How does movement change throughout our lives?

““We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
”

— George Bernard Shaw

There is truth to the above quote. If we can find a way to stay young at heart, it will positively affect how we age. Active play is the ultimate anti-ageing strategy. This idea is at the very heart of what the Primal Play Method is all about. The more we can be encouraged to play actively and have fun rather than stick to a strict exercise routine that we begrudge having to do, the healthier and happier our lives can be, no matter what age our birth certificate might say we are.

With this idea in mind, it’s essential to understand what movement is achievable at various stages of our lives and how play can be an important factor in improving that movement experience where possible.

Read on to find out more.

Movement For Babies (up to 12 months old)

Babies are, as we know, born with very little ability to move. Any movements they do make as newborns are purely instinctual. However, by the time they are around two months old, babies have much more control of their activities and can hold their heads up at the very least.

By month three, they can often roll over or get ready to roll, and they will bounce when held. Babies will also put objects in their mouths (whether you want them to or not).

By the time your baby is around 12 months old, they will be sitting up, crawling, perhaps even walking, and—importantly—they will be able to play even more.

Play for babies is absolutely crucial. It is how they can develop faster, become more robust, and even enhance their brain function. Daily physical activity through play will support brain development, build muscles, bones, and ensure flexible joints, and it will help them improve coordination. On top of this, play enhances balance.

Don’t assume that just because the baby cannot communicate or move very much, they don’t need the physical stimulation that comes from playing. Even the newest babies can benefit from play, whether it’s looking at coloured blocks, blowing bubbles or lying beneath a multi-textured play arch.

RELATED: Top 6 Reasons Why Play Is Important for Babies

Movement For Toddlers (1-3 years old)

Toddlers—children between the ages of 12 months and three years—will develop very quickly. From being entirely helpless babies, they suddenly become their own person, and with that change comes a lot more movement. Whereas babies may be hesitant to move, toddlers are all for it, and although their gait might be unsteady at first, they will have confidence in themselves. Toddlers will try many new things, from running to climbing to jumping and dancing.

They will also be able to pick up and carry objects and will be able to pass those objects to other people and from hand to hand.

Toddlers will demand play from others. It’s no longer something the parent or guardian or any other adult in the near vicinity will have a choice about; the toddler will want to play, and that’s it.

This passion for play is a good thing. Play for toddlers is all about exploring their environments and discovering new ways to do something. Although what they are doing might look like a game, and although it might feel like one to the toddler, what is happening is that they are learning, and the skills they are developing through their games will help them greatly in later stages of life.

Play allows the toddler to use their imagination and creativity as widely and wildly as they want to. Within this vast learning resource, they will develop better dexterity. Their brains will continue to thrive, improving their physical strength and overall health when they are running around.

This is why it’s essential to encourage your toddler to be active in their play and more contemplative. A good play scheme should include both imagination and activity to get the best out of it.

RELATED: The Benefits of Play for Toddler & Young Children

Movement For Children (3-12 years old)

There is a big difference between the older and younger children in this age range. Still, something we can say for sure is that, barring any illness or impairments, the pace of their movements will become quicker, and by the time the child has reached 12 years old, they will be able to do much of what an adult can, adjusting for their height and strength.

They will, in other words, have learned all they need to know when it comes to how the body can move.

Play is just as essential for children as we’ve seen it to be for other age groups. The more physically they play, the healthier they will become. Research suggests that activity through play—whether that’s a make-believe game in the backyard or an organised sport like football or basketball—can increase memory, language, perception, emotion, fitness, attention, and decision-making.

Children who play are much more able to deal with the issues they will need to face as teenagers and adults than those who don’t play as much. Plus, they will be happy. A child outside in the fresh air, running around, pretending to be a horse, a princess or an astronaut, kicking a football or running a race, is having fun. They will want to keep doing it. Of course, they are unlikely to choose to do it just to be fit and healthy—but it’s certainly a bonus.

Unfortunately, a large proportion of youth today are physically inactive, and this often starts in the early years. [1] Active play is a great way to promote physical activity levels.

RELATED: Play for Connection

Movement For Teenagers (13-17 years old)

With teenagers, significant changes are afoot, affecting teenagers’ lives and their desire to play. It starts with hormones and puberty but isn’t helped by changing cultural norms leading to more sedentary lives.

One study, published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal in 2019, finds that more than 80% of school-going adolescents globally did not meet current recommendations of at least one hour of physical activity per day—including 85% of girls and 78% of boys. [2]

As hormones begin to become unbalanced and puberty begins to make itself known, a teenager can often become withdrawn. They will want to stay in their room, perhaps reading, perhaps playing computer games, and the playful nature they had as a child can start to drift. It’s crucial to help them maintain a healthy relationship with movement and getting outside.

They may not want to make the most of their physicality at this age, and their fitness levels can decline. This apathy added to an already potentially fragile sense of self-esteem can make matters worse.

Play can help. It may take some coaxing, but play can still make a tremendous amount of difference to a teenager’s life—impromptu games of tag to playing with younger siblings in the yard, or making something up on the spot because they have a ball and a bat and want to get moving. It’s all good.

Play helps with fitness, which can boost self-esteem, improve confidence, and benefit their physical, mental and emotional health.

