Gratitude (K-2nd Grades)

During this week's Mind Move Make class we talked about gratitude!  I asked the students if anyone knew what the word gratitude meant, and we had many thoughtful answers.  Then I had everyone close their eyes and think about at least three things that they are grateful for.  I asked them to imagine all the things and people that they are grateful for surrounding them.  After that, we shared the things for which we are most grateful.  Several students were happy that they had a house to live in.  One student was thankful that he could hear and see.  Many students were thankful for their pets.

Then I asked them to think of smaller things, perhaps things they experience everyday, that they are thankful for.  As an example, I mentioned that I'm thankful for hearing my two-year-old's laughter and seeing things growing in my garden.  One student mentioned being thankful for the ability to run through the playground.  Another student talked about sliding down the slide at recess.

During the movement part of our class we played Musical Mats again!  The game is like musical chairs, but we use the yoga mats and no one has to sit out.  During the time the students were moving from mat to mat I instructed them to move in a specific way.  They leapt like frogs, lumbered like bears, and walked with a cane as if they were 100 years old.  When the music stopped each student scurried to a mat and I gave them a yoga pose to try.

Before beginning the art portion of the class I read the book In My Heart by Molly Bang.  It is the story of a parent's love for her child.  The book talks about how no matter what she is doing,  the mother keeps her little boy in her heart.  She is never alone because her child is always with her.

The students used the self-portraits they started during another Mind Move Make class and added a larger paper to create their bodies.  They drew the people they love the most in their own hearts.  Here are some examples of the drawings so far.  Next week we will complete them and incorporate color!:

Emotional Intelligence (K-2nd Grades)

Developing emotional intelligence is important in all human beings.  Doctors and scientists are beginning to discover that a person's emotional IQ is a larger determining factor of success and happiness than his or her IQ in terms of intelligence.  Here is an article from Johns Hopkins University discussing emotional intelligence in children.  It also gives parents tips on developing this important life skill in their children.

Today during Mind Move Make we worked on expanding this vital part of being human by bringing more awareness to our emotions.  I invited one student to come up to the front of the room and explained that he was going to act out an emotion that I whispered in his ear; kind of like playing emotional charades!  The other children were supposed to guess what emotion was being acted out.  A second grader volunteered and I whispered "angry" into his ear.  He turned to me and said, "I don't feel angry very often so I don't think I can act that one out."  Wow!  Instead he acted out embarrassed, and he did a great job.  I asked three more students to act out various emotions, and the remaining students guessed what they were.  Part of emotional intelligence is being able to identify what another human being is feeling and to be able to react in an appropriate way.  It is also important to be able to identify these feelings within ourselves.

During the movement part of our class we played a new game: Musical Mats!  It is kind of like musical chairs accept no one has to sit out.  I played the singing bowl and the students walked, hopped, or danced from mat to mat until I rang the bell.  Then each child scurried to the mat that was closest to him or her, and I announced a yoga pose to try.  Musical Mats was a fun way to keep the energy high and keep the students moving in between poses.

Art-wise, today we revisited the work of Alexander Calder and the idea of assemblage (see more information about this here!).  I put out many more recycled materials for the students to work with, and they began to design the background for their artwork.  All the materials for this project were obtained from Scrap in downtown Portland, an invaluable resource for affordable reused materials of all sorts.  Here are some examples of the students' works in progress!

Animal Eyes (K-2nd Grades)

Artist Alexander Calder with two of his wire sculptures

Today we explored mindfulness and our sense of sight!  We cultivated focus and attention through the power of our eyes.  In yoga, we call the visual focal point drishti.

To help with this I gave each child a rock to place at the top of the yoga mat.  I explained that I wanted the students to try to keep their eyes focused on the rock for one minute.  Of course they could blink as many times as they needed to, but the gaze should remain on the rock!  This helps them concentrate on one object, which also helps with keeping the mind focused.  If their eyes wandered somewhere else, I asked them to gently bring their gaze back to the rock.  They did a great job developing focus and attention!

Next, we talked about different animals that have really good eyesight.  I asked them to name a few, and the children mentioned eagles, lions, and owls.  Then we pretended that we had an animal's eyes!  The students could either stay on their yoga mat or walk slowly through the art room taking in as much visual information as possible, trying to notice small things they might have never seen before using their new animal eyes.  I think they enjoyed imagining to have the eyes of a tiger or a hawk while seeing the art room with a different perspective!

I asked them if they noticed anything new, and everyone raised a hand.  One girl observed the specific way the lights attached to the ceiling with wires.  A boy saw a yellow box that he never knew was there.  I asked if they would like to have animal eyesight all the time, and most of the children were excited about this idea.  Though one girl said she thought it would be tiring to see, take in, and notice things that intensely all the time.

After moving our bodies with a few yoga postures, I introduced the students to the artist Alexander Calder, specifically his sculptural work with wire.  You can find out more about "Sandy" Calder here.  I explained that they would be creating a relief sculpture assemblage using many, many different materials.  We started constructing a self-portrait based on the detailed drawings that we created last class.  During this class we only outlined the shape of the face, neck, and shoulders but these works will continue to develop and change as more objects are added!

Here are a few more inspirational sculptural wire works by Alexander Calder: