New research published in Frontiers of Pediatrics found that children and adolescents who spend most of their time barefoot develop motor skills differently from those who habitually wear shoes. 👟 Further, they found the habitually barefoot children had noticeably better jumping and balancing skills compared to those who wore shoes habitually.

Walking barefoot not only has influences on developing proper biomechanics, but also has great influences on the brain 🧠. Walking barefoot allows for greater sensory afferentation to the brain, from the feeling of grass between their toes to balancing on pebbled sidewalks.

Try to give your young children enough time without shoes!

Zech, Astrid, et al. “Motor skills of children and adolescents are influenced by growing up barefoot or shod.” Frontiers in pediatrics 6 (2018): 115.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2018.00115