Sitting in a circle during the beginning of our class together, I asked the students to close their eyes and find their mindful bodies. When everyone was ready, I placed a special object into each child's open palm. The object was a smooth, clear glass stone. Before opening their eyes I asked them to explore the object using only their sense of touch, then they could open their eyes and really look at it. We had a discussion about happiness and I asked them to call to mind what brought them happiness. After talking about and sharing a few things that bring joy to the students, I asked them to close their eyes and put all their happiest thoughts, ideas, and memories into the stone. We focused on our breathing as we explored happiness in our own minds.
During the movement part of our class, the students spent time bouncing and shaking in all sorts of ways focusing on bringing energy into the body. After some boisterous movement paired with cat/cow and down dog I asked the students to come into their favorite yoga pose and focus on why they like this pose.
Art-wise, I explained to the students that they would develop a symbol for themselves that represented happiness. This class was devoted to brainstorming images that could become this symbol. I asked them to think about the actions, people, and places that bring them joy and perhaps transform one of these into their symbol. As usual, the students surprised me with their creativity.
 |
| A second grader's bag with her happiness stone sitting inside. |
 |
| This fourth grader's ideas of happiness involve music, nature, and sunshine. |
 |
| This Kindergartner is happy in nature. |
