Dr. Kevin Skinner explains why letting kids fidget and do chores helps them self-regulate and function better. These activities soothe the nervous system naturally, without forcing children to sit still or medicate their need to move.
I honestly think what they're doing is they're self regulating with those types of activities. Instead of saying, stop it, we should say, hallelujah. They're actually doing what their body wants them to do. And if we try to shut that down, I think we're actually harming the child's natural soothing strategy. So we move, we let them fidget. We encourage fidget ness, if we can call it that, fidgetiness. And we recognize that's how they function. It's better for them and it's better for everybody. So in the home, washing dishes is actually a really positive thing. Think about what you're doing. You're washing that dish to do wax on, wax off. It's just one of those things. Get their body moving. Vacuuming forward, backward, forward, backward. Action with the hands actually is helpful for the brain.
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