Of course, the conference I attended recently was in regards to active learning, which makes sense because children who are active learners are getting plenty of up-down time during the course of the day. It makes sense that if children are sitting like a lump of mashed potatoes everyday that their brains will resemble the same pile of mashed potatoes as their bodies. Why would their minds be active if their bodies aren't? Conversely, wouldn't their minds be active if their bodies were active? It makes total sense that movement and activity stimulate brain response.
Believe me, the affects of passive learning are evident when one day you ask the children to direct their own learning experiences. Yikes. Let the training begin.
Anyway, I spoke about balancing the brain in the last article in the series. Below are a few activities that help children with balancing the brain so they can be better, more active learners.
The Cross Crawl 2x a day.
Sit down. Do 28 puppet movements (touch the elbow of the right arm to the right knee and the elbow of the left arm to the left knee.)
Do 28 crossover movements (touch the elbow of the right arm to the left knee and the elbow of the left arm to the right knee.)
Wayne Cook Posture
Sit down. Fold hands. The thumb of the hand that is on top is the ankle to cross on top. Extend arms and cross the arm of the thumb on top over the other arm. Point thumbs down. Wave at the fingers. Fold hands. Draw hands to chest, like a pretzel. Take ten deep breathes with the tongue on the roof of the mouth to breathe in, down to breathe out. Uncross ankles, put fingertips together. Rest hands with finger tips touching on lap. Take ten more breathes.
Thymus Thump
Rapidly, tap chest on both sides of the collar bone at the same time. Resets the body's balance.
Now, go put those kids' brains back together!
