Feel Good Friday

Quick activities to incorporate mindfulness, movement, and social skills in a classroom setting. These can be done anytime, but I devote the first 5-20 minutes each Friday to an activity based on students needs.

Why Practice Mindfulness in the Classroom?

Students Learn to Control their Attention

“if you can quiet yourself and get yourself to a place where your mind is settled, that is a great tool to have” (Wynne Kinder). Teaching mindfulness helps kids, especially those with anxiety, to regulate their emotions and control their attention. Teachers report in increasing numbers that students have trouble focusing on the moment. The mindfulness brings them back into the present moment so they can learn. The strategies provided, as well as many great resources online, have proven to help students to calm themselves in the moment and strengthen their self-awareness. Teaching these skills at a young age equips students with skills and tools that will benefit them in and out of the classroom, even into adulthood.

Creates Calmness in the Classroom

Two studies done by Cheryl Desmond, PhD, and Laurie Hanich, PhD, of middle school children showed significant gains in self-regulation and executive function after regular mindfulness practice. Additionally, Lisa Flook, PhD, has found that kids who have the most difficulty with self-regulation are the ones who most benefit from a mindfulness activities in the classroom.

Helps Kids Manage Stress

As teachers, our first goal is to create a safe environment for all students. This starts with creating an inviting, welcoming, peaceful classroom environment. Kids are under more stress than ever, and need to be explicitly taught tools to manage the stresses of school and life.

Clears the Prefrontal Cortex

The Prefrontal Cortex, which manages problem-solving and emotional regulation, is not fully developed until age 25 (National Institutes for Health). Therefore, students need strategies to walk them through developing these skills. Mindfulness gives space for students to to take a step back, become more aware, more accepting, less judgmental, and less reactive.

Less Discipline, More Teachable Moments

Teachers and students can enjoy these activities as they face fewer discipline-related disturbance and instead take the opportunity for teachable moments when problems arise. They’re learning self-awareness and then making choices based on that self-awareness.

Sources:

https://www.mindful.org/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

https://www.mindful.org/

https://childmind.org/

"Children today are faced with an unprecedented amount of stress and anxiety—25% of 13- to 18-year-olds will experience an anxiety disorder according to the National Institutes of Mental Health"

