“Why Won't My Child Sit Still?”

Adults spend a surprising amount of time asking young children to stop moving (“Sit properly”, “Stop moving”, “Why can't you stay still?”). But perhaps we should first ask: Why does the child need to move? For a young child, movement is one of the ways they experience the world: They carry, push, pull, climb, walk, balance, reach, transfer, run and repeat. Through movement, the child is learning about their body and their relationship with the environment.

A Montessori environment provides opportunities for purposeful movement: carrying a material to a work area, rolling a mat, pouring water, moving a chair carefully. The movement has a reason. This is different from asking a child to sit still simply because adults prefer stillness. If a child is constantly climbing furniture, perhaps they need more appropriate climbing opportunities. If they are always carrying objects, give them heavy carrying work. Instead of “How do I make my child sit still?”, ask “Where can my child move meaningfully?”