Last Class for Session 2

One student transformed his coral reef sculpture into a bracelet!

It always surprises me how quickly each session of Mind Move Make passes by!  During our final class for Session 2 I asked the students to reflect on their favorite things from our time together.  There was a diverse array of responses!  To my great surprise, two students said their favorite thing about our class was the pose Savasana.  Savasana is the "do nothing" resting pose that we take at the end of each yoga-influenced movement practice.  With seven active, excited children aged 6-9 years, at the beginning of our class it was a challenge to get everyone to practice Savasana at all!  Over the past several months I've noticed more quiet, peaceful moments during Savasana.  The resting pose is considered THE MOST IMPORTANT in a yoga practice.  I'm pretty excited that several of the children are recognizing that their bodies and minds need time to relax, rejuvenate, and just "do nothing".  Several other students mentioned the art part of our class as a favorite.  One child said she loved the movement-based games we played, especially when the students worked in groups to create different forms of water.

During our previous class I let the students choose which movement practice they wanted to engage in for our final class.  The majority of the children picked the game Musical Mats, which is similar to Musical Chairs accept no one is ever "out".  Students became different types of sea creatures as they moved from mat to mat waiting for the signal that it was time to stop.  When I said the word "ocean", the students paused on whichever mat was closest to them and I asked them to take a yoga pose.  Then, when I said the word "swim" they became ocean creatures again and "swam" from mat to mat as jellyfish, mermaids, sharks, and seahorses!  Any student who wanted to select their favorite pose got to teach it to the class during the game.  It was a fun end to our movement practice!

After that, we began to build a sculptural coral reef using the metallic fish we created during our last class.  Students used cardboard, colorful paper, and pipe cleaners to create the sculptural coral reef environment.  It would've been wonderful to have one extra day on these sculptures, but some of the students said they would take them home and add more elements into their reefs.  Many of the children were very happy with their sculptures as they were and went home to show them off to family members!