Happy October! It's officially my favorite month of the year in my favorite season...and pretty soon it will be my favorite holiday! Have you thought about your Halloween ensembles yet? I braved the creepy basement and the frightening spiders to dig up my decorations this week.
Building on the info I shared in my last post about the history of the kiddos in the cookie monster room, and their constant physiological state of "fight-or-flight," I want to share about an integral part of small groups in the Cookie Monster room. At the beginning of each small group, and often during times of "crisis," we practice relaxation and deep breathing.
Kiddos in the Cookie Monster room are often identified by teachers and school staff as "hyperactive" and "unable to focus." Based on the understanding of the traumatic, violent, and inconsistent backgrounds of these kids, this outward behavior is absolutely understandable. Living in a constant state of "unknown," these children have learned to be ever vigil about their surroundings.
This practice of calming the body is utilized for several purposes. One of the most important purposes of relaxation is to help these small children, who live in a consistent heightened state of fight-or-flight, learn a safe coping skill. Another major purpose of relaxation is to help prepare the group for learning. Although these children attend school, they often struggle with education due to history of trauma and inconsistency. Relaxation is a tool we utilize to help these children safely calm their mind and body to prepare for learning about topics such as emotions and empathy. This is the goal, a calm body and a ready mind.
We begin each group with relaxation to help build
consistency. In our previous
location, we had space to spare and the kids each used a foam mat to lie on. This was superb! In our new room, we have little space to spare.
The lack of space has forced Kelly and I to get creative with our
relaxation. In an effort to meet
the kids where they are physically and emotionally, we utilize several resources
to help guide our relaxations.
A
great sight for guided imagery and mindfulness, Kids Relaxation provides us with scripts to read while the
kids practice deep breathing- slow in through
the nose, filling up the belly like a balloon, slight pause, and nice and slow
out through the mouth. Our groups
also enjoy the Happy Tree guided imagery! A great Pinterest find was
this great muscle tensing/releasing exercise. We use this relaxation on days when the kids appear stiff or
energetic. The brief, kid-friendly
exercises help the kids relax their entire body – from toes to nose! Recent finds include:
- the ever amazing Yoga Pretzels. These cards can be used in (possibly) never-ending ways. We have used them to guide breathing, do brief stretching, and self-expression activities (check out the Nature Kids card).
- Go Noodle! A fantastic sight for short brain breaks. I originally learned of this site in an email from our principal, Mrs. Miller. She encouraged teachers to utilize this for upcoming standardized testing. After a short registration, users can demo activities with a “class mascot” before creating permanent groups. Our kids absolutely love stretching with Maximo, the funky monkey with a mustache. Our morning group has been practicing breathing with Airtime, they like learning about the new destinations we “breathe” to.
Last but not least, Relax Kids created an
entire School Relax Pack.
This pack is packed with great ideas to help kids take a “time out” from brain draining days. The packet includes brief breathing and stretching activities teachers (or counselors!) can use to help children refocus during testing or long days. I especially love the positive affirmation cards that come with the FREE school pack!
Kristina
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