Movement Activities & Mindfulness Skills for

Healthier KidsLeah Kalish, MA: leah@move-with-me.com

www.move-with-me.com818-667-3689

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Leah Kalish, MAEducation and Experience•NYU in 70’s and Pacific Oaks College 90’s•Teaching & developing resources/curriculum since mid-90’s

Successful Curriculum and Resources•Move With Me Action Adventures – Pizza Party and Scooter & Me •Barefoot Books - Yoga Pretzels and Yoga Planet Decks •Every Kid’s Yoga – Teaching Yoga to Children with Special Needs•School Specialty and Yoga Ed – Pre-K through High School Curricula•Imaginazium - Yoga Kit and Empowerment Pack for Kids•Gaiam - Yoga Fitness Videos for Kids, ages 3 – 6 and 7 – 12

Dr. J.C. Pearce: Play is nature’s biological plan for learning.

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Objectives• Understand why are movement & mindfulness

essential to well-being, learning and social - emotional development.

• Learn how to integrate more movement & mindfulness easily and immediately.

• Be inspired to use story books for movement and to model self-awareness /self-care daily.

• Discover new resources for bringing movement & mindfulness to your classroom.

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Overview• Pre-Activity • Adventure Skills• Post-Activity• Easy Ways to Move More• Fun Games for Building Skills• Movement Stories• Integrating Self-Regulation• Implementation Chart

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Pre-Activity• Turn head to left.

– Notice how it feels. – Notice range of peripheral vision.

• Turn head to right. – Notice sensation and vision.

• Fold from hips into forward bend– Notice sensation and range of motion, touch your

fingers lightly on your knees or shins to mark ROM• Snap Test

– Notice ease or difficulty.

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A B C D E F G

l r t r l r t

H I J K L M N l l r l r r t

O P Q R S T U l t r l t r r

V W X Y Z l t t l r 6

• Adventure Skilll # 1

• Adventure Skill # 2

• Adventure Skill # 3

• Adventure Skill # 4

*Ordered to coincide with Brain Gym®’s PACE 7

A B C D E F G l r t r l r t

H I J K L M N l l r l r r t

O P Q R S T U l t r l t r r

V W X Y Z l t t l r

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Post-Activity• Turn head to left.

– Notice how it feels. – Notice range of peripheral vision.

• Turn head to right. – Notice sensation and vision.

• Fold from hips into forward bend– Notice sensation and range of motion, touch your

fingers lightly on your knees or shins to mark ROM• Snap Test

– Notice ease or difficulty.

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Results After those simple activities, most experience:• Greater range of motion• Greater ease with cognitive tasks• Greater enjoyment, confidence, relaxation

Notice what’s true for you. Why? • When you play more, you stress less. • When you move more, you learn more!

Playful mind-body activities support an emotionally stable and learning-able state. Your “state” dictates what is possible for you and your children.

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Adventure Skill #1

Drink water regularly to sustain feeling well, thinking clearly and being friendly.

Enhances:• Electro-chemical activity in

Central Nervous System• Processing speed• Stress release

Drink Water

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Adventure Skill #2

Rub spots under collarbone with thumb and one finger while holding other hand over navel and tracking eyes horizontally. Deep breath and HUMMMMMMM to calm and focus.

Stimulates:• Flow of oxygen to the brain• Hemispheric integration• Binocular vision - eye teaming• Reticular Activating System –filter sensory info

*Similar to Brain Buttons in Brain Gym®

Humming Breath*

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Humming Breath Chant

One hand on my belly, I let it restThe other, I bring up to my chestI find a pair of buttons beneath the shelfAnd HuuuuuummmmmmTo calm myselfI move my eyes slowly From the left to the rightHeart calm, mind clearBody strong, eyes bright!

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Humming Breath Videohttp://vimeo.com/68339890

Adventure Skill #3

March in place, alternately touching hands to opposite knees to energize body and wake up brain.

Enhances:• Crossing the visual/auditory/

kinesthetic/tactile midlines• Hemispheric integration• Binocular vision• Binaural hearing• Left right coordination• Stability in the walking gait

*Cross Crawl in Brain Gym®

Monkey Wisdom*

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Monkey Wisdom ChantI am healthyI play every dayI drink lots of waterI don’t float awayI rest when I’m tiredI breathe when I’m madI eat fruits & veggies‘Cause they are radRed, orange, yellow, greenAt every meal and in between!

