"Walking is an exercise complete in itself. Other muscular exertions need not be added to it . A man who walks, breathes and digests better, enjoys all the benefits to health that we pursue in sport. It is a form of exercise which brings beauty to the body, and if, by the wayside, we find something of interest to collect and classify, a ditch to jump, wood to gather for the fire, these movements - of extending the arms and bending the body make it the perfect gymnastic. Little by little, as man's knowledge increases, his intellectual interests widen and with these the activities of his body. The path of education should follow the path of evolution, to walk and to enjoy ever wider horizons. In this way, the child's life becomes increasingly rich. To make this principle a part of education is especially important in these days, when people are walking less, and using all kinds of vehicles to carry them about. It is not a good thing to cut life in two, using the limbs for games and the head for books. Life should be a single whole, especially in the earliest years, when the child is forming himself in accordance with the laws of his growth."
Maria Montessori - Absorbent Mind p149-150
External Link
Research Paper: Objectively measured sedentary behavior in preschool children: comparison between Montessori and traditional preschools - http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.782.7915&rep=re...
