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Bodily Kinesthetic
"A sound mind in a sound body. Mens sana in corpore sano."
- Definition of Greek Life from E. Cobham Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
"The most important attribute for a soccer player is mental toughness. The power of the mind is an incredible thing, one that can never be underestimated."
- Women's World Cup soccer champion Mia Hamm, quoted in Sports Illustrated for Women, Aug. 6, 1999
Perhaps the most misunderstood of the intelligences is Bodily Kinesthetic intelligence--or, as author Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., puts it, Body Smarts. People with this gift are often good at sports, and like working with their hands and being outdoors. Their best ideas tend to come to them when doing something physical. They are also inwardly Body Smart, using instincts and getting "gut feelings" about things. Unfortunately for kids who are Body Smart, they also have trouble sitting still, and prefer to learn about things by touching them.
"When you translate this movement into an environment (such as the classroom) where quieter activities are expected, it becomes a problem," says Armstrong. In some children, Bodily Kinesthetic intelligence is ignored as a learning gift, and misdiagnosed as a learning disorder or medical problem, according to Armstrong. Sometimes these kids are even diagnosed as having ADHD and placed on medication.
But Bodily Kinesthetic intelligence is far from a negative thing. Howard Gardner, who developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences, points out that "skilled use of one's body has been important in the history of the species for thousands, if not millions, of years," and that it is only in fairly recent Western culture that people have begun to think that "what we do with our bodies is somehow less privileged, less special." Armstrong lists among possible professions for Body Smart people physical therapists, dancers, actors, craftspeople, jewelers, physical education teachers, choreographers and professional athletes.
To encourage your Body Smart child to develop her gifts, Armstrong recommends getting her involved in sports, and in the expressive arts-drama, sculpting, model making, mask making, etc. You can also help your child apply his Body Smarts to more traditional areas of learning. If your child needed to memorize the state capitols, for instance, Armstrong suggests your child could use chalk to draw a map of the United States in the driveway, write in the capitols, and "move around the states from one to another." Your child could also put together a map puzzle of the U.S, or use his body as a map, making labels and putting state capitols on different parts of his body.
Though the gift of Body Smarts might be less valued, and sometimes less easy to apply than other areas of intelligence, it shouldn't be underestimated. "It's a really important thing to have in life," says Armstrong. "You can leave your calculator, your notebook, or your computer behind, but you take your body wherever you go."
Kinds of Multiple Intelligences
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