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Monkey Wisdom Videohttp://vimeo.com/68339892

Adventure Skill #4

1. Cross your ankles and wrists. Clasp hands and rest them at your sternum.

2. Breathe and think of something or someone you love.

Supports:• Emotional centering• Grounding• Respiration• Self-control and boundaries

*Hook ups in Brain Gym®

Deep Down Wisdom*

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Deep Down Wisdom Videohttp://vimeo.com/68339891

The Head Start Child Development / Early Learning Framework and Common Core Standards• Outline domains of learning to guide your choices of curriculum, implementation, and assessment • Domains are intended to be developed in an integrated way to support whole child

• Ideal learning activities are purposeful, play-based, engaged explorations that we, teachers, support through intentional scaffolded instruction.

• Activities you learn today integrate all learning domains, engage children in purposeful play, and give you specific tools to re-engage them when there is conflict, emotional distress, or confusion.

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Early Learning Framework• Physical Development & Health (PDH)• Social & Emotional Development (SED)• Approaches to Learning (AtL)• Logic and Reasoning (LR)• Language Development (LD)• Literacy Knowledge & Skills (LKS)• Mathematics Knowledge & Skills (MKS)• Science Knowledge & Skills (SKS)• Creative Arts Expression (CAE)• Social Studies Knowledge and Skills (SSKS)• English Language Development (ELD)

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Executive Function• Kids need access to frontal cortex for higher

levels of learning• Stress blocks that access:

o Dehydrationo Poor nutritiono Inability to self-soothe or regulateo Developmentally inappropriate activities /

expectations o Your stress about assessment or behavior

management

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3 Ways to Support Executive Function

• Embodied Self-Care and Regulation

• Play, Games, Yoga Poses

• Movement Stories

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GamesInner Mountain – embody how to feel strong and stable by grounding oneself.Stand like a soldier – tense, stiff, straight. Test for stability.Stand like a MT – test for stability. What the difference?When trying hard or tense – energy moves up. When relaxed or “well-being” – energy moves down.Once the distinction is embodied, invite kids to practice dropping into Mt quickly, solidly. Play upbeat music and have kids dance around the space. When music stops, kids stand immediately in MT (not freeze!). Test them and help kids who need coaching. Play several rounds, and revisit regularly. Inner Mountain Video https://vimeo.com/35411794

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Play/Movement support Being Well & Doing Well• Over-rides the body’s physiological response to stress.

• Invites whole child participation. Organizes whole-brain function for optimal learning. (Dennison and Hannaford).

• Fuels the brain and body with oxygen and glucose.

• Raises chemical messengers levels that balance mind/ body.

• Triggers BDNF, a neuro-tropic factor required for thinking. BDNF decreases after 20 minutes of sitting and is triggered again with movement.

• Strengthens key areas of the brain – basal ganglia, cerebellum and corpus callosum by building brain cells and connections. Improves mental focus and concentration (Caterino and Polk, 1999)

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Play/Movement support Being Well & Doing Well• Enhances memory, creativity and academic achievement. (Michund

and Wild 1991), (Brink, 1995), (Vanves and Blanchard).

• Develops eye muscle fitness and helps with reading.

• Helps 85% of students who are kinesthetic learners (Hannaford). Learning through body is more powerful than learning through listening and recalling facts (Jensen). If it’s not in your body, you really haven’t learned it.

• Creates a fun, harmonious and safe environment for learning and developing social skills.

• Develops self-awareness and the ability to self-regulate.

• Builds self-confidence and strengthens the connection to inner resources and healthy choices.

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GamesNature Kids – embody & express various aspects of nature found in weather such as rain, wind, storms, snow, sun, rainbows – as a way to move, play, energize, and integrate body and mind. Be a Rainbow – embody the colors and qualities of a rainbow in order to connect with “coherence” = feeling balanced, alert, clear, kind, caring, open, and creative. (“Incoherence”= stressed, out of sorts, angry, sad, shut down, scattered, tired, etc.)

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Rainbow PoemRed – I’m strongOrange – I’m happyYellow – I know I canGreen – I’m caringBlue – I tell the truthIndigo – I’m smartViolet – Understanding and loving of ….All my parts!

