Movement & mindfulness 101

Movement Activities & Mindfulness Skills for
Healthier Kids
Leah Kalish, MA: leah@move-with-me.com
www.move-with-me.com
818-667-3689
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Leah Kalish, MA
Education 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.
3

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
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• Adventure Skilll # 1
• Adventure Skill # 2
*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
8

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.
9

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 rest
The other, I bring up to my chest
I find a pair of buttons beneath the shelf
And Huuuuuummmmmm
To calm myself
I move my eyes slowly
From the left to the right
Heart calm, mind clear
Body strong, eyes bright!
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Humming Breath Video
http://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 Chant
I am healthy
I play every day
I drink lots of water
I don’t float away
I rest when I’m tired
I breathe when I’m mad
I eat fruits & veggies
‘Cause they are rad
Red, orange, yellow, green
At every meal and in between!
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Monkey Wisdom Video

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 Video

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 Dehydration
o Poor nutrition
o Inability to self-soothe or regulate
o 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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Games
Inner 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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Games
Nature 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 Poem
Red – I’m strong
Orange – I’m happy
Yellow – I know I can
Green – I’m caring
Blue – I tell the truth
Indigo – I’m smart
Violet – Understanding and loving of ….
All my parts!
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Rainbow Body Video
https://vimeo.com/33815681
How to make an origami rainbow
http://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.
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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 Video

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 for
Movement 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 Water
Humming Breath/Ocean Wisdom
Oh No! Ah Yes!
Deep Down Wisdom
Ability to think, learn, calm and interact
Center, relax body, calm mind
Attention, focus and awareness
Invites calm, dissipates fear and anger, promotes
focus
Transition to Circle Monkey Wisdom
Infinity 8’s
Oh No! Ah Yes!
Deep Down Wisdom
Whole brain learning, gross and fine motor skills
Eye-teaming, binocular vision, stress relief
Attention, focus and awareness
focus
Transition to Active Time Monkey Wisdom Variations
Full Sensing Mode/Elephant Wisdom
Full Scanning Mode
Relaxation, auditory clarity, balance
Transition to Clean-up Humming Breath/Ocean Wisdom
Full Scanning Mode
Relaxation, auditory clarity, balance
Transition to Quiet Time Drink Water
Deep Down Wisdom
Breathe/Fish Breath
focus
Intentional conscious self-regulation, calm
Academic/Detail Work Monkey Wisdom
Infinity 8’s
Rock the Boat
Eye-teaming, binocular vision, stress relief
Relaxation, attentiveness, memory
Conflict Rock the Boat
Cat Wisdom
Deep Down Wisdom
Relaxation, attentiveness, memory
Stress relief, relaxation of the Tendon Guard Reflex
focus
Emotionally Triggered Drink Water
Fish Breath
Oxygenation, restoration

TIME TO PLAY MORE, STRESS LESS ADVENTURE SKILLS
Drop Off Offer Water
Oh No! Ah Yes!
Deep Down Wisdom
Transition to Circle Monkey Wisdom
Infinity 8’s
Oh No! Ah Yes!
Deep Down Wisdom
Transition to Active Time Monkey Wisdom Variations
Full Scanning Mode
Transition to Clean-up Humming Breath/Ocean Wisdom
Full Scanning Mode
Transition to Quiet Time Drink Water
Deep Down Wisdom
Breathe/Fish Breath
Academic/Detail Work Monkey Wisdom
Infinity 8’s
Rock the Boat
Conflict Rock the Boat
Cat Wisdom
Deep Down Wisdom
Emotionally Triggered Drink Water
Fish Breath
Breathe/Fish Breath
Confusion Monkey Wisdom

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/
Bibliography
www.move-with-me.com
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Movement & mindfulness 101

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