Marco Bettoni · Fiabe Motorie® Archive · Originally published in La Rivista di Educazione Fisica, Scienze Motorie e Sport, March 2019.
Editorial note: this page presents a web edition of the original article. Time references and collaborations belong to the context of the 2019 publication.
A deliberately provocative title opens a broader question: which activities can best support children’s development and help them build a healthy balance between body, mind and social life?
Free play has great social and relational value, but it does not always provide a sufficiently varied motor experience. Children may remain inactive for long periods or repeat the same movement patterns. For this reason, structured activity guided by a competent adult can complement spontaneous play.
The adult’s role is to adjust the difficulty of the task so that the child is challenged without being overwhelmed, working within the child’s zone of proximal development.
Physical activity in childhood can support three broad areas: health, social relationships and executive functions. Executive functions include cognitive flexibility, inhibition, self-control, working memory, planning, problem solving and attention.
These skills are particularly important during the preschool years, when children are rapidly developing the ability to wait, follow rules, keep information in mind and adapt their behaviour to changing situations.
Fiabe Motorie® uses stories as an environment in which movement becomes meaningful. A child does not simply perform an exercise: he or she becomes a character, crosses an imaginary landscape and solves a problem through action.
Motor patterns and cognitive demands are therefore designed together with the narrative. The story increases engagement, while movement gives the story a physical form.
The aim is to create experiences in which body, thought, emotion and relationships can work together, turning physical activity into a richer educational experience.
← Back to Insights