Sports are a part of our lives. There are many games that are fun to both play and watch, such as soccer, tennis, swimming, and archery. Even if you aren’t aiming for the Olympics or the World Cup, this episode explores how to incorporate “play”—an unparalleled opportunity for everyone to engage in and strengthen both mind and body—into the lives of infants. In this episode, we discuss sports from the perspective of Montessori education.
We’d love to hear your thoughts. Feel free to share your comments!
Profile
Yati Obara
Editor-in-Chief, Scientific Montessori
Based in Japan, born in 1989. CEO of Motherhand and Co-Director of the nonprofit think tank Polymath Research. Holds an M.Eng. and is an AMI-certified teacher. Focused on Montessori developmental theory and AI. Mother of two.
Hiro Obara
Publisher, Scientific Montessori
Based in Japan, born in 1990. Works as a software developer and a weekend farmer. Father of two.
Montessori Sports from Birth
Yati
Today’s topic is “sports.” What does sports mean for children ages 0 to 3?
Hiro
Sports are wonderful. Thanks to sports, humans have become less violent in some ways. Imagine a world without sports. What would all those muscular people do?
Yati
Good point. Maria Montessori said, “A child who cannot direct coordinated movement toward an intellectual purpose destroys everything. This is because the active muscles are not connected to the mind. Intelligence and movement must work together.” I think she means that if a child breaks things, we should channel that energy into purposeful sports. For example, if a one or two year old throws everything, invite them to play a game of tossing balls into a basket. She also said, “Sports such as tennis and football are not only about controlling the ball accurately. They challenge us to acquire new skills we previously lacked. And this sensation of growing abilities is the true joy of sports.”
Hiro
I want to be clear: this isn’t wonderful because Maria Montessori said it. It’s wonderful because the program already exists within human beings. Montessori education is about preparing an environment that matches and brings out that program.
Yati
So how should we set up the environment for sports?
Hiro
The first thing I want to say is: don’t make it educational. Sports have rules. In basketball, you can’t walk while holding the ball; in tennis, you have to use a racket; you can’t hit outside the lines. Because there are rules anyone can understand, sports are fun.
Yati
I see.
Hiro
So even little one or two year olds, even toddlers, can play sports. In soccer, they might pick up the ball because they don’t understand “no hands,” but they intuitively get that kicking the ball with your feet is fun.
Yati
Right.
Hiro
They may not fully understand the rules, but they can enjoy it as a game, as play. Even babies.
Yati
Without being taught formally, they imitate older kids and adults around them and start having fun doing something similar.
Hiro
Exactly. And I want to say something about movement. It’s better to do all kinds of movements, to try every possible movement. In daily life today, with automation everywhere, people don’t move in many different ways. This is recognized in the sports world too: if you don’t do varied movements, you don’t use all your muscles evenly.
Yati
We don’t get enough exercise. When you do sports after a long break, you get sore muscles.
Hiro
If you keep using the same muscles, the moment you use an unused muscle, you can get injured. If you’ve only been moving laterally, you can’t keep up with vertical movement, and if you force it, you get hurt. You tear a tendon. That’s why we warm up before exercise. Sudden movement causes injuries. Top athletes make sure to do all kinds of movements.
Yati
What does “all kinds of movements” mean?
Hiro
In kinetic terms, there’s a kind of human mechanics. You have bones, tendons attached to them, and muscles stretched over them. The muscles contract and extend to bend joints and produce movement. Fundamentally, there are only three axes of motion: forward and back, side to side, and rotation. Everything is a combination of these.
Yati
That’s very scientific.
Hiro
Yes, it’s a scientific topic. Replicating this in a robot is extremely difficult. Take Tesla’s humanoid robot, which we often discuss: the hands are the hard part. People think “hand” means from the wrist down, but actually the “hand” includes the forearm, from the elbow down.
Yati
It’s true. If you touch your forearm while moving your fingers, you can feel the muscles working.
Hiro
Right. Tendons run all the way through, and the muscles near the elbow control gripping strength. Bending the first joint slightly, bending the second joint. That’s all controlled by the forearm.
Yati
It’s amazing to think that human babies do all these complex hand movements.
Hiro
Ultimately, having these “hands” is what lets us affect the world. Refining the “hand” is one of the unique aspects of Montessori education. The “hand” is an externalization of the brain, meant for manipulating the world. With our hands, we can change the environment and create tools.
Yati
How does this connect to sports?
Hiro
In sports, we use balls, bats, and rackets, and we play with physical motion. But robots still can’t do this. The most advanced humanoid robots as of November 2025 are still practicing walking in parks without falling.
Yati
So they have the motor skills of a 1-year-old.
Hiro
From practicing not to fall in a park to entering a tennis court and beating Djokovic. How many more years will that take?
Yati
There are pitching machines that throw 300 kilometers per hour, about 190 miles per hour, but they’re not humanoid.
Hiro
And even if a machine throws 200 kilometers per hour, about 125 miles per hour, can the catcher catch it? Sports are physically demanding. They push physical limits.
