Mindful Play IEYC v2

Mindful Play
Supporting Independence
and Healthy Living
From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Mindful Play
Contents
Introduction 5
The IEYC Learning Principles 5
The IEYC Process of Learning 7
An Overview of Mindful Play 7

A mind map of the Learning Experiences Included in Mindful Play 7
A Suggested Pathway through Mindful Play 10
Suggestions for Enabling the Environment 11
The Big Picture for Teachers 13
The Big Picture for Children 17
Putting this IEYC unit of learning into action 19

Entry Point 19
Capturing Curiosity 22
Learning Block 1: Explore and Express – Breathing and Laughter 23

Activity 1: 4/5/6 breathing 25
Activity 2: Nasal breathing 25
Activity 3: Peaceful moments 26
Activity 4: Laughter moments 26
Activity 5: Paired laughter challenges 28
Learning Block 2: Explore and Express – Special objects and

stepping stones 29
Activity 1: Seeing all 31
Activity 2: Why these items? 33
Activity 3: What’s in the box? 33
Activity 4: A special stone 34
Activity 5: Blue, purple, and pink 35
From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. 3
Mindful Play
Learning Block 3: Explore and Express – Move, Sit and Stretch 36

Activity 1: Seeing all 38
Activity 2: Yoga 40
Activity 3: Pilates 41
Activity 4: Balances 42
Activity 5: Mindful walking 43
Learning Block 4: Explore and Express – Peacefulness and Play 45

Activity 1: Breathing meditation 47
Activity 2: Doing everything peacefully 48
Activity 3: Story time 48
Activity 4: Play day 49
Activity 5: Food meditation 51
Exit Point 53
Appendices 55
Appendix 1: Resources 55
Appendix 2: Further suggestions for under-threes or children in need of extra
support 56
Appendix 3: Additional guidance to support learning in the early years setting 59
Appendix 4: Guidance on how to use the Leuven Scales of Well-being and
Involvement 63
Appendix 5: The Learning Strands, Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and
International Dimension linked to the activities in Mindful Play 67
Appendix 6: Example of an ‘IEYC Learning Journey’ 71
4 From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission.
Mindful Play
Introduction
This unit of learning has been designed by the International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC)
after extensive research into early childhood development and the experiences that are
considered internationally as developmentally-appropriate for the 2–5 age range. The IEYC
can easily be extended to include older children in settings and countries where Early Years
education goes beyond the age of five years. The IEYC is a perfect tool for the transition
phase, forging a seamless link between early and formal education.
The IEYC has been developed around eight Learning Principles. The IEYC suggests that these
Learning Principles should underpin all policy and practice in Early Years settings.
The IEYC Learning Principles

1. The earliest years of life are important in their own right.
2. Children should be supported to learn and develop at their own unique pace.
3. Play is an essential aspect of all children’s learning and development.
4. Learning happens when developmentally-appropriate, teacher-scaffolded and child-
initiated experiences harness children’s natural curiosity in an enabling environment.
5. Independent and interdependent learning experiences create a context for personal
development and are the foundation of international mindedness.
6. Knowledge and skills development lead to an increasing sense of understanding when
children are provided with opportunities to explore and express their ideas in multiple
ways.
7. On-going assessment, in the form of evaluation and reflection, is effective when it involves
a learning-link with the home.
8. Learning should be motivating, engaging and fun, opening up a world of wonder where
children’s personal interests can flourish.
The IEYC helps children to:

Engage in learning experiences that are developmentally-appropriate.

Learn and develop at their own pace.

Develop their own interests.

Develop knowledge, an increasing understanding, and the skills to demonstrate what has
been learned in practical ways.

Develop personally, socially and emotionally.

Develop skills that contribute to the growth of an international mind-set, alongside an
awareness of their own identity.
Mindful Play
IEYC Learning Strands fall into two distinct phases of learning and development:

Learning Strand Phase A: These describe learning experiences with the youngest children
in mind.

