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Wind The Bobbin Up | Kids Songs | Super Simple Songs

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How to Calm Young Children Down in Minutes

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Written by Cassie (Teach Starter)
Posted Wednesday August 23

What is Mindfulness?

When I think of the word 'mindfulness', I remember sitting, wrapped in a warm, woolly jumper, under a huge maple tree. It's a sunny day, but the air is cold. The old tree's leaves are beginning to change colour, forming a carpet of burnt orange and brown over the grass below. High around me is a semi-circular mountain range and I sit within the green basin at its feet. I'm holding a mug of hot black tea and can feel its warmth seeping into the small muscles in each of my hands.

The quiet is punctuated only by the intermittent chatter of birds, the occasional crunch of footsteps on gravel and the words of a hushed conversation as people move along the paths behind me. While I can savour the natural beauty that surrounds me, I choose instead to close my eyes. I take three slow, deep breaths, paying attention to the feeling of the air as it enters and exits my nostrils. When I open my eyes, the calm is amplified, the bird songs are crisper, the sun warmer on my skin.

This was where I first truly felt the benefits of practising mindfulness.

The art of self-awareness and of being present in the moment.

Mindfulness in Education

It's hard to imagine transferring this sense of tranquillity to the classroom. The moment that I shared above was quite obviously peaceful. Who wouldn't feel relaxed in an environment like that?

We can't all escape to a mountain retreat to hone our skills (though if circumstance allows you to, I highly recommend it!). We do, however, all share the only tools we need to be mindful.

Our minds and our breath.

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work.
It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. - Unknown

Why Teach Mindfulness to Primary School Students?

Benefits of Mindfulness in the Classroom

Mindfulness is a skill that deserves superhero status. It is proven to help students:

decrease stress and anxiety

increase concentration and engagement

sleep better at night

recognise their emotions

enhance their decision-making and problem-solving skills

communicate feelings verbally instead of physically

and increase their capacity for compassion.

Teaching mindfulness in schools is becoming more and more common. And for good reason. While of a similar vein to meditation (which is often misperceived as being successful at sitting still with an entirely silent mind), mindfulness is an active practice that requires us to focus our mind's eye on things that will help to reduce stress and increase our ability to focus on what really matters, in that moment.

As Mindful Schools co-founder Laurie Grossman says,

"(mindfulness is) to pay attention, on purpose, to the present moment".

Students walk into our classrooms each day carrying with them their entire experience. Their thoughts and actions are more often influenced by their own state of mind than by the lessons and activities that we ask them to engage with.

Whether it simply be a rushed morning after a late night, feeling ill-prepared for an exam or dealing with a more serious trauma, such as losing a parent, or emotional neglect. These heighten a child's stress levels, increasing their anxiety and making it difficult to relax at all.

We all know that concentrating, and therefore learning, while stressed or distracted is near impossible. Including mindfulness in education is a simple practice that provides students with something they can DO in those moments of stress, distraction or anger.

Teaching Mindfulness

Tips for Teachers

First, develop a personal practice.
If you have never practised mindfulness before, spend a little timepractising the activities yourself before you take them to your classroom. Don't be intimidated about this step - Smiling Minds is a great free app that has both kids and adult programs with short guided modules. It might just bring awareness to some of the mindful practices you already, naturally, do!

Be honest with your students about your own level of experience.
If mindfulness is new to you too, your students will appreciate knowing that you are learning this together!

Make mindfulness mini-lessons a special time of day.
Make students aware that the 5 or 10 minutes you spend on mindfulness each day is a special time. A visible change in the environment is a good way to do this. You may turn the lights out, or begin each of your mindfulness sessions by ringing a little bell.

Explain what mindfulness is in a simple way.
Younger students may understand words like "awareness" or "noticing" when introducing the concept of mindfulness. It is simply being aware of, or noticing what is happening in a specific moment. Older students will benefit greatly from exploring how and why mindfulness works.

Practice naming emotions.
Exploringemotions vocabulary, practising naming and describing emotions and what they feel like in our body should happen alongside your more explicit mindfulness activities. This will help students with their own mindfulness skills as they get better at recognising and processing their own emotions.

Acknowledge with your class that you cannot fail at mindfulness.
Tell students that their mindswill wander during mindfulness activities and that it's okay! There is no way of 'failing' at mindfulness - we simply notice that our thoughts have wandered in that moment and return our attention to our breath, in whatever our mindful activity may be.

Be flexible.
If your class doesn't take to a particular activity, take it out of your rotation! There are so manyways to explore mindfulness. Please don't feel like your mindfulness mini-lessons are a waste of time if things aren't going well - next time try an activity that is more suited to the personalities in your class.

