Marco Bettoni · Fiabe Motorie® Archive · Originally published in La Rivista di Educazione Fisica, Scienze Motorie e Sport, March 2020.
Editorial note: web edition of the original article. Time references belong to the 2020 publication.
What are Fiabe Motorie®? Is it enough to tell a story and add some movement? The method starts from the opposite idea: the value lies not only in the ingredients, but in the way movement, narrative, cognition and relationships are combined.
Stories allow children to enter an emotional world that can be difficult to express directly. Fear, joy, courage, sadness and anger take shape through characters and events. The child can symbolically experience situations and possible solutions by identifying with the protagonists.
Symbolic play enables an object, gesture or situation to represent something else: a gym can become the sea, a hoop can become a treasure chest and a coloured object can become something to remember.
This representational ability is connected with the gradual development of the capacity to understand that other people may have thoughts, memories and perspectives that differ from one’s own.
In Fiabe Motorie®, motor and cognitive goals are embedded in the same game. In the historical story of Donata the Forgetful Fish, for example, children move through a motor course while also remembering colours or sequences.
The cognitive task is not separated from movement. The child has to keep information in mind while moving, orienting in space, waiting for a turn and restarting the course.
The project has also experimented with digital applications designed to support educators. The tablet does not replace the body or physical experience; it is used at specific moments to present a choice, a sequence or feedback.
The core remains the encounter between body, story, relationship and cognitive challenge. Technology is useful only when it strengthens that educational experience.
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