Calming Activities

5 Finger Breathing: Have students hold out one hand with fingers spread. With the opposite index finger, trace the hand while slowly breathing. Inhale while tracing up each finger, pause at the top, and exhale while tracing down each finger.
Breath Squares: Have students hold out one hand, Palm facing up. With the opposite index finger, draw squares on the Palm. Inhale on the first square, hold the breath on the second square, and exhale slowly on the third square. Repeat 4+ times to calm breathing and heart rate.
Fav. Place Visualization Script: Visualization is a powerful method that allows you to use your imagination to help you relax. Simply, find a comfortable spot, listen to my voice, and follow my direction. Take a moment to sit back and relax, closing your eyes if you're comfortable or finding a spot on the floor or wall to avoid distractions. Now let's all take a deep breath expanding the belly, inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Feel your muscles and mind relax and you take another deep breath, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Tune your mind into this moment. With each breath, imagine stress is flowing out with each exhale, and peace is flowing in with each inhale. Let the tension in your brain go. Let the tension in your face go. Let the tension in your shoulders go. Relax and allow the peace to surround you. Now let's use our minds to take us to a peaceful, beautiful place. This could be a place you've been before, like a silent forest, the shade under a tree, or a white sand beach. Wherever your mind goes, you should feel at peace and at home. Look around at your peaceful place and notice what you see, what you might smell if you're there, the sounds that you may hear, the feel of the ground on your feet. Wherever this special, peaceful place is for you, take some time to imagine it as completely as you can all around you. What do you smell in the air? bring scent into your visualization. How does it feel? Is there a gentle breeze, cool air, crashing waves, sand beneath your feet? Take a moment to feel. What sounds do you hear? Birds chirping, music playing, the voice of a loved one? Take a moment to listen. Now imagine yourself standing in that place. Put yourself there. Take a walk and look at the lovely, peaceful surroundings. Before you were looking at the scene as though it was a picture, now you're in the scene. Live it. Breath it in. Look around and see what you can see. You can stay in this moment as long as you want, enjoying the peace and relaxation. It's yours. You can change the scene as you wish, go back to it in your mind whenever you need. This is your place, and it's always with you. On the next inhale, blink your eyes open and come back to the present moment.
54321 Senses: Start in an upright, seated position with feet flat on the floor. Dim lights. Invite students to close their eyes if comfortable, or gaze at a spot on the wall or floor to avoid distractions. Throughout this practice, remind them to slow their breathing, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Slowly, guide them through these 5 prompts: What are five things you see (other students, teacher, posters, bookbag, etc...), 4 Notice 4 things you feel (shirt on your skin, feet on the floor, hard chair, cool air, calm, relaxed, etc...), Think about three things you can hear (teacher's voice, movement of other students, noise from neighboring classroom, heartbeat in your chest, ect...), Next focus on two things you can smell (fragrance, fresh air, etc...), and finally focus your attention on your taste (gum, breath, last thing you ate, etc..). Stopping to be in the present moment and identify your five senses can help calm anxiety or racing thoughts. Allow your brain to relax and come back to the present moment. Here and now is all that matters, the rest of the day may steal your attention, but you can use this tool to take a pause and reset your mind.
Chair Yoga: Start off in an upright, seated position with feet grounded on the floor. Reaching the top of the head toward the ceiling with a tall spine, rooted in your seat. Imagine filling your lungs like a tall glass, expanding your belly as your take a deep inhale. Now take one ear to one should and the hand on the same side to gently guide the stretch on the side of the neck. Hold that for another breath. Repeat on opposite side. Now let's stretch our hands. PUt one hand out as if signaling "stop" and then take the opposite hand facing the opposite direction, fingers pointing down. Gently pull back with the top hand to encourage a gentle stretch to your bottom wrist. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat on opposite side. Let's move into our torso/body. Reach your left arm up and put your right hand on your hip. Breathe in and feel long and tall on both sides of your body. As you exhale, reach up and over to your right, keeping the length through the sides of body and feeling a gentle stretch holding for two more breaths. Repeat on other side. Returning to the first stretch, let's try a slight twist. Take your right hand to the back of your chair and your left hand on your right thigh. This should put a gentle twist in the spine. As you breathe in feel a little taller reaching the crown of your head toward the ceiling, and go a little deeper in the twist on your exhale. Repeat on opposite side.
Calm Corner/ Zen Den: Create a comfortable, safe space in the classroom for students to visit when they need to calm down. Consider adding beanbags, pillows, a rug, soft music, and stress-relieving items like stress balls or hand massagers.
Calming Tools: Create a bin for classroom calming tools (all purchased on Amazon) including: calm strips, stress balls, play-doh, fidget gadgets, sensory bottles, a sand timer, or hand massagers
Body Scan: Start by finding a comfortable, upright, seated position. Allow your eyes to close if you're comfortable, or gaze at a spot on the floor or wall to avoid any distractions. Begin with a few cleansing breaths, allowing your body to release tension on each exhale. Bring your awareness to your chest or torso. First, breathing deep to expand your belly and lungs. As you breath in and out slowly, notice your body and brain slowing down. Now tense all the muscles in your chest and shoulders, holding for a second, and on the next exhale releasing all the tension. Shift your awareness to your arms, from your shoulders down to your finger tips. Lift and drop your shoulders once and let your arms fall to your sides. Scan your arms to notice any tension or discomfort. Imagine your next breath going to the area. Notice your hands. Ball them into fists, then release and relax each hand. Lastly, tense your arms all the way up to your shoulders and hold for two breaths, feeling the tension, then releasing and enjoying the feel of relaxing your arms. Now direct your attention to your legs, from your hips down to your toes, let your breath flow through all the way down each leg. Notice if your legs have any tension or pain, and focus on that area on the next inhale. Gently squeeze the muscles in your feet, up through your legs, and into your hips, tightening and releasing with each inhale and exhale. Finally, shift your awareness to your mouth and jaw, releasing any tension - many of us clench our jaw without realizing it, causing tension and sometimes headaches. Notice any tension in your head and neck. Clench all the muscles, and on the next inhale, release all the tension . As you let go, allow your mouth to smile or droop with a relaxed jaw. Take a few moments and enjoy the sensation of smiling and relaxing, smiling and relaxing. As we come to the end of this feel good Friday, take a moment to reflect on where you hold tension and emotions. Know that at any time during your day, you can use these tools of flexing and relaxing to help relieve stress and tension.
Outdoor Bubble Blow: take students outside for a ten minute break to blow bubbles. Class sets or bubbles can be purchased on Amazon. Make sure to have enough so that every student has a bubble jar.
Zen coloring: Allow students 5-20 minutes to color a Zen coloring page of their choice. I like to use printed pages that have motivational quotes on them. I recommend turning the classroom lights down, using lamps, and providing calming piano music during this time.
Counted Belly Breaths: Inhale through the nose, letting the belly expand - imagine your lungs as a balloon and inflate them as much as you can then hold the breath for 3 counts and slowly exhale as if you're blowing through a straw. Repeat several times, increasing the count to hold the breath at the top each time (3-4-5-6-7-8), then repeat the breaths decreasing the count of holding (8-7-6-5-4-3).

