Lectures&Workshops
Kids on snow and move smart! with Felix Neureuther – Lecture
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Lecture The brain behaves similarly to a muscle: the more you exercise, the stronger it becomes. If you let your gray cells rest, their performance decreases. We leave tedious learning by heart and arithmetical tasks to school lessons. Numerous studies indicate that motion is at least as important for the development of the brain as state of the art education. Physical activity leads to an increase in brain blood flow and adaptation of the neurons and their synapses. The performance of the brain can increase!
The program: ‘kids on snow and move smart! with Felix Neureuther’ wants to encourage children to do more sports in general and to be active in nature again, especially in winter. Our goal is to bridge the gap between this philosophy and skiing. We aim to achieve this goal by preparing our highly trained ski-instructors with the fundamental principles of the ‘move smart!’ philosophy. Thus, we are convinced that skiing is the ideal way to boost the brain with fun and motion.
Motion supports the learning processes
The versatile sequences of movements in alpine skiing activate diverse mental processes. These so-called executive functions – working memory, inhibition and cognitive flexibility – are stimulated by the ever-changing stimuli of the environment. The changing speeds of skiing, different terrain or different snow conditions offer ideal learning conditions without the need for artificial environments.
Coordinative Abilities – the motor equivalent to the central nervous system ‘Which sport is more demanding in terms of coordination than skiing?’
In addition to the executive functions, the learning concept focuses on the coordinative abilities of the children. A particularly lasting learning effect occurs when motions are consciously controlled – this is where the brain learns most efficiently. This can best be achieved by combining thinking and motion – ski courses with varied forms of games can sustainably promote this development process. Accordingly ‘move smart! with Felix Neureuther’ fits into our teaching philosophy as an extension, seamlessly – it is not an independent course concept. ‘move smart!’ tasks are PLUS tasks (difficult learning environment) for varied and exciting skiing lessons.
– Coordinately demanding tasks solve deadlocked patterns of motion
– Targeted use of tasks increases your cognitive capacity
Based on the executive functions (working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility) and coordinative abilities (rhythmization, coupling, orientation, reaction, balance, change, and differentiation ability), we introduce our well-founded learning concept, ‘kids on snow and move smart! with Felix Neureuther’.
GOAL
Motion or physical activity increases the blood flow and leads to forming new synapses to the brain, which can affect the performance of the brain. This allows thought processes (cognitive information processing) to run faster, correlations to be recognized more quickly and movement coordination to be improved. Through the successful combination of motion and thinking, failures and difficulties in learning could possibly be overcome and thus daily life for children could be mastered more stress-free. The aim is to improve coordination and cognitive skills in the ski course and beyond.
“’move smart!’ should not be a guide to a better life, but an aid and motivation for children and adolescents to move and at the same time to develop the brain. It should be fun and bring joy in the motion. “
Felix Neureuther