Nursery World - Mind games (1)

Physical exercises are providing a workout for young children's minds with a popular trademarked technique, says Dan Levy Walk into a classroom one morning at Eversley Primary School in north London and you may well see a class of children drawing figures of eight in the air together. This isn't early practice for an adolescence of graffiti writing, but a group instance of 'lazy eights' - one of a series of targeted body movements that are helping children to improve their concentration, memory, reading, writing and listening skills.

Walk into a classroom one morning at Eversley Primary School in north London and you may well see a class of children drawing figures of eight in the air together. This isn't early practice for an adolescence of graffiti writing, but a group instance of 'lazy eights' - one of a series of targeted body movements that are helping children to improve their concentration, memory, reading, writing and listening skills.

The techniques are part of Brain Gym, a system of targeted movements that have been specially developed to enhance learning skills. 'The aim is to move towards what is termed the core learning state, where learning is easy and natural,' says Ruth Jackson, a Brain Gym instructor accredited in 1997 by the originator, Dr Paul Dennison. 'It's about optimising learning and ensuring that children fulfil their potential.'

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