Oatmeal Container Planetarium

Throwing unique-shaped containers in the recycling bin is hard for me. (I’m always wondering how they can be recycled into kid’s crafts.) Cylindrical oatmeal containers fall into this category.

When I was light on inspiration, I Googled and found this amazing craft on Education.com – a bedroom planetarium! I adapted the instructions slightly; see below.

When my son came home from school and saw the supplies on the table, he was excited. Over and over, he kept asking what we were going to use the flashlight for. (What’s with kids and flashlights?!?! They love ’em!) Here’s the supply list:

• Colored construction paper, paint, crayons and any other art supplies to decorate the oatmeal container
• Double-sided tape or glue
• Exacto craft knife
• Black construction paper
• White crayon or white colored pencil
• Empty oatmeal (cylinder) container with its lid
• Flashlight
• Pushpin

Before we got started, I explained to my son that we were going to make a projector to shine the constellations on the wall. The last time we learned about stars was ages ago, but his enthusiasm for all things space hasn’t diminished a bit. He was psyched!

What the Adult Does

Cut a large circle in the middle of the plastic oatmeal container lid with the Exacto craft knife. Next, have your child hold the flashlight in the center of the cardboard bottom of the oatmeal container. Trace around it. Use the craft knife again to cut slightly smaller than the circle you’ve drawn; you want the flashlight to fit snugly.

What the Kid Does

Give your child construction paper to decorate in a space scene. First, my son drew planets and stars with colored pencils. Then I had him add a nebula and galaxy with paint. To do this, we added drops of paint to a plastic disposable dessert plate and placed another clean plate over the top, spinning it to swirl the paint together. Then we removed the top plate and pressed the paper into the paint on the bottom plate. Voila! We also used a pencil eraser dotted with glow-in-the-dark paint to make stars. Let dry.

Next, cut circles out of black construction paper to fit snuggly inside the oatmeal container lid. Now use a book of constellations to draw constellations on the black circles. Carefully use a pushpin to make holes wherever there is a star. Write the constellation’s name on the disc.

Now use glue or double-sided tape or glue to adhere your child’s space art to the outside of the oatmeal container. And if you haven't already, insert the flashlight into the hole and place one of the constellation discs inside the lid. Put the lid on the container.

Head into a dark room and flip on the flashlight. Ooh and Ahh! (My son sure did!)

Finding the Fun in Movement

Which sounds like more fun: relaxing quietly in lotus pose on a yoga mat or gliding smoothly above the clouds on a magic carpet? Performing Warrior 3 pose or spiraling through deep space in an X-Wing Fighter?  Reaching towards your toes in a seated forward bend or steering a speeding Jamaican Bobsled through an icy winding track ?

Most adults give up exercise after an enthusiastic start simply because we are bored. Sure, we know its good for us and it helps us stay strong and healthy. We tell ourselves its because we just don't have time/money but the real reason we give it up is because its not compelling, interesting nor is it any fun.

At our deepest core, we don't want to work hard at exercising & staying healthy. We literally want our cake and to eat it [all] too. If we knew we could stay healthy, build muscle, reduce cholesterol and lose weight by posting jokes on Facebook, or Re-Tweeting a flour-less brownie recipe, or "Pinning" a photo of our kid's dance recital, well then we'd do it all day long, because what we all really want is to have it easy, to play, to laugh & to be entertained. Yet, when our children don't want to eat 'healthy' foods or do their homework, or 'exercise', we get frustrated and scratch our heads as to why. We don't need to wonder. Its because they want the same things we do: to not work hard, to play, to be entertained & to have fun!

When we tell our children "Time to exercise," it sounds too much like a threat to their fun-and suspiciously like "work" so they will do everything in their power to avoid it. But if you tell them you are going to see how good they are at playing "Simon Says"-now they might sense the implied challenge and take you up on that. So now as Simon you can direct their activities-hopping 10 times on one foot, swaying like a tree, jumping like a frog as high as they can, etc. The "exercise" is now hidden in the game and games=fun.

Finding the fun in movement is not difficult. It requires that you know and understand your child and children in general, and it requires a little bit of being like a child yourself. Be willing to be silly, creative & vulnerable by taking a few minutes to not take yourself or exercise so seriously and just play with your children.

Teachers & therapists can incorporate movement into any classroom or lesson. I know there are core standards and lesson plans and procedures and policies to follow, but find a way to work the fun into what you are already teaching rather than feeling like you have to squeeze in a completely new & unrelated activity. Yes, the kids get gym and recess (some do) but they still need to move throughout the day. Movement improves learning readiness by releasing stress and tension, integrating the senses and strengthening the connections in both sides of the brain for better concentration.

So how do we find the fun and easily incorporate it into our day?

