The Body-Smart Kid

This is the 6th post in the series I am doing on the Multiple Intelligences or 8 Great Smarts.  You can find the first five posts here: Nature-Smart Kid ,Word-Smart Kid, Logic-Smart Kid, Picture-Smart Kid, and Music-Smart Kid.

For an overview of ALL the multiple intelligences, make sure to check out this post: Multiple Intelligences: Discovering the Way Your Child is Smart.  

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

This post is all about the body-smart kid. This is personally my weakest smart.  And when I see people who are body-smart, I am in awe of the things they can do!  An important distinction is that body-smart is not the same as a kinesthetic learner.  Kinesthetic learners remember things by doing them (I’m actually this way!), but body-smart people think with movement.

Body-Smart Kid
Photo cred: bottomlayercz0

What A Body-Smart Kid Looks Like:

  • Thinks with movement and touch.
  • They move when they’re excited.
  • Have busy hands and feet- whether building, “talking” with hands, playing, tapping feet, walking (or running!)
  • Have good control of their body, and usually don’t struggle with large and small motor movement.
  • May thrive in activities like dancing, sports, acting, etc.
  • Generally, have good hand-eye coordination.
  • May have a diagnosis of ADHD
  • Move to think (kinesthetic learners move to remember.)

Possible Careers for a Body-Smart Kid:

  • Hairdresser
  • Fitness trainer
  • Mechanic
  • Orchestra Conductor (especially if tied with music-smart)
  • Surgeon
  • Seamstress
  • Physical Therapist
  • Truck Driver

How You Can Nurture Body-Smart Kids:

  • Invest in activities they gravitate towards (sports, drama, etc.)  Helps them establish a healthy identity and a sense of belonging.
  • Consider chores that involve the body (sweeping, moving big items, folding laundry)
  • Give them lots of body breaks while learning.  Sitting for a long time can be hard for body-smart kids!
  • Let them move while learning.  Examples: math facts on the trampoline, pacing during read-aloud, doing bookwork while laying on their bed, or the floor, have them narrate a writing assignment to you while they move around.
  • Use lots of manipulatives with learning. These kids think with their hands!
  • Affirm their energy and movement as a positive quality.  They will grow frustrated if constantly told to “sit down” or “stop that.”

How to Strengthen Kids’ Body-Smarts

  • Model physical activity.
  • Put away the technology and get outside!
  • Make time for gross-motor and fine-motor activities.
  • Consider chores that involve the body (sweeping, moving big items, folding laundry) Yes, this action point is for both body-smart kids and kids who can grow in this smart!
  • Consider sports they can grow in individually (Taekwondo was a great one to help my kids strengthen their body-smarts!  Alternatively, running was a sport that helped awaken and strengthen my own body smarts when I was in middle school.)


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