I am me - babies and children get to know their own bodies

I am I – babies and children get to know their bodies

Children experience their bodies as a matter of course. They learn that they have a nose, mouth and eyes. But also that their body belongs entirely to them – that they are an independent person and can differentiate themselves from parents and siblings.

Babies and children get to know their body naturally

Children experience who they are and what they can through their bodies. They slush with plasticine, they feel their cuddly toy, they crawl, run and climb like little world champions. You feel the tickling of Papa’s beard and cry when your knee is open. Children get to know their bodies through all these experiences. In doing so, they examine their hands and feet as naturally as their bottom or genitals.

The parents control a positive body feeling

From the many different physical experiences, children gradually develop their own personal body feeling. In the beginning, children perceive their bodies as a separate entity. It is there somehow – but is not yet consciously recognized as your own body. It is only over time that they learn that their bodies belong entirely to them. Whether a child develops a positive body feeling depends strongly on the behavior of the parents. A child’s reaction to children’s attempts to explore their body reinforces or slows their experiences.

Let parents give their children the freedom to get to know themselves and their bodies, or react with a “Pooh“And may even admonish your child, encourage or inhibit the natural curiosity that is so important for development.

Name and get to know body parts

Children love to grasp mom’s or dad’s face. "What is this big thing on Papa’s face?". Children are fascinated when they learn that not only dad has a nose, but she too. Parents can bring their bodies closer to children, for example by touching and naming the individual parts of the body when changing diapers and putting them on. They not only get to know the body parts, but also that all of them belong to them.

Finger games as part of body awareness

All children love finger games. They are a great and fun tool on the way to your own body awareness. Be it the “fidgety men”, the “plum pickers” or the hidden nose that appears as if by magic, all of this is extremely exciting for babies in their first year of life. By combining language, movement, and physical sensation, children develop images and associations of themselves and their bodies. This promotes the idea and understanding of your own self.

Children are happy with their own self

The experiences with the own body accompany a child throughout his life. How well children feel later in their bodies depends entirely on how they experienced their personal physicality in childhood. If you are satisfied with your own self, you not only develop a positive body feeling, but learn for your whole life. They are strengthened for the experiences in puberty and the independent life as an adult.

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