Warp and Weft

During each Mind, Move, Make class we discuss how focusing on the sound and the feeling of our breath can help cultivate a sense of internal calm.  I asked my students if anyone had used his or her breath in a helpful way since our last class.  One student shared that she remembered her breath when she felt she was going to get in trouble at school.  Breathing mindfully took away some of her nervousness in a stressful situation.

I also let the students know that we are halfway through all of our classes for the first session.  I asked them to share what they've enjoyed most about Mind, Move, Make so far.  One student said she likes the  creativity she experiences during both the movement and art parts of the class.  Another student likes practicing yoga poses she already knows and learning new ones.  A third student enjoys the art portion of the class best.  It was interesting to hear their thoughts and ideas about the class.

Many of the students reminded me that I said we would play a game called Yogi Says; they were

curious and excited to get started.  I created a sign with all the yoga poses we've learned so far so that they could reference it when selecting a favorite pose.  After warming up our bodies with some initial movement, I chose the student who was showing the most focus start the game.

The first pose chosen was Pigeon, and I quickly realized only a few students would get to share their favorite poses this week if we were going to also have time to create artwork!  We will play Yogi Says for three classes so that everyone gets a chance to share his or her favorite pose.

Today we began weaving on a cardboard loom during the art portion of the class.  The great thing about this project is that the students can continue making looms and weavings at home because the materials are easy to find around almost any household: cardboard, string, and yarn.  This is empowering to the students because they can explore this process on their own and make gifts for friends and family.

I taught my students how to prepare and string their cardboard looms and explained the difference between the weft and warp threads.  We began with a basic weave, but over the next few weeks I'll teach them three more weaving techniques.  The children were pretty giddy about this project; in fact a couple students didn't want to leave at the end of class because they just wanted to keep weaving!