To promote your baby playfully without overtaxing it, that is probably close to the hearts of all fathers and mothers. Getting together with other parents to exchange ideas is also a pressing concern for most in the child’s first year. And, of course, babies also benefit from being able to make initial contact with their peers. PEKiP, a play and movement program for parents and their children, is tailored precisely to these needs.
Playful development
“Education through movement” was the motto of Prague psychologist Dr. Jaroslav Koch (1910-1979). He had found that babies develop particularly well when they engage in playful movement at an early age. This was a sensational theory at a time when babies spent the whole day in their cribs and had little variety apart from eating and sleeping. The second astonishing finding: babies play best naked. Because only naked babies are not cramped and can pursue their urge to move much more actively and spontaneously. Koch’s ideas were further developed into the PEKiP concept by the German psychologist Professor Christa Ruppelt in the 1970s in collaboration with social workers and educators. Today, the courses enjoy great popularity and are usually booked up months in advance.
What is PEKiP?
In its current form, PEKiP is a play and movement program for parents and children under the professional guidance of a specially trained PEKiP instructor. The course accompanies the development of the babies over 1 year. The children should be 4 to 6 weeks old at the start. Parents and children (usually 6-8 babies with their mothers and/or fathers) meet once a week for 90 minutes.
Warm and secure
Parents and children stay together in this constellation for one year. That means you get to know each other very well. This is an important prerequisite, because the children should feel comfortable and secure when interacting with their mothers/fathers and the other children. In a well-heated room (25-28 degrees Celsius), the floor of which is covered with washable rubber mats, the children are allowed to move and play to their hearts’ content. If the babies are still very small, the main focus is on lifting, holding and carrying techniques that are comfortable for both parents and the child and, above all, gentle on the back. Later, exercises are added that playfully support the children’s natural urge to move and encourage them in their personal development.
Playing with simple means
In addition to these motor exercises and games, however, the aim is also to stimulate the senses. Parents are given suggestions on what toys they can use to achieve this and how to make them themselves using simple means. For example, the babies are stroked and tickled with feathers and cloths, they are allowed to play with their hands and feet in water or mud, and they learn about many different materials by touching them. In addition, music is an important part of the sensory exercises, for example, the perception of different sounds or instruments, or singing and moving in a group.
Making friends
Making contacts that is important for both sides. Parents have a platform in the courses. In detailed discussion rounds, they can exchange experiences in dealing with their new role as parents and in the reorganization of everyday and professional life.The children find their first contacts among peers. The latter is particularly important, because at every age babies communicate differently, for example, at an early age through eye contact, later by touching or even more actively by crawling toward each other.
Establish closeness – allow distance
Another important goal is for parents and their children to get to know each other better. By playing together and under professional guidance, parents learn to better understand their child’s feelings and moods. In the first six months, the main focus is on close contact between parents and child. Later, letting go plays a more important role. In a secure circle, the baby learns to move away from mother or father without fear and to first discover this small world and conquer it for himself.
Encourage without overtaxing
The baby’s first year, a time of huge leaps in development. But every child also has its own pace and strengths and should never be perceived as deficient in its development.Perhaps the “crawling refusenik” is more the type of “quiet observer” who prefers to play delicately with his hands and can use them very purposefully at an early age. Or he may be one of the language virtuosos who will soon want to explain the world to us. It would be a pity if parent-child courses increased the general competitive pressure as to which child is the faster and more talented. PEKiP courses, on the other hand, want to convey that every baby has its own rhythm, shows different behaviors and develops in its own way.
Here’s what to know:
- PEKiP groups should only be led by people who are qualified by a special additional training. Only professionals who have a basic social pedagogical profession are admitted to this training.
- The courses are booked up very quickly. One should therefore register directly after the birth of the child. Information is available, for example, at adult education centers, family education centers or on the official homepage of the PEKiP Association.