1. Children under 8 years old cannot “Mirror Image.”  If you stand in front of a child under 8 years old, facing them and play “Simon Says,” you might just be cheating ;-).  (Okay, in reality, just admit you are cheating).

2.  A child under eight cannot find their way back, they cannot reverse directions like you and I.  Never send a child under 8 to the bathroom alone, you will likely go out looking for them sooner than later.

3.  Children learn by watching and exploring.  Our job is to make a child feel comfortable and secure so they can begin to develop the neurons (or pathways) for the brain to communicate with the rest of their body.

4.  Children seriously might have “two left feet.”  As muscles grow, the old muscles cannot communicate with the new ones.  If a child is tall for their age, or the parents mention a recent growth spurt, remember they may not be able to do what they have done prior seasons.  Growing pains are real!

5.  Children are people, albeit small ones.  They are learning every second, every minute, every hour of every single day.  Children love to mimic and copy us. They ask “why,” and yes, sometimes they even cry.  Their emotions can rule the day, so focus on the fun and keeping a positive sense of humor.  When you focus on the fun, they will forget about missing their parents and siblings and will join in on the fun too!

6.  PLAY!  When we play, we learn, and it shifts the learning from the outcome or the goal to the process when you play a game with children.  When we play, children learn twice as fast, and will likely remember the event or the game forever. 

7.  Tangible objects are easier to understand than our bodies.  For example, asking a child to point their hands downhill is not as effective as asking them to point their gloves downhill.  They can understand moving an object, but sometimes moving our bodies is too complicated.