What We Do

🌟 What We Do at Ninanki Foundation

At Ninanki Foundation, we cultivate healthy, confident, and emotionally intelligent children through movement-centered early childhood education. Our programs are designed for children aged 3 to 9 years, with a special focus on motor development, body awareness, creative expression, and ecological consciousness.

We offer a holistic educational model that integrates physical activity, neuroscience, artistic play, and emotional literacy—laying the foundation for lifelong learning, health, and personal growth.

🧠 1. Brain-Body Integration: Development Through Movement

The first years of life are critical for shaping how children learn, move, and relate to the world. Our programs use movement-based education to:

Stimulate neurological development, especially the vestibular and proprioceptive systems, essential for focus, coordination, and learning readiness.
Support cross-lateral movement patterns that connect the left and right brain hemispheres, improving reading readiness and emotional regulation.
Reinforce motor milestones through repetition, variation, and challenge, helping children move with confidence and purpose.

Every activity is guided by trained facilitators who ensure children are challenged without being overwhelmed, fostering intrinsic motivation and self-confidence.

🐾 2. The Ninanek Animals: Movement Meets Storytelling

Children learn best through imaginative play—so we’ve created the Ninanek Animal Group, a team of 7 original characters who embody movement principles and emotional themes:

🐱 Cat – soft, flexible movement; themes of rest and self-care
🐻 Bear – grounded strength; safety and belonging
🐅 Tiger – confident power; healthy expression of anger
🦁 Lion – noble posture; leadership and courage
🐆 Panther – elegance and grace; quiet observation
🦘 Kangaroo – bounce and rhythm; excitement and joy
🦙 Llama – calm and curiosity; connection with nature

Each character guides children through movement sequences, emotional exploration, stories, songs, and crafts, making each class a full-body, full-heart experience.

This playful structure helps children:

Embody and regulate emotions through movement.
Relate inner experiences to external stories and archetypes.
Explore different aspects of personality in a safe, supportive environment.

🎶 3. Multisensory Learning: Music, Rhythm & Art

We engage all senses to create deep and lasting learning experiences. Our sessions include:

Rhythmic games and music that support timing, memory, and speech development.
Instrument play to build fine motor skills and auditory discrimination.
Visual arts and crafts that reinforce motor themes and emotional content.

We draw inspiration from Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, and sensorimotor integration models, believing that creativity is a key driver of learning and joy.

Each session becomes a story-driven sensory journey, allowing children to express and process what they feel and think—without needing to use words.

🧘 4. Embodied Awareness: Knowing the Body and Emotions

We teach children to listen to their bodies and recognize how movement is connected to mood, thoughts, and energy levels. Our practices include:

Simple mindfulness-in-movement games to increase body awareness.
Language to describe body sensations (“heavy,” “tight,” “tingly”)—building a bridge between physical and emotional states.
Tools to recognize when they need rest, release, grounding, or excitement—and how to find it through movement.

This cultivates:

Self-regulation and early emotional intelligence.
A sense of safety in one’s own body.
The ability to express and manage big emotions without fear or shame.

🌿 5. Nature as a Teacher: Ecological and Outdoor Learning

We believe in reconnecting children with the natural world—not just as a setting, but as an active educator.

Whenever possible, we host sessions outdoors—in parks, gardens, or forest areas.
Children learn from natural elements (stones, leaves, sticks, water) and adapt their movements to changing environments.
Our curriculum weaves in themes of sustainability, seasonal change, and animal life, helping kids build empathy for all living beings.

This nurtures a sense of interdependence, respect, and stewardship for the Earth, while also boosting immunity, sensory development, and resilience.

🤝 6. Family & Community Engagement

At Ninanki, we believe that education starts at home. That’s why we:

Invite parents and caregivers to participate in selected sessions, especially those focused on bonding and co-regulation.
Offer movement activities to do at home that strengthen the parent-child relationship.
Host community events, workshops, and performances to celebrate what children are learning and invite broader involvement.

We support caregivers with guidance and inspiration, showing them how movement can be a source of connection, healing, and fun at any age.

🧍‍♀️ 7. Preventative Health Through Play

Our movement curriculum is designed in consultation with kinesiologists and pediatric therapists, ensuring that children:

Learn healthy posture and avoid imbalanced patterns that can lead to future pain or dysfunction.
Develop core stability, joint alignment, and functional strength through natural, enjoyable movement.
Experience exercise as joyful and expressive, not a chore—creating a lifelong positive relationship with physical activity.

We aim to prevent sedentary habits, digital overexposure, and postural problems through early intervention, making health second nature from the very start.

🌈 8. Empowerment, Identity & Joy

Above all, we create a space where children feel:

Safe to explore
Valued for who they are
Free to express
Encouraged to grow

Through embodied experiences, children form a healthy identity, learn about their strengths and challenges, and discover that movement is a powerful tool for life.

At Ninanki, every child is seen, celebrated, and supported on their unique journey toward becoming a joyful, resilient human being.