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Rainbow Body Videohttps://vimeo.com/33815681

How to make an origami rainbowhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzF8jqik8FE

• Active play promotes creative problem solving - apply to conflicts. • Active play facilitates better language skills and communication.• Active play improves memory and learning – apply thru-out the day.• Active play improves focus, attention and sustained concentration.• Active play improves impulse control – I can re-direct my self!• Active play improves balance & coordination = confidence• Active play regulates body weight = well-being• Active play calms, sooths and reduces self-reported anxiety

SEL Benefits of Play

(PDH, SED, AtL, LR, LD, CAE)

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Movement Stories

Storybook + Playful Movement = Ideal Recipe for well-being, learning, harmony, productivity

•Healthy Activity that supports standards

•Story Time is already built into your schedule

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Veggie Story Prep• Bring in a basket of LOTS of different fresh vegetable• Let children touch, smell. Discuss colors, qualities, nutrients. • Invite children to “BE” each one of the veggies with their

bodies. This is a great warm up for the movement story.• Tell Veggie Story on next slide …• Be dramatic. Have fun with it. Play music. • CAPITALS indicate where a pose or movements go. • Pause as needed to make space for poses / movement.• Encourage children to explore different qualities, levels,

speeds in their movement while being a bird, cricket, etc.• Invite children to make expressive sounds. 31

Veggie Story Once upon a time, a TINY SEED SNUGGLED DOWN into the earth. There, it SIPPED WATER from the RAIN and ATE MINERALS from the SOIL and made friends with the WORMS that WIGGLED through the dirt so seed could BREATHE and have room to GROW. First, it SPROUTS and SHOOTS a stem up toward the SUN. Then, leaves UNFOLD. A BUTTERFLY flits and a LADYBUG visits… BIRDS fly by and BEES and CRICKETS play nearby. Seed GROWS into a BIG, BEAUTIFUL PLANT, just the one it came from … Show us which yummy, nutritious VEGGIE YOU ARE. (Encourage each child to BECOME one of the vegetables while you guess, such as: are you a bushy broccoli and leafy kale, and are you long, thin green beans or asparagus?) Now let’s all be each veggie. (Coach children to copy each other’s pose and/or movement one at a time)Now show me a way YOU LIKE TO MOVE when you eat veggies and feel HAPPY & STRONG. Do you JUMP, HOP, KICK, SKIP, PRANCE, SHAKE, FLAP, STOMP, TWIST, BEND, SLIDE, or BOP? (Demo and invite movements.)And now, let’s all SIT, then LIE on our BACKS and REST. Put your HANDS on your BELLY & FEEL your BREATH come in & go out. Ahhhhh

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Movement Story Demo

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Veggie Story Videohttp://vimeo.com/68337532

Movement Story Review

• Choose storybook– Choreograph poses and movements first– Invite Kids to act out the story as you read– Read a section, then encourage creative movement:

• Can you be a worm, mouse, cat? How do you move?• If you were a turtle/beetle, stuck on your back, show what

would you do to get unstuck?

• Choose a Movement and Story Based Curriculum– Move with Me Movement & Mindfulness Curriculum– Yoga Ed. Preschool Curriculum & Tools for Teachers

• Choose Yoga Cards– Build pose/movement vocabulary– Invite Kids to make up their own story

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Ideal Books forMovement Stories

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle• Panda Bear, Panda Bear by Eric Carle• The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle• The Very Clumsy Click Beetle by Eric Carle• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown• Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman• My Daddy is a Pretzel by Baron Baptiste• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

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Drink Water every 20-30 min throughout the day

Humming Breath – to calm and focus at circle time, after outside time, before or after transitions

Monkey Wisdom – to energize as well as prepare for gross and fine motor skill activities and reading

Deep Down Wisdom – to ground and center when upset, angry, frightened

Self-Care Review

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TIME to Play More, Stress Less Adventure Skills Promotes

Drop Off Offer WaterHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomOh No! Ah Yes!Deep Down Wisdom

Ability to think, learn, calm and interactCenter, relax body, calm mindAttention, focus and awarenessInvites calm, dissipates fear and anger, promotes focus

Transition to Circle Monkey Wisdom Infinity 8’sOh No! Ah Yes! Deep Down Wisdom

Whole brain learning, gross and fine motor skillsEye-teaming, binocular vision, stress reliefAttention, focus and awarenessInvites calm, dissipates fear and anger, promotes focus