Easy Ways  to Incorporate Fun Movement Activities into a Child's (or Your) day:

• Simon Says: Play just as described above. Each day allow a different student to be "Simon". No one gets "out". Its just for fun!
• Leap Day: Have a fun and friendly competition to see who can Leap the farthest. Place a piece of masking tape on the floor or carpet (or make one outside with chalk) and mark off in 1 foot increments. Mark off a starting line and have them each take turns and leap! (best out of 3 or just one big leap. ) Give them cloth tape measures to calculate how far each student has leaped. Give a prize for the longest and shortest leap,or give a prize to the class for cooperating. (If you do this, be sure each student gets a prize and no one gets left out "because you were talking" or it defeats the whole purpose of the cooperative activity.) *(With this activity you just taught math concepts, teamwork and helped release muscle tension.)
• Hopscotch: You can again use masking tape if you don't have access to an outdoor play area. Have the children make chalk hopscotch boards. Use stones or pennies for markers. Each child completes the game by moving their marker to each block. *( You just reinforced counting & math skills, concentration, turn taking, visual processing, hand-eye coordination and helped release muscle tension.)
• Hooping: Lots of ways to use the hoop. The regular way we hoop, or rolling the hoop to a classmate and back again. You can also have the children jump in and oput of a hoop in patterns (left, right, forward, back, one foot, etc.). , My favorite way is to make a large circle with many hoops. (Preferably outside on grass)  Play some music, and have children move from hoop to hoop. When the music stops, everyone must be inside a hoop. Remove one hoop and play again. each time the children must "share" a hoop with the classmates so no one is "stuck" out of the hoop. Continue play until there are only 3, 2 or 1 very large hoop left and every child has at least one foot inside the hoop. Children must not push or shove. *(You just taught motor planning, balance, sharing, cooperation, body awareness, how to stand still in a group, listening skills and problem solving.)
• Interactive Storytelling: Take a few minutes and read (or tell) a story to the class and have each student "act out" a character or a action in the story through movement. Many stories, myths, legends and fables exist about animals and have many opportunities for yoga postures or creative movement to be incorporated. Not only is this a fun way for children to remember a concept or a story sequence, but it is also a good way to start introducing new science concepts. Yuo can even apply some of these concepts to video games scenarios to make it more relevant to what children are familiar with. *(You reinforced literacy and language skills, listening /auditory processing, helped with learning transitiining skills, released stress and engaged the whole child in learning.)

NASPE ( National Association for Sport and Physical Education ) recommends that school age children get at least 60 minutes of movement each day, and do not sit for periods of more than 20-30 minutes. (I know there are second graders expected to sit for periods of 80 minutes and listen!)  If we lean to use our children's natural enthusiasm, movement rhythms, imaginations and energy cycles, we can harness this energy properly and direct it in postive and effective ways for everyone. It does not have to be difficult nor over-structured. All we have to do is find the fun in movement


*What are the ways you make exercise/movement fun for you or your students? Leave a comment below!

 

Contact: barbara@bodylogique.com

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Building Math Skills with DIY Dominoes

I don’t know what happened to our set of dominoes, but it’s disappeared. (sigh) So many of the blogs I follow have used dominoes as a math manipulative and after seeing all the amazing ways they can be used to build math skills, I was ready to jump on the bandwagon.

If I can make something rather than buy it, I will. Partly because I’m cheap, and partly because I’m crafty.

With some rarely used ice cube trays collecting dust and a big tub of Plaster of Paris in the basement, I already had everything I needed.

My son helped me measure and mix the Plaster of Paris according to the directions on the label. Using a plastic spoon, I tried to carefully dispense an equal amount of plaster into each ice cube tray compartment. 

Two trays makes 28 dominoes, which is exactly what you need for a set of double six!

I tapped the trays on the counter to release any air bubbles and level out the tops of the plaster. After about an hour, they were dry enough to release from the mold. A full 24 hours later and they were ready to paint.

I brushed one coat of black acrylic paint on each. When I was through with that, I cut a small stencil of a thin line to add in the middle of each domino with white paint. Now I stenciled that on. To add the dots, I simply dipped the end of a small paintbrush in white paint and made light contact with the domino. Click hereto visit the site that I used to know what each domino should look like.

Now I waited until they dried.

For our first domino activity, I chose to make windows. My son picked a domino and placed it on the table horizontally; he found another one that had a similar number and lined it up vertically underneath so the two like numbers were next to each other. He did this with four dominoes, until it formed a rectangle shape. (Truthfully, there wasn't much of a window in the middle since our dominoes are squattier than store-bought ones.)

The objective was to see if my son could make windows that used every single domino. While we weren’t successful, it was sure fun trying! I got the idea from the NRICH website, which has tons of other fun ideas for using dominoes.

Here are just a few of the other great (math) domino activities I’m planning to do with our DIY plaster dominoes:

Simple Dominoes Addition (printable worksheets) on First School

Domino Addition Elimination Bingo Game on All Things Beautiful

War with Dominoes on All Things Beautiful

Note: These dominoes have slanted sides so they will not stand-up; but they are positively perfect for doing countless math activities with your kiddo!

