Bare feet
By Sue Wiedermann
Many children are not given the opportunity to walk around in bare feet, especially outside in nature. Evidence now suggests that bare feet play is important for muscle, bone and connective tissue development. Bare feet play helps to strengthen the whole foot and ankle as well as help develop the arches in the feet. Weakness in these areas can impact on gait and on whole body strength, coordination, motor planning and spatial awareness.
Bare feet play also supports the sensory system. Sensory integration is when all the senses are working well together to make sense of the world around us. Problems with sensory integration can lead to problems with attention, self regulation, self help skills, personal interactions and later with academic learning. Exposing all parts of our body to sensory experiences will support a healthy and functional sensory system.
From my experience, bare feet play outside is usually restricted due to safety reasons. Parents and educators are concerned about stubbed toes, grazes, prickles and bites or stings. All of these are reasons to take care but when I am working with young children there are many scrapes to hands, knees, elbows, foreheads and sometimes splinters in hands. In one kindergarten I was working in two children were stung by bees in one session, one on the hand when she touched a flower, the other on the leg when she sat on the grass. But we never feel the need to cover up and protect the whole of children’s bodies while playing, instead we see this as a natural part of playing and exploring outside.
Consider the ‘dangers’ we expose children’s hands to through play and learning experiences; scissors, staplers, tape dispensers, sharp pencils, clay tools, paper (paper cuts!), hammers, nails, wood glass/ceramic containers which may break, cutlery for example. We acknowledge how important it is for children to explore and experiment with all of these objects because they help to develop strength and coordination in the hands and exposes hands to a range of sensory experiences. Our hands are less sensitive because they have been more exposed, so with more exposure for our bare feet, our feet too will become less sensitive. Obviously care, supervision and risk assessments need to be taken and there maybe times when shoes are necessary such as in extreme weather conditions.
Some children with sensory processing concerns may find exposing their feet very challenging, others may find shoes very painful and restrictive. Children could be encouraged to try bare feet and experience a range of surfaces/textures on their feet inside first and/or with socks on. Allow the child to guide how quickly you move to experimenting with other textures or playing outside with bare feet.