Through my job at Inspired Teaching, I work with teachers in many grade levels. I observed a kindergarten teacher, Ms. Campbell, engage her kids in this activity after recess.  Her students went through the process of freezing, stretching, and melting through a series of movements and reflections.  Her students were extremely engaged and focused on the process, which I found surprising for Kindergarten students.  The movement break ended with all students “melting” silently and safely into the carpet.  They closed their eyes.  They were breathing and focusing on their breathing.  You could see the release and it was powerful! 

 

I asked Ms. Campbell what inspired her to do this activity.  She told me that it was important for her students to transition into learning from recess in ways that worked best for them.  For her students, “melting” worked and it did not benefit them to go straight into instruction.  Doing this daily, she has seen their anxiety decrease and attention level increase after recess.