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Why do Swings attract Babies as well as Adults

Updated: Mar 20

We have always seen this in our stores or in the trade shows that we

participate in, whether its a baby in the mothers arm or a grown up

person, male or female, all just love to come and sit on the swings we

display. Seems like its a human tendency that we all get attracted to swings.



There ought to be logic to this, we thought and on research about this liking

of humans, this is what we found:


In his article: ‘What’s the Big Deal About Swinging?’ Tom Norquist says: “When

we think about why most humans truly enjoy swinging, we need to break

down what is actually happening. While swinging, we experience a full

range of sensations, from the calming rhythm of our to-fro movement to

the excitement of rapid travel through space and time. These experiences

are linked to pre-birth movement in the mother’s womb and the child’s

first sensation of gravitational forces.”


Norquist goes on to say: “Swinging stimulates our bodies’ sensory systems,

namely our vestibular and proprioceptive systems. Vestibular stimulation

occurs when we experience movement through time and space in

combination with the earth’s gravitational forces. During swinging, the

three semicircular canals in the inner ear are responding to movement

and acceleration in the horizontal, vertical and diagonal planes,

stimulation that is directly related to our sense of balance.




“When we think of man’s evolution, we are reminded of our relationship to

chimpanzees, which are reported to have 98.5 percent of the same genes

as humans and spent millions of years swinging and moving freely in the

tree canopy. During this time, the swinging stimulated the cerebellum,

further developing the balance, planning and language systems, and

improving the ability to establish emotional regulation. Swinging also

fires up the emotionally responsive connections of the brain in the

prefrontal cortex, helping us to feel calm and revitalised.




“Stimulation of the vestibular system through swinging helps us develop

and maintain the body’s proprioceptive system, which draws information

from our muscles and joints as our bodies move through space. This

information is processed by our central nervous system and causes us to

react to the stimuli.”




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