Let go of expectations.
Don't expect a sudden change in your classroom environment after practising mindfulness for a short time. It is a skill that takes time. When it is new to your students they will need consistent practice and support to get to a place where they call upon their own powers of mindfulness outside of your direct instruction.

Never use mindfulness practices as a punishment!
Hopefully gone are the days when sitting in silence is used as a form of punishment for a misbehaving class. Mindfulness practices should always be incorporated into your classroom as positive, skill-building experiences, not reactionary or negative ones.

Mindfulness Activities for the Classroom

Check out our blog post "18 Awesome Mindfulness Activities for the Classroom" for a list of simple and effective mindfulness practices to teach your students.

For even more Mindfulness lessons, ideas, tips and tricks have a look at some of these fantastic links:

Our blog post "10 Ways to Calm Your Class After Lunch" provides practical activities that can be used during mindfulness lessons.

Shakti Burke has some fantastic tips for teaching mindfulness to wiggly kids.

Learn how to make a mind jar at Left Brain Buddha and how to introduce it to your students.

Consider creating a Chill Out Corner in your classroom, as a space where students can engage in their own mindfulness practice in times of need.

Find a huge number of mindfulness activities and lesson ideas at Mindful Teachers.

Find age-appropriate guided mindfulness and meditation activities on the Smiling Mind website.

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Why You Should Be Teaching Mindfulness in Your Classroom

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Written by Cassie (Teach Starter) Posted Wednesday August 23 When I think of the word 'mindfulness', I remember sitting, wrapped in a warm, woolly jumper, under a huge maple tree. It's a sunny day, but the air is cold. The old tree's leaves are beginning to change colour, forming a carpet of burnt orange and brown over the grass below.

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Written by Holly (Teach Starter)
Posted Tuesday October 18, 2016

Gone are the days of making your students sit still for hours at a time. We now know, thanks to extensive research, that kids need to move and take brain breaks to improve their concentration and brain activity.

The image below shows two brain scans. The first is of a student who has been sitting quietly doing a test, the other, is that of a student who has just been for a 20 minute walk. The brain is much more active after some form of a brain break. This blog will outline some quick and easy ways to get your students to take a brain break, even if it is for 10 minutes, it is sure to limit distractions and improve attention. Make it part of your classroom routine...

20 Brain Break Activity Cards

Use our brain breaks activity cards and signs to create a 'Brain Break Board'. Included in this resource are coloured circles that can be stuck on the end of paddle pop sticks. Use these signs to indicate to your students what activity they will be doing. I used our Letter, Number and Punctuation set - Cartoon Green for the heading.

Here are some of the 20 different activities:

Dance Off

Choose an age appropriate song for your class. Play the music and have the students dance. When the music stops, students have to freeze. Whoever moves, is out. Keep playing until there is one person left. Those students who are out, help spot students who move when the music is off.

Hot Potato

Classmates gather in a circle and toss a beanbag or tennis ball to each other while music plays. The player who is holding the 'hot potato' when the music stops is out.

The winner is announced when one player is left.

Scissors Paper Rock

This is a 2-player game, but the whole class can play in a knock-out round tournament. On the count of three, players pick their position:

rock - hand in a fist

paper - hand flat, palm down

scissors - extending the first two fingers and holding them apart.

The winner of that round depends on the items formed. If the same item is formed, it's a tie.

rock crushes scissors

scissors cuts paper

paper covers rock

Silent Ball

Find an area where you can safely toss a ball around. No one can talk or make a sound - being silent is the aim of the game.

The ball is tossed between classmates. Students cannot throw the ball back to the person who threw it to them. If a player misses the ball, talks or makes a bad pass, that student is out. The last two players are the champions.

Heads and Tails

Students stand in a group or at their desks. The teacher calls out true or false statements.

True - hands on your head. If a student thinks the statement is true, then they put their hands on their heads.

False - hands on your bottom. If a student thinks the statement is false, then they put their hands on their bottoms.

If your guess is incorrect, you must sit down. The last person standing wins.

Other Brain Break Ideas

Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades

Using each of the suits in the deck of cards, place one in each corner of the classroom. From the remaining deck of cards, remove the Aces and then shuffle, pull out a card and show it to the students, they must yell out 'hearts, diamonds, clubs or spades' and run to the correct corner. Students who go to to the incorrect corner or the last few students to the correct corner are out.

Shuffle, Shuffle, Group!

In this game students shuffle around the classroom until the teacher says, "Groups of 5," at which point the students must quickly group themselves into groups with the correct number of people. Students who are left over must do three jumping jacks before the next round starts. The teacher can call out any number for the group size.

