Mindful Movement by Our Own Design

An exciting project that we were able to enjoy right at the end was a kind of culmination of much of the work we have done throughout the year with mindful movement (often called yoga).
Starting at the beginning of the year I introduced different poses and breaths to the children as a way to bring awareness to the present and to help regulate our energy.  We kept up with this practice through brain breaks, with our 100th Day Sequence of 10 poses for 10 counts each,  the website "Cosmic Kids", and most recently through the Design-Your-Own-Sequence Template that I created for the class.  Our tech integration specialist, Kristen Courcelle, was incredibly helpful to me with this project.  You can see how it works through the pictures below.  First, children sit down at their Chromebook and click and drag stick figures in familiar poses to create a movement sequence in 8 frames.  Next, they stand up and try their own sequence being mindful to link their breath to the movements with slow, full in and exhales.  After trying their own sequence, children can team up with a friend to simply try someone else's or, to practice a sequence together!  Alternatively, we can project one person's sequence for the whole class to try as a group.  It's a design your own mindful movement break!  Have a look.