Crawling Just Isn’t That Easy

When a task is engaging, it can offer so much insight and even entertainment. Today, I crawled like an infant… and it was miserable.

I’m glad that as Homo sapiens, we learn quite young that sometimes less is more and two legs are better than four. I tried crawling like a baby for about 4 minutes and what a whole new world! Well- an old world, rather. This is what I had discovered.

First of all, crawling just isn’t that easy. Maybe it’s no longer effortless because my body is old and achy (at 23, go figure) and I would like to think that I’m accustomed to walking upright. I immediately felt the pressure of my body shifting to my palms and knees. I sat up several times to allay this discomfort and I wondered- “do babies sit up for this same reason?” My brain branched into different theories about infants’ still-pending patella formation and how knee cartilage may act as a little cushion- but I digress. So, now that my knees were thoroughly aching after 72 seconds, I tried setting up a goal to get from point A to point B in my living room.

Absolutely treacherous.

It takes quite a long time to reach your destination. The hands and knees definitely aren’t the JetBlue of infant mobility. Interestingly enough, babies pick up on this eventually and realize- “hey… it’s time to switch to first class.” Karen Adolph, professor at NYU and head of the university’s Infant Action Lab, published a fine study explaining how infants make the transition to walking to increase efficiency and insight. Check that out if possible.

Then came the point where I wanted something from the table. I pulled on my brother’s leg to get it for me- which at this point, my poor almost-college-freshman brother started wondering if this is what university would decimate him to. Vision was another obstacle. You can only see so much when your head is 7 to 11 inches above the ground and picking up your neck to look at the ceiling doesn’t happen so frequently. Those poor, chubby necks!

Child Friendly Office Setting

When dealing with children, it’s essential to understand that their comfort is of the utmost importance. They may not quite understand why they’re being brought to a study or know how to express any uneasiness they may feel. When inviting young participants to a study, you would want them to feel comfortable from the moment they walk in. The waiting room is a great place to start. The setup of that room is crucial to social and emotional anxieties children also feel; so, what could we put on the walls to a 10-year-old feel at ease?

Originally, I had thought to not even put posters, but to lay out the walls with a series of activities (mazes, tic-tac-toe, things to that effect) so they could stay occupied while waiting. I still think it’s an interesting idea, but for the sake of this prompt I thought something more static might work too. So the idea came to me to hang posters of young children with careers. This would include things like a child president giving a speech, a child professor lecturing an auditorium of adults, a child chef, and a child police officer. Seeing these images would render children confused enough, I think, to ask questions and think about what they’re seeing. It would spark conversation with their guardian by them maybe saying “that’s going to be me one day!” It’s a core belief of mine that children must be spoken with and reasoned with in order to raise them effectively.

The idea came to me after remembering a recent trip of mine to the Apple- Upper East Side store. Huge posters (probably LEDs) of Nintendo’s Mario characters filled the walls and I can imagine my office being as symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing. Have a look.

I certainly felt like a kid and even though I went in for a MacBook, I really just enjoyed looking at the walls (while simultaneously saving $1300).

 

 

 

 

Post-Testing Music

Caring for the children’s well-being doesn’t just stop at the waiting room or even the testing. Once children have completed the study, a short relaxation period may prove beneficial. Having kids listen to music is one way of offering this relaxation. There are no particular songs that I could mandate, however, because children have their own musical preferences. To each his own and this is no different for them. If the task is meant to put the children in a good mood, shouldn’t the music be tailored to their liking?