Movement Grows Learning! with Tick Tock

Have you ever heard the term ‘vestibular’? I learned about it when studying Infant Development at the School for Body Mind Centering in Amherst, MA.

Vestibular comes from the word vestibule, referring to a gateway or opening between two places. Located in the central part of the inner ear labyrinth, the vestibular system is responsible for coordinating movement with balance.

It sends signals to the neural structures that control eye movements, and to the muscles that keep us upright. It’s also intimately connected with learning to read. The brain uses information from the vestibular system to interpret our body’s position and acceleration in space.

For very young children, stimulation to this system is extremely pleasing! It’s like ‘brain food’. Rocking, turning, swinging, bouncing, tipping, jumping and rolling all stimulate and nourish the brain in the developing years.

I hope you enjoy this short video clip about the vestibular system from a developmental workshop I gave in Poughkeepsie, NY, and, an event at a library in Connecticut.

Click here to download my Tick Tock song (Circle Songs CD, 2005) for free!

Enjoy!

 

Tick Tock

Lyrics…

Follow movement indications in italics throughout the song

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘ticking ‘ on the dot.
(Stand or sit and rock side to side with arms outstretched)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘ringing ‘ on the dot.
(Raise arms in air and wiggle hands)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘chiming ‘ on the dot.
(Sound the chiming with arms overhead, opening and closing arms)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘spinning ‘ on the dot.
(Turn in place while seated, or stand and turn)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘clapping ‘ on the dot.
(Clap in rhythm)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘hopping ‘ on the dot.
(Stand and hop in place to rhythm, or bounce on knees)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘jumping ‘ on the dot.
(Jump in place to rhythm, or bounce on knees)

Tick tock, tick tock, I have a little clock,
Tick tock, tick tock, it’s ‘sleeping ‘ on the dot.
(Lay down and pretend to sleep, shhh…)