Homophones Memory Game

You know what’s REALLY funny to a first grader? Homophones! These are words that sound the same but have different spelling and meaning. Learning about homophones helps your child with reading comprehension and spelling. We kicked off this fun activity with two fabulous books.

There were cascades of laughter during both. My son couldn’t stop giggling at all the silly uses of homophones. These books make language arts hysterical!!

If you haven’t checked out Brian P. Cleary’s Words Are CATegorical series, you must. This is the third time we’ve read one of them and each has been a joy (stop hereand hereto see the other activities where we used his books). Gene Barretta’s book was equally enjoyable and useful in teaching my son about homophones. I would recommend both.

After reading, I gave my son some homophone cards I’d made. 

Download a 2-page PDF of the cards I made here. Print them on cardstock, glue construction paper to the back so they aren’t see-through, and cut them out. You're ready to play!

Now we made a four-by-six grid of the cards, placing each face down on the table. It was time for a Homophones Memory game! Play alternated between myself and my son.

We each turned over two cards at a time, trying to find a homophones match (e.g. stair and stare). When either of us found a match, we took another turn. The winner of the game is the player with the most matches at the end.

My son’s memory is so much better than mine, but even I enjoyed this game!

A Tool for Self Control: Mountain Pose

"Tall Mountain" Pose

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.   ~John Lubbock

What do earth, sky, lakes, rivers, mountains and the sea teach us? Or more accurately, what do they teach us about our own nature?

My OT partner Lisa and I recently selected  mountains as a teaching imagery for our Thursday night yoga therapy group.

One 9 year old student was having difficulty standing still in line during dance recitals and practices and was given constant reminders to stop fidgeting. This made her anxious and she would forget her routine. It was a cycle that was becoming very stressful for her and she could not enjoy her dance events. We wanted to give her a useful tool so she could self-regulate while waiting for her turn to dance or in line at school or anywhere she felt fidgety.

We selected "Mountain Pose" because of the versatility, adaptability & ease of execution. Most children can learn it quickly & practice the posture with success. The posture is a transitional pose, easily executed. Its benefits & effects are immediate and yet so underestimated.

Lisa has a huge photographic mural of a lake surrounded by mountains so we showed the group one evening and asked them each to give a brief description of how the mountains looked to them. Some words they used were: tall, strong, large, quiet, pretty, snowy (at the top) graceful, peaceful and green. We gave our own descriptions, and pointed out that the mountains were all of these things, and also very sturdy and stable at the bottom (the 'base') and very light and graceful at the top. The middle was just right-nice and strong holding the top and bottom together.

We demonstrated to them how to "be like a mountain in [their] bodies" by showing them "Mountain Pose". As each of them practiced Lisa used their descriptive words for reinforcement & pointed out key areas for them to think of:

• *feet slightly apart and even with each other toes pointed straight ahead
• spine straight
• tummy strong
• head lifted high
• eyes facing forward
• arms at sides
• heels and toes pressing down into the ground

*(Normally the pose is done feet together. However, the adapted version,  feet slightly apart, makes it easier for children with poor balance. Feet are gradually moved closer together as the student demonstrates he or she is ready.We use 15" diameter circles cut from regular yoga mats and have the kids place their feet on either outer edge of their"Peace Circle"). 

We had the children practice while on their mats. The mats gave them a boundary to work within. Then came the test to see which mountains were 'sturdy'. I walked around to Lisa then to the students and stood behind each to gently push the upper arms sideways to see if I could "Move the Mountains" left or right. As I began to apply pressure, each student responded by "pushing" back equally to stabilize against the amount of pressure I was applying. We used this opportunity to get feedback from the children themselves asking:

• Could I move them or Were they sturdy/stable/strong?
• If they moved when pushed, what could they do to be more sturdy?
• How could they put their feet (their 'base")  to be more sturdy?
• How could their arms help to be more stable? etc.

If they didn't know the answer then we made suggestions. The kids were aware and insightful with self-evaluation & did well with adjusting their own postures to be stronger immovable mountains. We even showed them how to practice "Mountain Pose" while seated in a chair.

Breathing was emphasized. "Breathing into your feet" and "back out your nose again" reminded the children to keep their breath flowing and be aware of their feet (sturday base) connecting them with the ground.

'Tiny Mountain' Pose

We talked about examples of when to use this posture, such as in line for the bus, in the cafeteria, at the grocery store and of course we specifically addressed dance recitals. (I said that my daughter used it when she got really nervous and it helped her stay calm and feel confident.) We reminded them that each one of them had a strong, beautiful, peaceful mountain inside and could remember to be like it whenever they needed to.

Our relaxation that evening reflected a "Peaceful Mountain" themed imagery for reinforcement.