Learning Strand Phase B: These describe learning experiences that provide more of a
challenge.
Whilst the IEYC recognises the non-linear nature of learning and development for this age
range, some settings find it useful to consider Phase A learning experiences typically suited
to 2–3-year-olds and Phase B learning experiences typically suited to 4–5-year-olds.
Mindful Play
The IEYC Process of Learning

For a detailed explanation of each part of the IEYC process of learning, please refer to the
IEYC Implementation File.
Entry
Point
Exit
Point Capturing
Curiosity
Child
Explore & Enable the
Express Environment
The Big
Picture
An Overview of Mindful Play

This section provides:
colour-coded mind map providing an overview of the learning experiences included in this unit.
A
implementation guide, detailing a suggested pathway through this unit.
An
overview of the Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and International Dimension linked
An
to this unit.

Ideas for Enabling the Environment.
Big Picture overview for teachers.
A
Big Picture overview for children.
A

Additional documents to support you in enhancing children’s learning.
A mind map of the Learning Experiences included in Mindful Play

This mind map demonstrates how Learning Blocks are made up of a wide range of holistic
experiences underpinned by the IEYC Learning Strands. Whilst each learning experience
embeds all four Learning Strands, the mind map identifies which are dominant areas by using
a colour-coding system.
The mind map is intended to be used as a teacher resource and planning tool, providing a
useful snap-shot overview of children’s learning.
Mindful Play Mindful Play
3 4 5 1 2 3 4 1 2 3
Doing
What’s in the A special Blue, purple, Mindful Breathing
Tai Chi Yoga Pilates everything Story time
box? stone and pink walking meditation
peacefully
2 4
Why these Playday
items?
SPECIAL OBJECTS
MOVE, SIT, PEACEFULNESS
AND STEPPING
AND STRETCH AND PLAY
1 STONES 5
Food
Seeing all
meditation
Mindful Play
BREATHING AND SUPPORTING A GROUP
1
LAUGHTER INDEPENDENCE AND GATHERING 4
Laughter HEALTHY LIVING Group

meditation
2 3 4 Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence 1 2 3

Strand 2: Communicating
Peaceful Nasal 4/5/6 Revisiting past Peaceful Letter to
moments breathing breathing Strand 3: Enquiring activities experiences future self
Strand 4: Healthy Living and Physical Well-being
8 From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family. © WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced without permission. 9
Mindful Play
A Suggested Pathway through Mindful Play

This IEYC unit of learning is intended to last about six weeks. However, it can be reduced or
extended depending on the setting context, the ages and interest levels of the children, and
how children’s personalised learning is developed. You may also wish to return to some of the
activities over the year.
Learning Learning Learning Learning

Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4
Entry Point: The central The central The central The central Exit Point
learning focus learning focus learning focus learning focus
for this week is: for this week is: for this week is: for this week is:
Breathing and Special objects Move, sit, and Peacefulness A group
laughter and stepping stretch and play gathering
stones
Capturing
Curiosity
Enabling the Rearrange the Create four Work in a hall Work in a hall With teacher
Environment classroom into groups; make or large space. or large space. and family/
comfortable four nests of carers
Note: Weather and appealing tables, spread If only If only attending these
permitting, corners/areas. out around the classroom classroom final sessions,
complete all space. available, stack available, stack try to carry out
activities in this Children sit on all chairs and all chairs and these activities
unit outside. exercise mats, Children can sit tables to the tables to the in a hall or
gymnastics on mats if they side. side. large space.
mats, bean bags, find it more
cushions, etc. comfortable. Good to keep
space warm.
Create some
empty space.
Rearrange the
classroom into
comfortable
and appealing
corners/areas.
Children sit on
exercise mats,
gymnastics
mats, bean bags,
cushions, etc.
Create some
empty space.
Mindful Play
Learning Learning Learning Learning