“81% percent of adolescents worldwide are physically inactive

Plus, it will remind them of their younger days, albeit only a few years ago. Help them find something they will enjoy, and it will encourage them to do more in play. The key to encouraging teens to play is to give them a safe space to do it in. They may not want their school friends to see them playing horse with a little brother or sister, but that doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy it and benefit from it. They may also want to take part in riskier endeavours, like climbing trees, help them to do this safely.

RELATED: How To Develop A Growth Mindset

Movement For Adults (18-64 years old)

Here we are in our prime. But for many, movement may feel more difficult than it should be. Adults may feel that they physically start to decline as they get older. They may find they can’t walk as far or as fast, that running is no longer possible, or not as strong as they once were. When they stand, they may feel a twinge in their backs or knees, and when waking in the morning, they might wonder why their necks and shoulders are stiff.

Yet, there are some things we can do to delay this or even prevent it, at least to some degree. One of the best things an adult can do to keep their health and fitness intact is to exercise regularly. Maintaining exercise levels from our youth as we get older can certainly preserve lean muscle mass into our more senior years. [5]

Of course, this is easier said than done; we’re all so busy with work and taking care of the kids, and all the other responsibilities come with grown-up life, plus exercise is laborious, and it’s often dull. Add to that the temptation of too much sitting when the opportunity arises, and you can see why growing older is an uncomfortable thing for many adults to do.

Of course, exchanging exercise for play is one way to make everything better. When adults can play games that they remember from their childhood, or when they’re allowed to let their imaginations run wild and do what they want to as long as they are active, they are improving their health and fitness all the time without even realising it.

If you spend time running around after your toddler or child and playing imaginary games with them or joining in when they want to kick a ball or run a race, you are exercising—you are keeping yourself in shape. And you’re enjoying yourself, which improves your mental health and the way you feel about your life in general. In other words, the more you play, the more you get out of life, and the less you have to worry about regimented exercise routines that either don’t work or that you dislike intensely and therefore don’t want to do.

RELATED: How much physical activity do we need to stay healthy?

Movement For Older Adults (65 years and above)

As older age comes around, physical movement can become even more challenging, and you may need to walk with assistance or be confined to a wheelchair. The things you used to do are no longer possible, and your health can decline not because you are ageing but because you are no longer as active as you once were. It’s a vicious cycle since not being healthy leads to inactivity, which leads to problems with your health, and so on.

Some argue this is simply nature; as we get older, our bodies can become weaker as we lose muscle mass and bone density, a condition known as sarcopenia, and there is not much we can do about it. [3] But recent studies suggest most of this decline is not age-related but mainly about physical activity avoidance. In other words, avoiding the strenuous activities of our prime and partaking in more sedentary behaviours increases the risk of unhealthy ageing.[4]

Exercise can slow or even stop the loss of muscle mass and function that would otherwise occur as sedentary individuals grow older.

Need convincing?

Take a look at these MRI scans of the thigh muscles of a 40-year-old triathlete, a 74-year-old sedentary man, and a 70-year-old triathlete.[5]

The white area constitutes adipose (fat) tissue and the darker area is active lean muscle tissue. Look at the similarity between the first and third image. Incredible! These are scans of masters athletes who train 4-to-5 times a week. There is a 30-year age difference between these individuals but the lean muscle and body fat levels look pretty much identical. It shows what is possible with long-term movement even as older adults.

The middle image is of a long-term sedentary individual which perfectly sums up the adage of ‘use it or lose it’.

“Maintenance of muscle mass and strength may decrease or eliminate the falls, functional decline and loss of independence that are commonly seen in ageing adults.”
Wroblewski, Andrew P et al. (2011) [5]

Seniors can still play, and they should still play. Play for older adults may not be quite the same as for a toddler or an adult; there will undoubtedly be less running around. However, no matter how little, additional movement is still good.

Simple games improve physical health and, as with the toddler and baby examples, will enhance cognitive ability and brain function. They may help with memory and offer the senior more independence than they would otherwise have. When it comes to playing, as long as it is fun and involves imagination and critical thinking, it will be good for you, whatever age you are.

Just because that play is no longer as physical as it once was because you are older, that doesn’t mean it’s not still useful, and it doesn’t mean there are no benefits. When you have fun, your body releases endorphins, giving us a natural ‘high’ and significantly improving mood. Even pain—including the generalised pain that can be present as we get older—can be reduced thanks to these chemicals. Active play can also lower blood pressure and improve our immune system function, both of which can be an issue for seniors. So as you can see, play can be good for your health even when not intensely physical.

Whatever your age, allow yourself to feel like a kid again.

RELATED: What is Exercise Physiology and Why Is It Important?

Conclusion

The Primal Play Method is something that everyone of any age and fitness level can benefit from. Throughout our lives, we must never stop playing, and when there is a carefully designed and easy to follow system that will help us in this regard, it makes a lot of sense to follow it. The more play we can put into our lives, the happier and healthier we—and those around us—will be.

Participating in a wide range of activities during childhood and our youth may form the foundation for activity habits in later years. [6]

Play is one way of countering against the lack of exercise and physical activity adherence. [7]