Last night, our student's mother told us that this simple imagery and posture tool was a very useful one for her daughter and that she remembered to use it unprompted during a dance event last weekend. It kept her calm, focused, less nervous and able to stay in line waiting to perform. She made the connection between the strong peaceful nature of a mountain, and that of her own strong peaceful self  & she really enjoyed herself at the event.

The students continue to use the tools we give them and to teach us different ways to apply them in everyday life. Each class as I learn more about the group, I learn more about myself too.

I learn to be as trusting & willing to try new things as they are.

I learn that the analogies & words I use to teach them are also ones that I need to hear and remember for myself.

And I learn how to move mountains.

Or not.




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Senses, Stims and Stress

We tend to take our sensory system for granted until something goes wrong with it. We are all sensory organisms! Our sensory system provides us with the ability to interpret information about our body & environment through a variety of sensory receptors. Most of us have been taught that there are five senses: visual, auditory, gustation (taste), tactile & olfactory (smell). There are in fact three more: the vestibular (balance), proprioception (motion of the body ) & interoception (internal -hunger, heartbeat, breathing, bladder, etc.) that help us learn about ourselves and the environment.

Many OTs agree that vestibular & proprioception tops the list respectively, in priority in terms of human development. The sensory system develops before the ability to utilize the muscles & bones effectively for purposeful movement does. Ironically, movement is the only way to strengthen sensory/neural connections & strengthen the brain’s ability to process information and retain it in the long term.

If the neural connections are weak or not there, the brain will not know what to do with the stimulus it is now receiving through the senses. Science tells us that neural connections are created & strengthened through movement. A variety of daily movement & stimulation to each sensory system will improve the body’s/brain’s ability to refine movement, improve cognitive processing & reduce “stim behavior”. (This is the purpose of a Sensory Diet/ Sensory Integration Therapy.)

Stim Behaviors occur for a specific reason-as a sign of sensory, physical or mental stress. The sensory challenged, ADD or ADHD child is not being 'non-compliant'. They are telling you they are 'hungry' just as a grumbling stomach or dry mouth tells us we need nourishment. When we are hungry or thirsty, we eat/drink. Why then, when a child needs sensory 'food' do we deny them by prompting them to stop? To these students, this is the equivalent to withholding food and water.

Stims tell us that the body is imbalanced, the brain is overwhelmed and both are trying to re-engage. A stim is telling us that there is a bodily “craving” for something that child’s body & brain needs. (We all have stim behaviors. You are probably doing one right now as you read this.) If the brain/body cannot re-engage it will result in a stress response or as a full blown 'meltdown'. Once this happens, the child (and the brain) is no longer capable of learning-he is now in “Fight or Flight” /survival mode and the body/brain is in adrenalin shock-He cannot stop himself from the effects & cannot engage/cooperate/learn/comply until the adrenals get back to normal. This is what is called a stress response. Its vitally important to understand this effect and address it properly. Sensory diets are put in place for exactly this reason.

S.M.Art Kids® programs aim to assist sensory integration & minimize the Stress Response through 3 aspects: Stories, yoga based Movement & Art. Together, these tools help encourage stronger neural connections, a calmer central nervous system & improved focus.

Stim & Stress Strategies You can use:

• Learn to read warning signs- (body language) Staring, yawning, fidgets, tapping, teeth grinding, etc. are all signs of the brain trying to re-engage. Try to determine which sensory system is 'hungry' and feed that one first. You will find that in most cases, if you address the sensory needs, the behavior will take care of itself. Learn as much as you can about each child's responses and rather then try to de-sensitize him or her, try to address it by giving them the input they need. You will find that they eventually will pay better attention.
• Help children Release muscle tension-through self massage or “Squeezing Lemons” (help children imagine they are making lemonade-and squeezing the lemons into a glass. Imagine they are using each part of their body from head to toe to squeeze them-hands, elbows, armpits, knees, toes, etc. Its okay to be a little silly. If they want to imagine they are squeezing a lime, an orange, a Pink lemon-or even a blue one, go with it! The object is to get them to squeeze and release muscle tension.) This will help with body awareness and deep muscle input that helps the nervous system stay calm for longer.
• Imagery is a simple and versatile tool where you will suggest a calming scenario for the children to follow. (Let's imagine we are on a beautiful beach, with big swaying palm trees, sparkling sand and crystal clear water....") Speak slowly, dim the lights and have them put their heads on the desk and follow your voice for 3-5 minutes. Always bring the "back" gradually by having them "wiggle fingers, wiggle toes, take a big breath and on the count  of 3, slowly lift your head and stretch..." always take a minute to get feedback. )  Works well as a transition or at the end of a test.
• Employ other calming techniques- breathing in patterns (To calm, breathe in while counting to 3 and out while counting to 4), art (simple coloring pages-geometric patterns or mandalas are the most calming. ) music (instrumentals such as Native American Flute music or ocean sounds, thunderstorms, etc will calm children while keeping them alert.)
• Re-engage in activity using different creative approaches to keep students actively  interested.
  