Yati
Children ages 0 to 3, when given freedom, are constantly pushing their limits. In Montessori terms, it’s called “maximum effort.” Around age 1, once children start walking steadily, they want to carry very heavy things. Maria Montessori wrote, “Children like not merely to walk, but to walk long distances and carry quite heavy objects.” “The hand that has learned to grasp must next learn to lift and move heavy things.” What’s difficult for robots is naturally programmed into humans.
Hiro
Even newly walking children, even one or two year olds, can play all kinds of sports. That’s remarkable. If a robot could do it, it would be a major invention. So thinking that little kids can’t do anything is a waste. You should expose them to sports and all kinds of movement. Leverage their versatility. Having them do only one thing is a real waste. This applies to movement, but it also transfers to the senses. It applies to the intelligence that integrates these, the workings of the mind. It applies to work and problem-solving that use the mind. So we need to be more scientific about how to preserve that versatility. For example, Coach Sasaki at Hanamaki Higashi High School in Japan, the school that produced baseball star Shohei Ohtani, X-rays every player’s elbow; if the growth plates haven’t closed and the player is still growing, he doesn’t push weight training or excessive workouts. He coaches scientifically.
Yati
Coaching based only on personal experience feels so primitive. Anyone coaching children in sports needs to scientifically understand the differences between children and adults. There’s now something called “Montessori Sports,” recognized by the Association Montessori Internationale. It’s an effort to apply Montessori theory to sports. Coaches need to know about preserving children’s versatility, preparing the environment, coordinating intelligence and movement, giving freedom, and grace and courtesy.
Hiro
Hanamaki Higashi has developed a kind of “Way of Baseball.” Courtesy toward umpires, picking up trash properly. They treat baseball like a traditional Japanese martial art, where character comes before skill. Character must develop first. That comes before baseball.
Yati
That’s very similar to what’s discussed in Montessori Sports.
Hiro
Sports coaching grounded in development of the whole person. Like bushido, the samurai code. I think Japan is ahead in this area, depending on the coach. So Montessori education isn’t just for parents raising children. Everyone involved with children needs to learn and understand it.
Yati
On a related note, I remembered something from my experience at a midwife-led birth center in Japan. Before giving birth, I had to attend several classes, and one was about learning and practicing correct walking. Proper posture aligns the pelvis, which gives the baby room to move freely inside, and the baby’s position improves. That makes delivery easier for both mother and baby. So they recommend walking with proper posture for pregnant women. On the other hand, if you’re doing desk work, staring at computers and smartphones, the midwives really scold you.
Hiro
When you get to the essence of the body and health, it comes down to blood flow. Blood flows through blood vessels that reach everywhere, from the brain and internal organs to the toes and fingertips, delivering oxygen so cells can live. If blood flow gets blocked somewhere, that’s illness.
Yati
Like a stroke. It’s life-threatening.
Hiro
A blocked heart artery is a heart attack. The point is, proper blood circulation can be defined as health.
Yati
Circulation.
Hiro
If you’re not moving, if you’re always doing desk work or sitting in one spot watching TV, blood still circulates, but imbalances develop. That’s why movement is important, and I always want to emphasize the importance of walking.
Yati
Yes. Walking is good for the brain, too.
Hiro
Right. Becoming bipedal was meaningful. Humans start walking on two legs around age 1. Since they’ve developed that ability, they should walk as much as possible.
Yati
That’s not really considered in current education.
Hiro
The opposite of “walking long distances” is “keeping children confined in small playgrounds or buildings.” That’s the current style. Safety concerns, lack of space in urban areas. There are reasons. But ideally, like forest kindergartens, walking through forests is better. There are benefits from greenery. And hills have slopes and uneven terrain. Walking over various surfaces teaches the senses: “This is dangerous,” “I might trip.” Field trips happen maybe once a year, but ideally the style should be reversed, with field trips every day.
Yati
That’s right. Especially around 18 months, when walking stabilizes. From about age 2, children can walk really long distances, several kilometers, about two miles. They can keep walking for about an hour.
Hiro
Yes. The more they walk, the smarter they get. A sensitive period for walking?
Yati
The thing about field trips is that you set a destination like a mountaintop, and reaching it becomes the goal. But it’s better to walk with “walking” as the purpose. “Let’s go walking today.” Otherwise you end up rushing. Children suddenly stop and spend 20 minutes intently observing something, then start walking again as if nothing happened. If you don’t know this, you say, “Hurry up,” “Walk properly.” The child gets frustrated, thinking, “I wanted to stop and look at something,” and says, “I’m not walking anymore.” The adult then mistakenly thinks, “Maybe this child can’t walk.” So it’s better to make walking the goal. If they walked, that’s a success.
Hiro
It’s also better not to hold hands. It interferes with body movement. It’s like walking with one arm raised the whole time. It makes balancing harder.
Yati
For adults too, it throws off their posture. You do have to choose safe locations, though.
Hiro
So think of yourself as the child’s bodyguard, their security detail. You wouldn’t rush a VIP, right? You stay close but not too close, constantly sensing dangers around them, preventing hazards before they happen.
Yati
That’s exactly right. Maria Montessori said, “Become a servant,” but “bodyguard” fits better. “Servant” sounds like you do everything for them, but really, you’re a bodyguard.
Hiro
Everyone, become your child’s bodyguard. [laughs]