Timed Chatter

Allow the students to do what they are desperate to do. Set a 3 minute timer and allow the students to get up and talk to their friends.

Fitness Lucky Dip

Place our 24 fitness exercise cards in a bucket and have students randomly select an activity to perform.

Fitness Bingo

Use our different fitness bingo cards. Kids love playing BINGO so why not incorporate a little bit of a brain break with some fitness bingo!

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25 Brain Break Ideas for the Classroom - Teach Starter Blog

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Written by Holly (Teach Starter) Posted Tuesday October 18, 2016 Gone are the days of making your students sit still for hours at a time. We now know, thanks to extensive research, that kids need to move and take brain breaks to improve their concentration and brain activity.

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Listen to a traditional song about the things that we do in the morning.

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A lot of experienced authors have written books about "brain breaks."Brain breaks are short reprieves from learning where students GET UP and have a little fun! All students (and teachers) can benefit from incorporating brain breaks into their classroom.However, some teachers just forget about all of the fun activities that will give students' brains a break and help them refocus their energy and efforts.

I found these cute, colorful craft sticks the other day.I had no idea what I was going to use them for, but I knew I had to buy them!!

Cute craft sticks from ReallyGoodStuff
Later, I realized they would be perfect for BRAIN BREAKS. I decided to write a different activity on each stick and put them in a cute cup. Then, it would be easy to have a student reach in and choose a "brain break" when the class deserved one! Here is a list of my brain breaks and a short description of each.

1. Simon Says: It's a classic and students love it!

2. Crab Walk around the Room: Put on a song and have students walk in the CRAB POSITION around the room.At some point, have students go in reverse.

3. Macarena: Teach students the hand movements for the old-school song! You can find the song for free on YouTube.

4.Ants Go Marching: Most kids know this children's song.Play the song and let the kids march around the room at different speeds...Slow-motion march, fast march, etc.

5. Cupid Shuffle: This dance isn't just fun at weddings!You can find the song and dance on YouTube.It may take students a few tries to learn it, but you will inevitably have a natural dancer in the group that can help other students learn.

6. Doodle Time: Give students some blank paper and markers and let them DOODLE and talk for five minutes.It sounds simple but students love to draw and doodle.

7. Dance Party: Turn on the radio and let students DANCE until the song ends.

8. Tic-Tac-Toe: Give students some blank paper to play tic-tac-toe with a friend.It's a simple game that won't cause a mess or a distraction for your neighbors!

9. 50 Jumping Jacks: Get students' heart rates up with this QUICK physical exercise.

10. Bingo: Depending on time...the song OR the game!

11. Heads Up, 7-Up: Another classic that is easy and exciting for students!

12. Cha-Cha Slide: Find the lyrics and dance moves on YouTube!

13. Stretching: Choose a student to come up and lead a minute of stretching.All of the kiddos know various stretches from gym class, and they will enjoy leading their peers!

14. Congo Line: Turn the radio on and form a Congo line to move around the room.

15. Push-Up/Sit-Up: Have students pick a partner and let them count out each other's push-ups and sit-ups.Another great physical exercise for kids that will provide a break from learning and strengthen their muscles at the same time!

16. Pantomime: Choose a student to act out an activity WITHOUT talking.The class must mimic the leader and then guess what the activity is.(Swimming, flying, sleeping, laughing, jogging, singing, etc.)

17. Mirror-Mirror: Have students pair up and mirror the actions of their partner.Students will get a kick out of this activity! 18. Little Bunny Foo Foo: Here's a
link to a video if you don't remember the lyrics. Have kiddos act out the nursery rhyme.
19. Thumb Wrestling: Have students choose a partner and participate in some old-fashioned thumb wrestling. Be sure to establish your expectations before this little brain break.
20. Rock, Paper, Scissors: Let kiddos partner up for five rounds of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The winners get a high five from their partner. :)
21. Sky Writing: Have kiddos sky write their ABCs, sight words, spelling words, or a secret message to their friend.
22. Air Band: Choose an "air" instrument and "rock out!" Drums, guitar, and saxophone are my personal favorites.
23. Silent Yoga: Strike a yoga pose and see how long your students can hold that pose. Google "Kid Yoga" for some easy examples.

I'm hoping to add more Brain Breaks!Do you have a great idea?If so, leave a comment and let me know!I'd love to add it to my collection! **A friend asked me to make You can download all 40 printable brain break cards
A special thanks to my reader, Madisson, for some of these fun, new suggestions!!

printable Brain Break cards because she wanted to use them in her classroom right away and didn't have time to order the craft sticks seen above. I created them in black and white and simply printed on BRIGHT colored paper! I think they turned out super cute!**
HERE!!