Summary:

In order to learn anything, the brain must be calm, focused & engaged. Our capacity to learn is greatly improved through sensory motor stimulation. Hands-on learning, incorporating movement breaks, experiential and group projects are the best way to to address these needs. We receive information through the eyes, ears & other senses for our brains to process it, recognize, organize & respond to it. When a child “stims” he is really trying to integrate the senses, to receive & process the information, regain focus, re-engage or transition to another activity & get the brain back in gear to complete a task.

For a fantastic detailed overview of the sensory systems go to: SPD Life


*This article is excerpted from our professional development course:

"S.M.Art Kids @ School: Engaging The Whole Child Through Stories, Movement & Art (Yoga Based Tools for Teachers)

To schedule a staff workshop for your school or organization, please contact: barbara@bodylogique.com

I am Pharaoh [Craft & Writing Prompt]

Warning: If your child tends to be bossy, it might be best to avoid this activity. My son thoroughly enjoyed being “Ruler of Egypt” ... perhaps a little bit too much!

Before my son got crafty, we read up on Ancient Egypt. Both of these books contain amazing graphics and illustrate the Egyptian jewelry, headdresses, and clothes beautifully.

Now watch how we transformed one large sheet of gold posterboard, double-sided sticky tape, and construction paper strips into pharaoh accessories!

First my son made an Egyptian Pharaoh’s headdress, using instructions on the Activity Village website. I used their pattern as a guide, folding a sheet of newspaper in half so the pattern would be symmetrical. Then my son cut it out and we stapled it to a strip of the paper (this became the headband).

Next, he used double-sided sticky tape to glue on blue strips of paper. Voila! He looked just like the Great Sphinx of Giza (well, from the neck up anyway!).

Then we used the rest of the posterboard to make a gold collar with directions from Show Me. We traced a plate for our circle shape and then positioned another circular bowl inside it closer to the edge and traced it too. By cutting a slit in the back, it was easy for my son to cut out the interior circle and to slip it on and off.

Since my pantry only had bowtie pasta (a decidedly un-Egyptian shape), my son glued on more strips of paper to emulate precious jewels.

Once completed, he put them on and promptly told me he was Pharaoh and I was a royal guard. I gave him a blank sheet of writing paper and told him that as Pharaoh, he needed to record his rules.

Download a PDF of this writing paper here.

His rules follow. (Um … I'm not sure how I feel about that first one …)
Mom has to clean the dishes.
Everyone hugs Dad.
Live in the pyramids.
No school!
All wear chapstick.

While my son would rather do just about anything other than write, giving him this opportunity was just the motivation he needed. No whining, just writing. (Oh, how that makes me happy!)

3 Minute Neck Massage

I was watching my daughter do her homework yesterday, and I noticed her posture. She was leaning to one side, her one leg folded under her and her head resting in her free hand. A little while later she told me she had a headache. Instead of giving her an aspirin, I asked her to sit down and I placed my hands on her shoulders. Just as I thought: her neck and upper back muscles were completely constricted and hard as a rock!

I placed one of my home made hot packs around her neck and then I spent about 10 minutes kneading out the knots with my hands. She started to relax and told me about her day, which was a particularly stressful one for her. At the end of the 10 minutes I asked her how she felt and she said she was much better. She didn't have a headache any more. When she went back to her work, her posture was much better.

My daughter had not even realized that she was stressed, and her outward posture and headache were her own body's signs of a stress response. The most useful skill I have learned through yoga practice over the years is how to recognize the signs of stress in my own body and how to head it off before it gets out of control. I believe that this is a vital Life Skill that we can easily teach our students and children.

Stress related illnesses count for at least $300 billion each year in health care costs &  missed work. About half of Americans (48%) report lying awake at night due to stress. (Source: American Psychological Association study, 2009). To combat this, Americans fill more than 50 million prescriptions for sleeping pills and spend more than $600 million on over-the-counter sleep-inducing supplements.

Stress in children is now on the rise with and estimated 45% of school age children reporting feeling worried & stressed and 61% of teens reporting feeling stressed. All of these children reported physical symptoms such as stomach or headaches and nightmares. However, only 17%-28% of  the parents polled acknowledged that their children's behavior or symptoms could be stress related. These numbers show the huge disconnect between our own views of stress and how we view the effects of stress on our kids.

It’s difficult for both adults and children to concentrate on work and be/do their very best when their mind is racing and body is aching. Physically, the upper back, spine, back of head, shoulders and neck seem to be the areas where the most stress and tension builds up, so those are the areas of the body that need the most relief. When we are more relaxed, we stay well longer and accomplish more.

Exercise, hydration and monitoring the types and amounts of foods that are eaten are 3 ways to relieve stress. Another option is a simple 3 minute massage.

While getting a professional massage can do wonders for reducing stress levels and clearing one's head, it may not be logistically or economically practical on a regular basis. No worries. You can learn to do this yourself.