Book Recommendations:

Mindfulness for Teens in 10 Minutes a Day (Jennie Marie Battistin)

Mindful Games for Kids: 50 Fun Activities to Stay Present, Improve Concentration, and Understand Emotions (Christina Sargent)

Mindful Coloring for Kids

5-Minute Mindfulness Meditations for Teens (Nicole Libin)

Energizing Activities

123 Ninja: The Ninja that is "it" stands at the front of the classroom with their back to the students. Every student gets to decide one of three poses; Ninja (bend in knees, karate hands), Crane (arms out to side, stand on one leg), or snake (hands together with arms stretched forward, slithering). "It" student called "1, 2, 3 Ninja" and turns around, choosing one pose. Any students that are in the same pose at the "It" person are caught and sit down. Continue until only 2 students remains. Winner of final dual becomes new class "Ninja" for the next time you play this game.
Musical Chair Switch: When students are fidgeting or losing focus, call a "Musical Chair Switch" where students grab what they're working on, stand up, and you play 10-20 seconds of music. Students mingle around classroom, then sit in the closest chair once the music stops. Student sits and continues assignment in that seat until you call the next "Musical Chair Switch." This allows for movement, music, and keeping students alert.
Balloon Balance: Have students stand at their desks and start one balloon at a time - tossing in the air and seeing how many touches the class can get to keep the balloon afloat. Count each time a student hits the balloon. To make it harder: each student can only hit the balloon once at a time. Add balloons as the class builds teamwork to keep 1 balloon afloat. After a couple balloons, it becomes silly and crazy. Stop once everyone has had a laugh, return to seats, and return to academic task.
Hula Hoop Circle: This is best to do outside or in a large space. Students form one big circle (or smaller circles for younger ages), hold hands, and have to pass the hula hoop around the circle without breaking contact with hands. For an added challenge, different circles can race, or a number of laps around the circle can be assigned.
Paper Airplane Races: Give each student a piece of copy paper and allow a set amount of time (2-3 mins) to create their own paper Airplane. Take students into hallway or outside to fly their planes. Have a starting line and have sets of students toss at the same time, identifying the winner by the furthest flight distance. Recycle planes before returning to classroom so that they aren't thrown at inopportune times.
Rock Paper Scissors Tournament: Students stand and duel with partner of choice, best of 3 RPS rounds win and chooses next partner.Non-winner returns to seat and cheers on remaining students. Last 2 students get full class attention, for a class RPS champ.
Stand up/ Sit down: Read off prompts of "have you ever" questions, personal interests, birthday month, etc... and have students stand if the prompt applies to them.
Numbers together: Similar to rock-paper-scissors, but done in groups of 3 or 4. Teacher calls "1, 2, 3, and identifies a number between 1-20). Students put one hand in with 0-5 fingers held out, and group adds up total fingers. If they reach the teachers identified number, celebrate. Can be done as quiet activity without teacher in small groups.
Stand, Stretch, Reset: Have students stand behind desk, guide them in simple stretches such as: arms up and reach toward the ceiling, arms out and twist from side to side, neck stretch to the left, right, center, and back, one knee up balancing on opposite leg... Continue through a couple stretches, then have students return to seats and continue academic activity.
30 sec dance party: Play 30 seconds of fast-paced music (or use 30-second dance party button from Amazon) and have students stand and dance as silly as they wish until music stops, then sit and return to work. Can also be used to celebrate success or birthdays.
1-minute challenges: Similar to "minute-to-win-it" challenges. Give students an equal number of items to complete a task in 1-2 minutes. Some examples are: marshmallows and toothpicks - build the highest tower you can; Cup Pyramids - give a number of cups to each student or pair and see who can build the best pyramid without it falling; ping pong drop - students stand on chair (if safe) or ground and hold arm above head, dropping ping pong ball without moving arm, trying to get in solo cup placed on the ground; Chopstick transfer - give two bowls, a set of chopsticks, and small items like Skittles or cotton balls. Students race against timer to transfer all items from one bowl to the next using only chopsticks.

