Lesson Plan: The Seventh Sense – Proprioception (PK-3)

The Summer Olympics are just around the corner! For those lucky enough to live in Minnesota, the Olympic Gymnastic Trials were held in Minneapolis. As I watched the GOAT–Simone Biles, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera, and St.Paul’s own Suni Lee make the cut, I was dumbfounded by each gymnast’s ability to know where their bodies were in space while tumbling across the floor and spinning through the air. 

How do our bodies know where they are mid-air? How do we automatically know if we can fit through a tight spot, how much strength we need to lift an object, or how we have an innate ability to climb stairs? 

Welcome to the exciting world of "The Seventh Sense"! We all understand the five senses of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch but there is a 6th, and a 7th, sense, too! According to child development experts, the 6th sense is balance, and the 7th is proprioception. 

Proprioception, or physical intuition, is how we understand where our bodies are in space, and that's what this lesson plan is all about! Proprioception is our body's built-in GPS, guiding our movements to ensure we can navigate our surroundings effectively (or spin through the air).

This lesson plan will inspire you to create a cadence of activities you can use to measure and log your students’ proprioception progress throughout the year. The most important thing is to encourage proprioception through play and for students to have fun as their bodies develop from the inside out and the bottom up. The lesson reminds us to allow failure, encourage productive struggle, and offer guidance for those in need of support when it is appropriate. By the end of the lesson, your students will be proprioception pros and have a whole new appreciation for the incredible way their bodies move and think!