Block 1 Block 2 Block 3 Block 4
Entry Point: The central The central The central The central Exit Point
learning focus learning focus learning focus learning focus
for this week is: for this week is: for this week is: for this week is:
Breathing and Special objects Move, sit, and Peacefulness A group
laughter and stepping stretch and play gathering
stones
Explore and Explore and Explore and Explore and Explore and Explore and
Express Express Express Express Express Express
Activities Activities Activities Activities Activities Activities
1. Treasure box 1. 4/5/6 1. Seeing all 1. Tai chi 1. Breathing 1. Seeing all,
breathing meditation Group
2. Handy 2. Why these 2. Yoga Gathering
2. Nasal items? 2. Doing
3. Being breathing 3. Pilates everything 2. Family hands
peaceful 3. What’s in the peacefully
3. Peaceful box? 4. Balances 3. Treasure box
4. Mindful moments 3. Story time
minute 4. A special 5. Mindful 4. Peacefulness
4. Laughter stone walking 4. Play day experience
5. Counting moments
breaths 5. Blue, purple, 5. Food 5. Letter to
5. Paired and pink meditation future self
laughter
challenges 6. Group
meditation
Suggestions for Enabling the Environment

As this IEYC unit of learning progresses, an enabled environment should be developed as
children’s curiosity and interests grow. The following suggestions may be useful in the early
stages of implementing this IEYC unit of learning:

Rearrange the classroom into comfortable and appealing corners/areas.

Create four nests of tables, which are spread out across the space.

Provide floor-based seating options, such as exercise mats, gymnastics mats, bean bags,
and cushions, so that children can choose their preferred height and location.

Ensure that there is sufficient empty space to create flow between activities, and so that
children can adapt the area to their own needs.

Select the most appropriate location for each activity.

Hold activities outside where possible.

Work in a hall or large space.
only a classroom is available, stack all the chairs and tables to one side in order to
If
create as much floor space as possible.
Mindful Play

Keep the space warm, so that children are able to relax.
younger children you may see additional documents.
For
Note: On A3 paper, make your own version of the posters below for your mindful display area
in a designated calm space in your classroom.
The Two Promises Pebble Medication

I vow to develop an UNDERSTANDING Breathing in, I see myself as a FLOWER
In order to live peacefully Breathing out, I feel FRESH
With people, animals, plants and minerals Breathing in, I see myself as a MOUNTAIN
I vow to develop COMPASSION Breathing out, I feel SOLID
In order to protect the lives Breathing in, I see myself as STILL WATER
Of people, animals ,plants and minerals Breathing out, I REFLECT things as they are
Breathing in, I see myself as SPACE
Breathing out, I feel FREE.
Mindful Play
The Big Picture for Teachers
Mindful activities can have far-reaching benefits for both you and your class. The following
examples are just a few of the reasons that the activities in this unit are so important.
Mindful children:
better able to focus and concentrate.
Are

Experience increased calm.

Experience decreased stress and anxiety.

Experience improved impulsive control.

Have increased self-awareness.

Find skilful ways to respond to difficult situations.
more empathetic and understanding of others.
Are

Develop natural conflict-resolution skills.
Mindful teachers:

Have an awareness of themselves and are attuned to their students.
responsible for student needs and maintain an emotional balance.
Are

Nurture a learning community where students flourish.

Thrive professionally and know how to reduce stress.

Have healthy relationships, both at work and home.
(Adapted from Planting Seeds – see Resources)
After completing this unit of work, it is hoped that the class, school, or family will continue
with the practices developed in Mindful Play. This may include daily meditation, creating a
mindful minute when moving from one distinct activity to another, and thinking of three
things to be grateful for in your life each day.
What is Cortisol? What is the connection between Cortisol and