Community Building & SEL

Would You Rather: Give students two "would you rather" options and have them share their choice and their reasoning in pairs or groups. A great list of prompts can be found here.
Walk the Line: Have two lines parallel to each other (tape on floor or gym lines) and have students line up on one, facing the other. As teacher calls out situations, character traits, or struggles, students silently walk to the next line if prompt applies to them. This is a quiet, reflective, observation activity that can follow up with a debrief or journal writing. Situations can vary in level of seriousness, such as: I play a sport or am in a club, I can play an instrument or sing, I like country/rap/reggae music, I've traveled out of state, I'm traveled out of the country, I've witnessed bullying, I've been bullied, sometimes I struggle with anxiety, sometimes I feel like a failure, I know someone who struggles with depression, I have felt proud myself in the last month, someone has told me they're proud of me recently, I get 7 or more hours of sleep each night, etc...
Affirmation Cards: Can be teacher-created or purchased in a set on Amazon. Distribute card decks to groups with positive self-talk and affirmations. Students can keep cards, write in journal, or share with out loud to bring a more positive, encouraging climate.
Gratitude Notes: Distribute post-it's or printed notes that say "I'm grateful for ___________, because..." and have students complete them and give to the person for whom they are grateful.
Self-Awareness Journal: Place prompts on board or projector to have students complete sentence frames that practice self-awareness. Some great prompts are: The best thing that happened at school this week was ______; One thing I need to do better next week is ___________. The person that made me happy or brought me joy is _________; My current grade is ________________, I feel ________ about that grade, and need to ____________ in order to make me feel _____ about my grade.
Empathy Truth or Dare: print cards here. Then, show this video to students, which tells a simple story about how empathy can help us better connect with ourselves and others. Directions for activity: Take turns picking a “Truth” card or “Dare” card, and complete the task described in the card. The “Truth” cards will prompt them to share something about themselves, while the “Dare” cards challenge them to do something! Keep score, as each card contains the number of points that will be awarded if the prompt is completed to the satisfaction of their peers. Come up with their own prompts using the blank cards!
Sidewalk Chalk Motivation: Take students outside for a 20 minute break to write uplifting and motivational messages on the sidewalks. I like to do this during testing to give students a brain break and encourage others in the school.
I am posters: Have students draw a circle in the middle of a blank page with the words "I AM" and 8-10 lines extending like sun rays (or have them printed in advance). Direct students to write words or phrases that describe who they are in each space. Color posters if time allows. I like to hang these in the classroom or hallway, or have them keep in a folder as a positive self-talk reminder.

Happiness collage: Have students use stickers, cut from magazines, bring photos or images from home and create a collage of all the things that make them happy.
Group juggle: Have students stand in a large circle. Use a stress ball or other small items (need 5-10). Announce the rules: you have to throw the item to the same person every time, toss it underhand, and say their name before tossing. Start with one ball, saying a student's name and tossing underhand. The first round is slow, but establishes the routine. After one round, add another ball a couple seconds after the first is in rotation. Then a third, fourth, and so on. Students have to listen for their name, focus on catching, and remember who to throw to each time. After a couple balls are in rotation, it gets really silly.I keep track of how many balls were "juggled" at the end of the game, so the class has a number to beat the next time we play.
1-line story: Teacher starts a story by saying one sentence, then go around classroom with each student adding a sentence on to the story.
Stranded Island ABCs: Students choose an item that they would take with them if they were going to a remote, stranded Island. The first student's item must start with A, the second must start with B, and so on. CHallenge the group after the activity to recite every student's item in alphabetic order.