relates to how children exploit physical action to dynamically offload parts of mental operations to physical action in the environment. Cognitive performance is enhanced through physical strategies that simplify the cognitive aspects of task. For example, in solving a jigsaw puzzle, a child will typically offload some of the difficult task of visualizing puzzle pieces by rotating the pieces with her hands and making spatial comparisons. Children solve many types of problems through this type of tight coupling of mental operations with physical actions in the environment. As they physically manipulate objects, they also learn to manipulate mental models of the world. In doing so, they can successfully tackle problems that require mental abilities they are still developing and concurrently develop the requisite skills.

Exploiting embodied knowledge: building abstract knowledge through metaphor. The third important idea relates to the role that embodied (image) schemata play in the development of children’s conceptual thinking. The meaning of many abstract concepts can be traced back to bodily origins. Experiences of repeated linking of bodily experiences with more abstract concepts leads children to implicit understanding of these concepts in bodily terms. For example, a young child may repeatedly experience movement toward

a desired object (mother, bottle, toy). Her early physical experiences of reaching goals through movement provide the foundation for her later understanding of how more abstract goals are reached. She comes to understand that goals are destinations that may be achieved through metaphorical movement along a linear path. When she graduates from high school, she may think, look how far I’ve come. Children come to understand more abstract ideas through implicit, metaphorical elaboration of their physical experiences. In doing so, they build up a system of understanding grounded in physical experiences and extended through metaphor to give meaning to abstract concepts.

Why Embodiment Matters

In general, interaction designers and researchers must think about new ways in which children can interact with computers—ways that are better tuned to children’s developing abilities and how they construct meaning through action. The following examples demonstrate how ideas from embodied cognition may affect what is considered in the design of children’s interactive technologies.

Interface design. Understanding how restructuring the environment, either digitally or physically, supports the construction of meaning has impli-