Mindfulness?
Cortisol is a known stress hormone, which is particularly responsive to psychological stress
when a person feels under threat or out of control. It’s not only a stress hormone, however.
It’s also important for normal bodily functions, and humans cannot live without it. It has an
effect on all body tissues and systems, including regulation of the immune system and brain
function.
Mindful Play
Cortisol has a daily rhythm, which is set up in very early childhood. All early experiences of
life affect cortisol stress-reactivity and disrupt the normal rhythm, which has implications
for a person’s future physical and mental health. The brain is the major target of cortisol,
and frequent or prolonged exposure to increased amounts of this hormone may affect the
development of brain areas involved in memory, negative emotions, and attention regulation.
Adults who look after children at this vital time need to help them to learn how to cope
at stressful times in order to protect their developing brain. This can be accomplished by
reducing or preventing elevations in cortisol in reaction to perceived threatening and painful
(physical or emotional) events. An example of this is when a child becomes distressed when
their parents are leaving, or when they get frustrated if they can’t do something. It’s important
to acknowledge the child’s distress, comfort them, talk them through it calmly, and provide
reassurance that all is well.
Secure relationships early in life prevent difficulties in handling stress later in childhood
and adulthood. Children with a history of secure care come to expect their worlds to be
controllable and predictable. These expectations may provide further stress inoculation. In
other words, loving, consistent relationships can offset even the most stressful situations.
Sensory play for stress-free children

Sensory play is particularly great for stress levels and being mindful, as it encourages
children to focus on one or more senses and block out distractions. The following is a list of
materials and inspiration for sensory play.
Water

Experience shallow and deep water.

Both with and without sand:

Can we pick it up?

Can we mould it?

Will it stay in the sieve?

Can we change it?

Splashing, blowing, stirring, whisking, feeling, dropping, tipping, and transporting – what
else can children think of to do with it?

Water play is even more fun in warm weather. Encourage children to bring in old, long
t-shirts which will dry quickly.
Sand

Moving your fingers through it.

Punching holes in old containers to explore if and how it flows, e.g. cartons.

Making sand cones with rolled-up paper.
Mindful Play

Adding water to sand.

Burying your toes in it.
low-level sandpit can be much more fun!
A
Messy play
Use foam, rice, pasta, soap, bubbles, anything you can think of – allow children to create the
mess! Providing small spoons, wooden sticks, twigs, and pots will further support fine motor
development.
Possible resources include:

Brought – Clay, wet chalk, glue, feathers, scissors, brushes, assorted paper, combs, plastic or
paper trays.

Found – Flowers, pebbles, leaves, sawdust, bark, shells, cones, mud, dried seeds.

Recycled – Paper bags, cardboard, cardboard tubes, foil containers, egg boxes, magazines or
catalogues, birthday cards, fabric pieces, bottle tops, bottles, wool.
Note: Check if children have any allergies. Supervise any small or riskier items, or remove
them if not age appropriate (e.g. scissors).
Once children have had plenty of time to explore and express themselves with these
materials, you may wish to make the following new materials with them.
Cornflour clay
cup of cornflour
1
cups of salt
2
cups of water
3
Sawdust clay
cup of white paste
1
cups of sawdust
2
Washable finger paints

cup of flour
1
cups of cold water
4

Food colouring
Mindful Play
Wet spaghetti

Food colouring

Cooked spaghetti

Water
Additional ideas for a stress-free classroom

Personal greeting – Design your own ‘hello’ as your class enters the room, e.g. giving each
child a high five or thumbs up as they walk in.

Imaginative story – Start the day with an imaginative story. You may wish to revisit some of
your Entry Points, e.g. a letter/postcard from a superhero or visitors from Blast off with an
update on the characters.

Special object – Bring one in and talk about it, then invite a child to do the same each
week.

Special person – A child receives a certificate for demonstrating personal values.

Thought of the week – Display a question or a point to ponder, e.g. ‘What makes a great
day?’

Feeling cards – Signals for children to express how do they feel, e.g. on arrival, in activities,
etc. (See Appendix 4: Additional guidance to support learning in the early years setting)

Philosophy for children – Pose a philosophical question, e.g. ‘Can animals talk?’, ‘Can plants
talk?’, ‘Is there a monster under the bed?’ etc.

Word of the week – Have a pertinent word of the week on display, e.g. ‘Friend’.