So here is the simple process that I showed my daughter. You can learn it for yourself and teach your students how to do it for themselves too.


3 Minute Neck and Shoulder Massage Video

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What's the Weather There?

Download this thermometer here.

Spring break is coming up so I figured it would be fun to take an imaginary trip to five U.S. capital cities. Just the idea of this pretend adventure made my son giddy!

“Where we goin’, Mom?" he asked. From a bowl full of papers printed with each capital city, my son drew one. This was our first stop: Sacramento, CA. (Woo Hoo! On a cool February day in the Midwest, it was a real treat to go there, even if it was just in our minds!)

I handed my son a plastic sheet protector filled with two papers: a map of the United States on one side and a thermometer on the other.

We used Google Maps to locate where in California the city of Sacramento was located. My son made a dot on his sheet protector-covered map with a dry-erase marker. Then we headed over to weather.com to see what the temps were like that day. My son wrote the name of the city and temperature next to the thermometer and colored in the mercury up to 65 degrees Fahrenheit with the dry-erase marker.

We made stops at four other capital cities - Juneau, AK; Charleston, WV; Bismarck, ND; and Salt Lake City, UT. What a blast we had on our virtual vacay!

When all the cities were identified on the maps and thermometers were colored, we “returned home” and I asked my son the following:

• What was the hottest city we visited?
• What was the coolest?

Then he put the cities (i.e. thermometers) in order from coolest to warmest temperature.

Lastly, I put his subtraction skills to the test and asked him to tell me how much warmer it was from one city to the next.

“Why didn’t we go more places, Mom?” he asked when we were done. It looks like more “vacations” are in order!

Teachers: 99 Reasons to Love Them

This weekend as Jay and I were moving my office to a larger room in the house I found a box of old school work and photos. As I began going through these treasures, I recalled many of my classmates & all of my teachers from K-College and was filled with so many memories, some sad, but mostly happy.

There was a photo of one of my teachers (also my neighbor) who was killed in a car accident when I was in 6th grade. I was surprised at how much I rememembered about him, and that awful day that I have not thought about for so long. So may details came back in an instant.

There were also letters (HAND-written on lemon 'scratch and sniff' notepaper) that my best friend from 4th grade wrote to me. The words were carefully written and so innocent and genuine.

There were ribbons from field day, diplomas and awards, my high school jacket (my daughter has claimed that as hers now even though it has my name on it) and year books with signatures of classmates & teachers-some no longer with us- and as I looked through it all I was taken by how quickly Life flows and how many people have blessed my life in 47 years, with their friendship, their influence and their knowledge.

Many of these men and women influenced me enough to do my best in every situation and to think creatively to solve problems and leave my own signature on the world around me. Every one of them helped make me the person I am now. They all lit a fire in me that made me want to learn & to teach others to learn too. I can only hope that if they knew me today and saw my work, they would be proud of me.

I found this light-hearted article a while back and saved it. I decided that today would be a good day to post it and share it with all of you.

Many teachers still influence me today. They come to me in many forms: my students, my friends, my colleagues, strangers and even as adversaries. I have learned to appreciate every single one of them.

So to all my teachers, past, present and future: Thank you for being hard on me and not letting me do just enough to get by. Thanks for sparking interest, enthusiasm and a love of learning and for reminding me that we are all responsible for our own attitudes about learning. Thank you for making learning fun, not only through the lessons in class, but through Real  Life experiences. Thank you for helping me make so many fantastic memories.
99 Reasons Teachers Rock

*Do you have a teacher that has influenced you in a positive way? If you could see them today, what would you tell them? Tell us about him or her below (or leave them a personal message!)

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Spelling Practice with Nautical Flags

Back when we practiced fractions with nautical flags, I discovered something pretty awesome about them: there is a flag for each letter of the alphabet! Cool, huh?

Deciphering secret codes is ALWAYS a favorite activity of my son’s so I knew that using the flags to practice sight and spelling words would be a hit. I was right.

I designed a nautical flag alpha key, three pages of sight word codes, and a 1-page sentence cipher. Download them here.

When my son got home from school, I quickly took his new spelling list and made that into a customized worksheet for him. While I was doing that, my son read aloud a book by Lois Lenski: The Little Sailboat. It didn’t explain the flags or teach him much about sailing, but it was a cute fiction story that related to our activity and snuck in some reading practice (hee hee).

Afterwards, I gave him the key and a few pages to decode. He got right after it, completing the pages in no time. He didn’t even realize he was practicing for the week’s spelling test. Mission accomplished!

The answers to the pages I made are below. Enjoy!

The sentence cipher on page 4 says, "Good job. You are so awesome!"

EXTENSION IDEA: Print four pages of the nautical flag alpha key. Set one aside. Glue the other three pages to chipboard (aka empty cereal boxes), cut out, and attach magnet tape to the back (I did something similar here). That way you can easily make codes out of ANY words ... or better yet, your child can make codes for their friends or siblings to decipher!