Transition to Active Time Monkey Wisdom Variations Full Sensing Mode/Elephant WisdomFull Scanning Mode

Whole brain learning, gross and fine motor skillsRelaxation, auditory clarity, balanceCenter, relax body, calm mind

Transition to Clean-up Humming Breath/Ocean WisdomFull Sensing Mode/Elephant WisdomFull Scanning Mode

Center, relax body, calm mindRelaxation, auditory clarity, balanceCenter, relax body, calm mind

Transition to Quiet Time Drink WaterHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomDeep Down WisdomBreathe/Fish Breath

Ability to think, learn, calm and interactCenter, relax body, calm mindInvites calm, dissipates fear and anger, promotes focusIntentional conscious self-regulation, calm

Academic/Detail Work Monkey WisdomInfinity 8’sRock the Boat

Whole brain learning, gross and fine motor skillsEye-teaming, binocular vision, stress reliefRelaxation, attentiveness, memory

Conflict Rock the BoatHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomCat WisdomDeep Down Wisdom

Relaxation, attentiveness, memoryCenter, relax body, calm mindStress relief, relaxation of the Tendon Guard ReflexInvites calm, dissipates fear and anger, promotes focus

Emotionally Triggered Drink WaterFish BreathHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomBreathe/Fish Breath

Ability to think, learn, calm and interactOxygenation, restorationCenter, relax body, calm mindIntentional conscious self-regulation, calm

Confusion Monkey WisdomFull Sensing Mode/Elephant WisdomCat WisdomOh No! Ah Yes!

Whole brain learning, gross and fine motor skillsRelaxation, auditory clarity, balanceStress relief, relaxation of the Tendon Guard ReflexAttention, focus and awareness

TIME TO PLAY MORE, STRESS LESS ADVENTURE SKILLS

Drop Off Offer WaterHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomOh No! Ah Yes!Deep Down Wisdom

Transition to Circle Monkey Wisdom Infinity 8’sOh No! Ah Yes! Deep Down Wisdom

Transition to Active Time Monkey Wisdom Variations Full Sensing Mode/Elephant WisdomFull Scanning Mode

Transition to Clean-up Humming Breath/Ocean WisdomFull Sensing Mode/Elephant WisdomFull Scanning Mode

Transition to Quiet Time Drink WaterHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomDeep Down WisdomBreathe/Fish Breath

Academic/Detail Work Monkey WisdomInfinity 8’sRock the Boat

Conflict Rock the BoatHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomCat WisdomDeep Down Wisdom

Emotionally Triggered Drink WaterFish BreathHumming Breath/Ocean WisdomBreathe/Fish Breath

Confusion Monkey WisdomFull Sensing Mode/Elephant WisdomCat WisdomOh No! Ah Yes!

Resources

• Move-with-Me.com• Imaginazium.com: Yoga Kit for Kids: • Barefootbooks.com: Yoga Pretzel/Planet Decks• Yogaed.com: Yoga Tools for Preschool Teachers• Omazingkids.com• Braingym.org• LearningStationMusic.com• EveKodiak.com

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• Brain Gym® 101: Balance for Daily Life, Paul Dennison, Ph.D. & Gail Dennison, Brain Gym® and Me: Reclaiming the Pleasure of Learning. Ventura, CA: Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc, 2006. Teacher’s Edition Revised. Ventura, CA: Edu-Kinesthetics, Inc, 1994 www.braingym.com

• Ratey, John. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. http://sparkinglife.org/

• Healy, Jane. The Growing Mind. http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/future/creating_the_future/crfut_healy.cfm

• Goldberg, Elkhonon. The Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes and the Civilized Mind. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc. 2001.

• Hannaford, Carla. The Dominance Factor: How Knowing Your Dominant Eye, Ear, Brain, Hand & Foot Can Improve Your Learning. Salt Lake City, Utah: Great River Books, 1997, Smart Moves: Why Learning is Not All in Your Head. Salt Lake City, Utah: Great River Books, 2005. http://www.greatriverbooks.com/PlayingInTheUnifiedFieldPage.htm

• Pearce, Joseph C. Evolution’s End: Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992. http://ttfuture.org/jcp/front

• Sally Goddard Blythe - http://www.sallygoddardblythe.co.uk/index.php

• Dr. John Medina - http://www.brainrules.net/

Bibliographywww.move-with-me.com

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