Calm time – At the end of the day, try to finish with a story or calm time. Talk about the day
together and plan what activities will be provided tomorrow. Don’t forget to involve the
child’s voice and your children’s own ideas.
Mindful Play
The Big Picture for Children

Note: Use developmentally-appropriate language to explain to the children what they will be
learning about.
In this unit, you’ll be learning all about you!
We’ll be thinking about what makes us happy and peaceful, things that make us laugh, and
how we can stop and be still. By the end of the unit, we will be able to see things a little
differently – both out in the world and inside our heads! We can practise doing this in many
ways, including through meditation, using our breath, and by focusing on using different body
parts to play, such as our ears, eyes, nose, hands, and mouth.
Mindful Play is about taking time to listen to ourselves, our environment, and other people.
So, take a deep breath, and let’s be mindful!
In the Entry Point, we’ll be:

Creating a personal treasure box

Recreating a memory handprint

Being peaceful

Taking a mindful minute

Counting our breaths
In Learning Block 1, we’ll be:

Learning some mindful breathing techniques

Breathing through our noses

Creating some peaceful moments

Doing some laughing meditation

Making each other laugh!

Focusing our minds on a picture

Choosing three special items

Find out what’s in the box

Meditating on a special stone

Focusing on blue, purple, and pink
Mindful Play

Trying some tai chi

Learning some yoga postures

Stretching, Pilates-style

Balancing

Walking mindfully

Meditating on our breath

Doing everything peacefully

Listening to a relaxing story

Having a mindful play day

Doing some tasty meditation!
In the Exit Point, we’ll be:

Inviting our families to join our peaceful space

Revisiting some mindful activities

Writing a letter to our future selves

Doing a group meditation
Mindful Play
Putting this IEYC unit of learning into action
Entry Point
Leuven Scale for Well-being
Begin your journey by assessing your class’s well-being using the Leuven Scale (see Appendix
5: Guidance on how to use the Leuven Scales of Well-being and Involvement). You will observe
each child for five minutes, before giving them a grade from 1–5 relating to their self-
assurance and self-confidence.
The assessment observation should be done during ‘free play’ or break/lunch time.
1. Extremely low (child shows discomfort/sadness/is withdrawn from their environment and
peers)
2. Low (child shows they do not feel at ease)
3. Moderate (child shows neutral posture/no emotion)
4. High (child shows obvious signs of satisfaction, but not seen constantly and intensity
changes)
5. Extremely high (child looks happy and smiles/is full of energy/ is relaxed and shows self-
confidence and self-assurance)
Alternatively, you could simply use a scale of low (L), medium (M), or high (H).
Note: Remember to take ‘baby steps’ when introducing the integral concepts of Mindful Play.
Treasure box
In order to get children thinking about themselves and their preferences, ask them the
following leading questions:
you were an animal, what would you be? Why?
If
you were a colour, which would you be? Why?
If
you were a type of music, what would you be? Why?
If
you were a type of weather, what would you be? Why?
If

What is your favourite word? Why?
Tell children that they are going to create a truly special treasure box – a treasure box of all
their favourite things! You may choose to provide them with a pre-drawn image, or you could
have them create their own. Make a selection of drawing materials available.
Mindful Play
Once they have drawn their treasure box, ask them to add their favourite things in or around
it. Suggestions could include:

Taste

Food

Colour

Toy

Music

Place

Smell

Noise

Memory

Feeling

How you are feeling right now
Finally, ask them to draw a key to unlock their treasure box!
Handy
In pairs, ask children to stretch out both hands like stars.
Taking turns, each child should draw around one of the other’s hands, and then draw around
one of their own. As you draw up a finger, breathe in, and as you draw down a finger, breathe
out. Remind children to take nice long, slow, breaths.
Ask children to colour the hands their favourite colour. In the palm of one hand, they should
write their favourite time or memory, and then write details of it along each finger. Ask them:

What could you see?

What could you hear?

What could you taste?

What could you smell?

What could you touch?
Now they can carry this positive
memory with them in their hand!
If they push their hands onto the picture, they will be able to remember it with all their
senses to help it feel real in their mind.
Encourage children to doodle around their picture, filling in the whole sheet if they wish to.
Mindful Play
Being peaceful
Introduce moments of silence throughout your school day, such as when the bell rings or
between activities.

Mindful minute – See if children can estimate one minute of time. Can they guess how
many breaths they might do in a minute? Time a minute and see how close their estimates
were.