Store them on a metal ring or in a pencil box! Easy to store & doesn't take up much space.

Easy on the printer but still super cute. See some examples...

There are 40 brain breaks total...Some classics and some total original ones!

I've provided you with an explanation for each. :)

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A lot of experienced authors have written books about "brain breaks."Brain breaks are short reprieves from learning where students GET UP and have a little fun! All students (and teachers) can benefit from incorporating brain breaks into their classroom.However, some teachers just forget about all of the fun activities that will give students' brains a break and help them refocus their energy and efforts.

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Bright Concepts 4 Teachers: Lesson Plans and Teaching Strategies

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Teaching kids can be challenging. There are only so many hours in the day and the list of things that need to get taught and completed each day can be daunting. As directors of chaos (aka: classroom teachers) we need our students to be focused and on task as much as possible. Transitions need to be quick and smooth. We've a lot to get done, people!

This school year, I have an incredible group of students. But there is one BIG problem. They are WAY too social!!! They talk ALL. THE. TIME! I was about to lose my mind! Then, the heavens above looked down on me. A few weeks ago, as I was scrolling through my IG feed, all my prayers were answered!

T his post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link.

My blogging bestie Aimee from Primarily Speaking wrote this great blog post show casing some great Back To School books and shared this book and a free voice chart to go with it. I didn't think much about it at the time because I had never used a voice level chart in my classroom. Well, after about 2 weeks of school, I knew I NEEDED the book and a voice chart! HA!

I immediately logged onto my Amazon account and bought this book and a few other items in my cart (click on pictures for link).

Next, I gathered all the materials I was going to need to put together my voice chart. I wanted to change a few things on the voice chart to make it work best in my classroom. I took off "outside voice" because my students rarely have the opportunity to use that voice in my room! I ended up tweaking and creating my own chart.

I also wanted a different, easy, eye catching way for my students to know which voice level to use and when. These tap lights were the answer. I purchased 2 packs of the lights and adhesive magnetic strips so they could stick to my white board.

HONESTLY??? This has been a blessing. The kids are more aware of expectations. They remind each other what level voice to use by pointing at the chart. They LOVE being the student to turn the lights on or off. It's a little miracle!

Are you ready to make your own voice level chart too? You can get started by grabbing this {FREE} template HERE.

I hope you love using this in your classroom. Please leave a comment with your success stories or any questions you make have. I love hearing from my readers.

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Teaching kids can be challenging. There are only so many hours in the day and the list of things that need to get taught and completed each day can be daunting. As directors of chaos (aka: classroom teachers) we need our students to be focused and on task as much as possible.

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Brain breaks are so, so so important! According to pediatric occupational therapist, Loren Shlaes,

When we are forced to sit still for long periods, we are either in one of two states: the just right state, meaning that our bodies can support our ability to stay present by remaining effortlessly aroused and upright, or in a sensory needs state, which means that we cannot attend because our bodies need something to help our brains stay alert and ready to learn. The just right state doesn't last long when we are forced to sit without moving, unless what is happening in the room is highly interesting and engages our full attention.

That is why I created this set of 60 Brain Break cards for classroom use. Before I began, I looked at a lot of sources for brain breaks and also called on my own experience as a teacher, a camp counselor (from waaaaaay back when), and (briefly) a student of improv. The result is a unique set of brain break task cards that all meet the following criteria:

They all require students to get up out of their seats and move! I have noticed that some brain breaks, while offering a break from the lesson, don't actually get kids moving. Movement is essential to getting kids to be able to once again focus on the task at hand once the brain break is over.

Every student is involved...none are just watching. While it can be fun to watch a classmate tell a joke or participate in a game like Heads Up Seven Up, they leave most of the class still in their seats, watching those who are picked to actively participate.

They can be completed in less than five minutes - many take less than a minute. Your time is super valuable, and I know you can't spend 15 minutes on a brain break. Quick and easy is key.

They require very little if any prep - most require no prep at all. You should be able to select a Brain Break at Random and do it! No planning needed.

They do NOT require the use of a video or a video game. There are some truly awesome brain break videos and games out there. Usually, kids are following a leader on a screen. I am not opposed to those, and kids do enjoy them, but it can also be good to show kids that they don't need a screen to have fun!

They are fun! I made sure that each brain break goes beyond simply doing a set of calisthenics or stretching. They each offer a physical challenge, an opportunity to connect with other students, a chance to use imagination, or some combination thereof.

In addition to the brain break cards, there is also a list of suggestions for use. I am confident that you will get years of use from these cards and that they will not only make your students happy and attentive but will also save your sanity!

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Brain Breaks for Squirrelly Students - Minds in Bloom