A Klimt-Inspired Self Portrait

Can you think of a more romantic piece of art than Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss? I can’t. While romance isn’t at the heart of this lesson, exposing my son to Klimt’s work is. The artist’s rich paintings celebrate the sheen of metallics, elaborate patterns, emotion, and beauty.

I love it when authors make artists’ work approachable for children. Bernice Capatti has done that with her clever book Klimt and His Cat.

The book is written from the perspective of Katze, an observant cat that does a wonderful job of explaining why her owner’s art doesn’t look like everyone else’s. At the end of the book, several of Klimt’s paintings are featured. We looked at The Kiss and shared our observations.

“It looks like the two people are wrapped in a blanket, right?” I asked my son. He agreed. It was time for him to create his own Klimt-inspired self portrait.

Since Klimt’s faces have a realism lacking in the rest of his portraiture, I printed a photo of my son and cut out around his head. Then he glued aluminum foil to a piece of construction paper. On the back I drew a shape that (hopefully) resembles his body wrapped in a blanket.

My son cut this out and glued it on a yellow piece of construction paper. Next, he glued the cut-out photo head atop his ‘blanketed’ body.

To truly make this look like a Klimt masterpiece, I cut up lots of small rectangular confetti out of scrapbooking papers I had on hand. Handling these tiny scraps of paper was great fine-motor practice! We added dots of white school glue to the body form and laid the patterned papers over the top.

Then my son drew a foreground to his mixed-media portrait and added some background detail with markers.

My son loves his portrait! (I do too.)

Lighting A Fire

One of the most challenging aspects to being an educator is getting (and keeping) students engaged in learning. We have all had it happen: we walk into a studio or classroom, ready to teach a unit that we find exciting & interesting, and our students are only lukewarm and barely paying attention at all. This can dampen that enthusiasm we felt as we put the materials together.
 
W.B. Yeats said that : "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." So the question to ask is how do we do that? How do we make our lessons more interesting and 'light a fire'?
 
For many years, I have been able to use stories as a versatile medium to keep younger kids interested in science, world cultures, health, nutrition, yoga and creative movement. We "tell" the story together by using the postures in a sequence. I use interactive movemment games that mirror the story themes, and imagery of the characters they can relate to and these characters overcome challenges and solve problems just like we all do in real life. They identify with those qualities they want to emulate and remember the lesson better this way.
 
As they get older, I have have noticed that they want time to 'zone out', so I place them in a relaxed but active listening state and give them time to 'zone' on a specific imagery that I lead them through verbally and musically. They come out of the imagery relaxed, full of creative ideas and insights, and fully aware of their inner and outer worlds. (This is also known as meditation.)
 
Maybe none of these methods will work in your specific environment, however there are some other techniques that you can use. The key is observing and knowing your students. Below are some ideas that can be adapted to a traditional classroom or therapy setting:

• Develop a Unexpected Introduction: A riddle, a joke, or an effective warm-up activity that can draw interest into the class content is one key to keeping students engaged. The first five minutes are crucial and should draw students into the lesson and set the tone for the rest of the class. 
• Incorporate a Variety of activties: Use varied activities to meet the diverse interests, sensory & cognitive levels and learning styles of your group. Think of the sensory systems and use visual, auditory and movement based activities or props and imagery to keep the group engaged. (Example: one student loved challenges & she also enjoyed video games-so I created a yoga set based on her favorite, "Zelda" .)
• Find the element of Fun: Find anectdotes and the element of fun in what you are teaching and infuse it into the lesson. I like to use modified games and stories. For example, if you are learning about dinosaurs, play "Freeze Dinosaur" (variation of "Freeze Dance")  or have the children go on a "Dinosaur Dig" in some sand; or have them create their own dinosaurs out of clay, sidewalk chalk or colored pencils. Games bring learning to life, reduce stress, encourage cooperation & are more effective in teaching lessons.
• Remain Flexible:  Always allow some flexibility in the lesson plan. If you planned for 3 objectives, but you only got to one, and the students are enagegd and having fun, that's okay! Children are spontaneous and energetic when we create the right environment for learning. Let them lead you sometimes.
• Link activities to the topics in a meaningful way:  Incorporate multi-curricular and multi sensory activities, such as reading stories while practicing yoga poses or journaling or doing an art project while listening to relaxing music. This will not only add variety and interest but will help concentration, attention span & overall success.
• Allow Full Participation: Let your students take attendance, select a topic (within reasonable choices) for the next class, and lead the class in a portion of the content.
• Gather Feedback: Listen to your students! Learn about what they like to do for fun, what interests they have, who they look up to, what music they like, sports they play etc. Ask them to assess your lessons with a informal survey so you can see what's working and what's not.

*What are some ways that you "light a fire" & make your classroom or therapy room more engaging for students? Please tell us in the comments below!