Counting breaths – Try to count breaths up to 10/20/30. Do this regularly, e.g. at the start of
every day, after break, after lunch, at the end of the day, etc.

Slow down – Ask children to close their eyes and count only their ‘in’ breath 10 times, and
then do the same for just their ‘out’ breath. Next, they should count both their inhalations
and their exhalations, adding an extra count to each breath to prolong their breathing.
They could hold their hands on their tummies as they do this – can they feel it go up and
down as they breathe?
Mindful Play
Capturing Curiosity
Capturing Curiosity is an on-going process, beginning with the Entry Point. The process
should lead to finding out what children already know about a theme and what they are
curious to learn. This enables teachers to support child-initiated and personalised learning.
Some children may be able to express their curiosity during discussions, through drawings
or other expressive means; other children will need to be observed in order to see where
their interests lie. Circle time, small group and one-to-one discussions lend themselves to
capturing a child’s curiosity, but often a child’s spontaneous exploration is when teachers
successfully capture their curiosity.
This IEYC unit provides a wide range of experiences around a central theme. It might be
helpful to adapt the questions below to find out what children already know about this
theme, and what they would like to learn about. Sharing each other’s interests during circle
time and group discussions often generates further curiosity.
you know what ‘being mindful’ means?
Do

What does ‘being peaceful’ mean?
you have to be still to be mindful?
Do

How do you breathe? Do you breathe through your nose and mouth, or just your nose?

Can you control your breathing?

Does laughing make you feel better? Do you laugh a lot?

What makes you laugh?

What makes you happy?

What makes you peaceful?

Why do you make the choices you do? Can you explain your choices?
you good at visualising? (Closing your eyes and imagining clearly)
Are
you in control of your body?
Are
you understand how your body can move?
Do
you react to how your body feels when you carry out different movements?
Do
you know what meditation is? Do you know why people meditate?
Do

Can you meditate?

What are the different senses? (Hear/smell/feel/see/taste)

Can you share your experiences with your wider community?

Can you think ahead and tell/show your future self something mindful, peaceful, and
interesting?
Mindful Play
Learning Block 1: Explore and Express

The central learning focus for this Learning Block is
Breathing and laughter
Suggestions for this week’s continuous provision and play

experiences:
Throughout all free play activities, ask children to do some of the following:
aware of their breath.
Be

Count their breaths.

Breathe in through their nose and out through their mouth.

Breathe in and out through their nose only.

Make themselves and others laugh.
Ask children how peaceful and happy they are, and what makes them laugh – do they know
why they laughed? Draw their attention to their state of being, and encourage them to
examine it.
Remember to join in with the mindful activities yourself, as they are beneficial to you too!
Teaching in a mindful and peaceful way will create a calmer and more productive learning
environment, leading to a better experience for everyone.
This week, children will experience:
IEYC Learning Strand 1

Peaceful moments
Laughter moments

Peaceful moments
Laughter moments
Mindful Play

Peaceful moments
Laughter moments
What makes me laugh/peaceful/happy?

4/5/6 breathing
Nasal breathing
Peaceful moments
Laughter moment
Reflective Practices
During IEYC Explore and Express activities, teachers should reflect on the following
questions:
all children learning – is there evidence that learning is taking place?
Are
learning experiences developmentally-appropriate?
Are
the learning sufficiently engaging and challenging?
Is
anything helping learning to become secure?
Is
anything hindering learning from becoming secure?
Is

What types of learning experiences will further support children’s progression?
Mindful Play

Activities
Activity 1: 4/5/6 breathing
Note: The breathing technique in this activity will be revisited throughout the whole unit.
Settle children in a group, sat on individual mats or in their own spaces.
Instruct them to breathe in for the count of four through their nose, hold that breathe for the
count of five, and then breathe out through their mouth for the count of six. Imagine that you
are blowing out birthday candles – let’s hear that breath!
Repeat this activity a number of times as a group, with you leading the counting. For
example:

Breathe in for 1, 2, 3, and 4. Hold for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Out 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Now close your eyes and repeat, focusing only on your breathing for five slow breaths.
Next, ask children to walk around the space, smiling at others as they pass them. You can give
them calm instructions on how to move and when to change direction.
Using a singing bowl (this can be substituted, e.g. a tambourine, drum, clap, etc.), signal to
children to stop and take five breathes with their eyes closed, using the technique introduced
previously. After these breaths, they should continue moving. Ask them to focus on how it
feels when their foot makes contact with the floor (heal to toe contact).
When the singing bowl next rings, signal the children to take four breathes, and then
continue moving. Ask them to focus on what they can hear as they move. Repeat this exercise,
each time reducing the amount of breaths at the sound of the singing bowl, reminding
them to smile, focus on the sensations in their feet, and listen to the environment. When the
amount of breathes reaches one, they should slowly move back to their mat or own space.
Activity 2: Nasal breathing

Note: The breathing technique in this activity will be revisited throughout the whole unit.
Settle children in a group, sat on individual mats or in their own spaces.
Instruct them to breathe in through their nose for the count of four, breathing out through
their nose for the count of five. Count only their inhalations only from five down to one,
then do the same for their exhalations. Draw their attention to the cooler air entering their
nostrils, and then to the slightly warmer air as it leaves.
Next, repeat the moving and breathing sequence from Activity 1, this time using this nasal
breathing technique.
Mindful Play
Activity 3: Peaceful moments

Ask each child to choose where they are most comfortable sitting, and how long they will try
to be silent and still for; ideally between 2–4 minutes.
Ask them to close their eyes and just sit and try to remember a lovely, happy, or fun time
they’ve had in their life, focusing on how they felt at that time and recapturing that feeling.
Tell them that, if they are able to feel it again, this feeling is something that they can return
to time and time again, and can be used in or out of school when they are feeling sad or
unhappy.
After they have completed their chosen time, ask the following questions:

What did you think about?

How did you feel?

Was it easy? Why?

Was it hard? Why?

Could you do it every day?

Would you like to do it every day?
Activity 4: Laughter moments
“A laugh is a smile that bursts”

Mary H. Waldrum
This activity provides a selection of laughter starters and laughter opportunities. Call out
some of these movements and activities and see how children react. They may do something
unexpected – let it happen and look for the invisible!
Pretend Skip Make music

Imagine Step grandly Sing
Daydream Tip-toe Whistle
Explore Shuffle March
Build a tower Sticking Gargling
Folding Dress up Yodelling
Patting Colour Splashing
Doodle Scribbling Jiggling
Dance Stomp Slide
Mindful Play
Roll Climb Creep

Make noise Hiding Hugging
Jump Surprising Finding
Pull a face Bound Stride
Make animal faces Nostril flaring Ear wiggling
Touch your tongue to your Side step Weave in and out
nose
Make your eyebrows dance Stomp Skip
Make animal sounds Dodge Prance
Shuffle Leap Pop your cheeks
Walk between the cracks on Squash your cheeks
a pavement
Here’s some funny funky ways we can move our bodies! Try the following:
Clap Tap Click fingers
Finger dancing Thumb twiddling Rolling
Conducting Drumming Signalling
Sculpting Drawing Doodling
Painting Splashing Squashing
Wiggling Crawling Cater pillaring
Jiggling Dodging Twirling
Swaying Galloping Digging
Smoothing Stroking Squeezing
And finally, how about some silly noises and voices!
Gulp Screech Hiss

Blow raspberries Horse cantering noises Animal noises
Talk in a nonsense, made-up
language!
Mindful Play
Activity 5: Paired laughter challenges

In this activity, we’re going to explore what makes us laugh! In pairs, encourage children to
try some of the following challenges:

Who can walk the silliest walk and make you both laugh the most?

Who can sing the highest note?

Who can pull the funniest face?

Pretend to answer a phone in a very posh voice and try to make you both laugh.

Who can make their partner laugh first?

Make up a funny story and tell it to your partner.

Tell your partner a joke.

Who can make the funniest noise?

