a game of flashlight tag. Turn off the lights and shine a flashlight on the wall or floor and ask them to "tag" the light with their hand or foot. Gradually make the game harder by asking them to tag the light with the same hand each time (making sure you move the light in a way that requires them to cross the midline of their body to tag it). Then switch hands and do the same thing.
As they become pre-schoolers, have them draw or paint at an easel or a chalkboard whie standing up. The simple act of drawing a big circle on a chalkboard in front of you requires you to start onone side of your body and cross to the other.
The brain is an amazing instrument, with remarkable self-correcting abilities. Many stroke victims lose the utility of a portion of their brain, only to find that other parts of the brain can, in time, compensate for or re-learn those abilities.
For more ideas on strengthening your child's corpus callosum, check out the book Growing an In-Snyc Child by Carol Kranowitz and Joye Newman.
- posted by Amy Shinohara, Director of Hearts & Minds Music