Math Post-it Note Scavenger Hunt

My son asked me for another scavenger hunt last week. I wanted to do something different, though (see our other hunts here and here). Blissful and Domestic provided some much-needed inspiration: a post-it note hunt!

To practice some subtraction, I grabbed 20 post-its, a Sharpie marker, and a pencil. I wrote down ten subtraction problems and their answers on a separate piece of paper.

I wrote the first problem on the front of a post-it note to give to my son at the start of our hunt.

Now I wrote the answer with a Sharpie on the front of the next note. On the back of it, I wrote the next math problem in pencil (so it wasn’t see-through). I continued to do this until all the answers and problems were written on the post-its. On the post-it note with the last answer, though, there was no problem. Instead, I wrote, “Good job! There is a prize for you in my bathroom.” (I had to hide it somewhere he doesn't usually go.)

I wrote random numbers on 10 other post-its; these had no problems on the back. If my son picked one of them mistakenly, he’d know he answered wrong since the back was blank.

Now I ran around sticking post-its everywhere!

My son barely dropped his backpack at the front door when he saw the post-it notes I’d scattered in our living room, kitchen, and entryway. His curiosity was piqued and he was chomping at the bit to get going.

I gave him the first post-it, the one with the problem written on the front and off he went, answering problems and dashing around to find the post-its with the answers. When he grabbed the last answer and read the note, his legs carried him at lightning speed to the puzzle.

This took 5 minutes to prepare and barely any materials. And the result was one happy boy who is now the proud owner of an inexpensive (and awesome) Star Wars puzzle.

Making it Personal

Jedi Warrior Pose builds confidence!

One of my favorite aspects of my work is the family interactions during private yoga sessions. The students and the families give me such insight and it is a great thing for me to learn something unique and personal from every family I work with.

Last summer, I created a customized, adaptive yoga program for a young man based on "Star Wars", something he loved and understood. He responded so well to many of the activities and characters, especially the imagery of the "Stormtroopers" (disrupters)  "Jedis" (restorers of Peace). I made up a daily sequence for him to practice to help him build strength, balance and to feel more in control of situations and transitions.

The set was a series of  "Warrior" poses, and I called it the "Jedi Sequence".  There was a poem that went with it that we called the Jedi Chant. Jack has used this set and its imagery in situations at school, as a familiar way to maintain or regain a sense of inner calm during turmoil or when he needs time to process a situation.

Sometimes, when working with children on the spectrum, its a challenge to explain the deeper concepts and self-evaluation that goes along with the asana (pose) practice. This is where family support is so vital to the process of learning yoga or any therapeutic/educational activity.

Jack's mother was recently telling someone about a situation:

"Monday afternoon, Jack explained to me that kids at school were being mean. Kids were butting in the bathroom line. I asked him if he told them to stop, they were being rude. He said no. I told him to stand up for himself, that it's okay to assert himself and say that something isn't right. If that doesn't work, then go to the teacher.

I was reminded of his 'Warrior Poses' from Barbara, Jack's "Jedi Sequence & Chant":

"I am Strong, I am Bold, My Own Power I can hold, I open My Heart, I protect My Soul, I spread Peace Wherever I go."

We've discussed this as a family many times before, but I think it's a mantra that can work for many of us, not just those with Special Needs.

We've explained it like this:

• I am Strong (in my brain and body)
• I am Bold (without fear, courageous)
• My Own Power I can hold (I can keep my emotions appropriate & not let anyone take my power from me. If I let a bully or a negative situation get to me, I am letting him take my power from me)
• I open My Heart (be loving)
• I protect my Soul (don't let anyone take advantage of you)
• I spread Peace Wherever I go (talk nicely, respect others).

This is what it means to us and our family."

This mom was able to help Jack understand a stressful situation, ways to navigate it and reduce his anxiety about it by beautifully personalizing the "Jedi" imagery.

The important thing to understand about yoga or any other method of  learning, for adults as well as children, is not so much to learn the activity, (in this case the poses) or even the rhyme. The "Chant" is just a way for the poses to be remembered in order. The poses or movements are a way for the body to understand the words. But the most powerful thing of all is that this family sat and talked about what it personally meant to them. They applied it to their life and a specific situation in such a way that the child could effectively use these tools.  This adds much more value to a generic lesson. Without that support and insight, the movement sequence is just that-another movement sequence. It must be meaningful to the individual practicing/doing it or they will not be engaged nor motivated to try/do it again.

This week, in every aspect of life, look for more ways to 'make it personal': build personal meaning into the activities, lessons and tools that you give to yourself , your students and children. This is ultimately how they will learn to broaden their problem solving skills and understand how to better navigate through the rough spots and overcome life's bigger challenges.

*I would be happy to send a copy of the "Jedi Sequence" to anyone who would like one. Please e-mail your request to:

barbara@bodylogique.com


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