Children are constantly exploring and testing how their bodies, strength, and actions relate with the world around them. This is called proprioception, and is still being developed in young children (hence all the trips, falls, and no fear type craziness children sometimes exhibit). This also contributes to why children hit and push: combine lack of communication skills with low proprioception, and you get someone who may not know their own strength or the exact consequences of their actions. Pushing and hitting an inanimate object as a game can actually help develop proprioception, along with being a great tool for redirecting big emotions. We have worked a lot with this the last two weeks, coming up with agreements and even playing group games trying to use our strength to knock the heavy punching bag over.
