Physical Activity Specialist

Although I'm a children's physical activity specialist, I don't deal only with the child's physical domain. When we talk about children – especially those in the birth to age 8 range – we have to consider the whole child, and it is around the concept of the whole child that my work has focused. What does that mean? Well, children are thinking, feeling, moving creatures who learn through all their senses; and because the three domains of development (cognitive, social/emotional, and physical) are so intertwined, young children can't learn something in one domain without it impacting the others. So it frustrates me when people look at the mind and body as separate entities, and when they consider the functions of the mind to be superior to those of the body. I believe a child's success in life depends on a healthy mind in a healthy body, that the two are connected, and that movement and play are the key!

Rae Pica is an internationally recognized educational consultant specializing in early childhood physical activity. She has consulted for various organizations, including the Sesame Street Research Department, Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues, Gymboree, the Head Start Bureau, Centers for Disease Control, the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and state health departments throughout the country. She also served on the task force of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education that created national guidelines for early childhood physical activity. Pica's insights have been featured in numerous print and Internet publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Child, Family Fun, Parents Magazine, and iParenting.com. As founder and director of Moving & Learning, she has been working in the field of early childhood for 27 years.

The author of 17 books, Pica's works include the textbook Experiences in Movement, going into its 4th edition; the award-winning Great Games for Young Children (Gryphon House, 2006); Jump into Literacy: Active Learning for Preschoolers (Gryphon House, 2007) and A Running Start: How Play, Physical Activity and Free Time Create a Successful Child (Marlowe and Co., 2006), written for the parents of children birth to 8.

Pica is also the author of a blog called The Pica Perspective and the host of a series of podcasts called Body, Mind and Child: Preparing Your Child's Body and Mind for Life, in which she interviews experts from the fields of early childhood education, physical education/motor development, child development, the neurosciences and more.

Have a question for Rae Pica?
Ask it at the Q & A desk!