Supporting kinetic learners takes space and time

The munchkins were born into a family of movers. Seeing them develop as dancers, capoeristas, spinners, leapers, sliders, and shakers is fascinating to watch, and at times can be challenging to facilitate with people moving at different speeds, in varying directions, and with diverse skill sets at sharing the space with others. As with most things in our family learning lab, finding space for everyone is a daily experiment.

In my pre-mommy life I traveled the world as a space activator, dancing in as many places as I could, feeling into the energies and creative opportunities everywhere. My roots as a spatially sensitive mover, and James’ life’s work of studying the capoeira, meant having space to move was central for our creation flows and our family rhythms.

Mommy, the Visionary Space Activator, 4 years before birthing Bloom. Photo by Elen A. Awalom

With the birth of each munchkin I learn more ways, and navigate more complexities, about giving everyone the space they need. I am deeply committed to making sure my children have as much space as possible. Some days my efforts don’t work out all the way, but I know we can always try again tomorrow.

When I reflect on what it takes to really support my children’s freedom to move, the first thing that comes to mind is our conscious choice as parents to have an open-space, living environment. We have very little furniture. There are very few objects that are too precious for kids to touch, damage or break. In prioritizing creating a space where we can dance and play capoeira all the time, we naturally ensure that there’s always space for the kids to run, play, and be expansive in their movements as well.

James training capoeira at sunset, 2 years before Bloom was born. This is a still taken from a video filmed by Binah.

Before the pandemic, our house was also a site in our village of families where people came so that their kids could move around freely too. I loved that we could share the bounty of our own space with others. For some families, our house was one of the few home-like spaces where their children could move with ease—and it meant a lot to them that we actively shared the gift of our space.

Baby Jubilee playing inside the spatial-objects maze that Mommy created.

Living in the city, space is a precious thing to come by, and finding safe, free spaces for my children to be themselves is an ongoing discovery for me. Where can they run? Where can they be loud? Can they eat their snack? And make a mess? Where are the bathrooms? Is the ground clean? Is it away from the street and traffic? Can the baby and the big kids enjoy this place? Is it near the metro? Factoring these and many other questions go into the way a space is chosen.

Moving around as a family, primarily on public transportation, as large as we are is complicated sometimes. Many days, home is the only place that meets everybody’s needs—Mommy’s included! So our home space is intentionally as open as it can be so that we can make our adventures here when I don’t have the energy or resources to search out welcoming spaces in public.

Jubilee and revelation rearranging Mommy’s library for their own purposes.

I’m constantly reimagining space to be more functional and accessible for all the movers in our family. One of the big shifts I made this year—and it’s been the BEST thing ever—is taking away the headboard and bed frame, and putting my mattress on the floor. It freed up so much space in my room, which is the heart of my creation laboratory and where so much of our family learning lab labors take place.

My bed also doubles as a launch pad for munchkins wanting to flip, tumble, and jump. Supporting kinetic learners means designing spaces with their movement needs at the center. I dream of a world where more public spaces are shaped with families, young children, and movers of all ages in mind. I dream of a world where more people develop a consciousness around creative ways to make home spaces and other private spaces more accessible and inviting to families nurturing little movers.