Who can make their partner laugh by picking a toy and pretending that it is alive and talks?
your body in the funniest position.
Put
At the end of the activity, ask children the following questions:

What made you laugh?

Have you ever found it hard to stop laughing? What was it that made you laugh?
to remember how that felt – can you recapture that feeling?
Try
Mindful Play

The central learning focus for this Learning Block is:
Special objects and stepping stones

experiences:
Collect stones and four identical boxes of items of interest – these items will be focused on
in order to encourage children to tune out of all other distractions.
Throughout free play, ask children to constantly use their imagination to see themselves
and their play situations in many different environments. Ask them to pick their favourite
playthings and draw them, all the time thinking about what it is they like about them, and
why they chose them.

Seeing all
What’s in the box?
A special stone
Blue, purple, and pink

Seeing all
Why these items?
Mindful Play

Seeing all
Why these items?
A special stone
Blue, purple, and pink

Seeing all
questions:
Are
Are
Is
Is
Is

Mindful Play

Activities
Activity 1: Seeing all
Note: For this activity, you will need to prepare four pictures for children to focus on. If
relevant, you may choose to use pictures that you have studied in other units.
Allow children to choose one of the four pictures to look at for a prolonged period of time.
Agree as a whole class that they will avoid all distractions and focus solely on their picture,
giving it their full attention for as long as the teacher feels is appropriate. Take into account
that some children may manage longer than others.
Depending on their stage of learning, they will then either verbalise or write about their
experience. Ask them to think about the following questions:

What is your picture?

What would you name your picture?
you like your picture? Why?
Do

How does your picture make you feel? Why?

What noises would you hear in the picture?

What smells would be in your picture?

What happened before the picture was painted?

What happened after the picture was painted?
To encourage further exploration, try the following extension activities:

Draw your own version of the picture.

Extend the picture into a bigger space and add more to the picture, or draw your own
version inspired by this one.

Close your eyes and try to draw a quick picture of the image without looking! Take a
picture of the results and compare to the pictures.
Mindful Play
old new
old new
old new
old new
Clockwise from top left:

Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, oil on wood, 1503–1516 (commons.wikimedia.org).
Still Life: Vase with Fourteen Sunflowers, Vincent Van Gogh, oil on canvas, 1888 (commons.
wikimedia.org).
Impression, Sunrise, Claude Monet, oil on canvas, 1872 (commons.wikimedia.org).
Tiger in a Tropical Storm (Surprised!), Henri Rousseau, oil on canvas, 1891 (wikipedia.org).
Mindful Play
Activity 2: Why these items?

Note: Set the first part of the activity as homework, so that children bring in three small items
in time for the lesson.
Ask children to choose three items to bring in from home (the colours are important!):

One that is blue (stops you feeling angry and nervous).

One that is pink (promotes friendship).

One that is purple (keeps you calm).
Why did they choose these items? Ask them to share their reasons with a partner.
Next, encourage children to display these items together and add any other decoration they
wish. Provide a selection of art materials for children to create a picture of these items.
Once their pictures are finished, take a picture of all the art work together and print out the
pictures. You can then use these to create a paper collage of the work to be displayed in
your mindful art area. Finally, the whole class can create a display with all their items placed
together in one area, such as a table near the mindful art area.
Activity 3: What’s in the box?

Note: For this activity, you will need to prepare four boxes full of treasures and trinkets – try
to include a selection of objects that appeal to different senses.
Mindful Play
Organise children into four groups, and place a box in the centre of each.
Let children take a peak – what can they spot from a distance? What colours? What textures?
What can you smell? Make sure that they hold their hands behind their backs so that they’re
not tempted to touch!
Next, take some of the items out of the box to have a closer look. Encourage children to hold
items up to the light, feel their texture, smell them, and think about their original use.
Ask each child to choose their favourite item from the box – why do they like that one the
best? Encourage them to share their item and reasons with the person sitting next to them.
Using some or all of the items in the box, ask each group to create a 3D picture. Once
finished, each group should describe their picture to the rest of the class.
Take a photograph of the pictures and add the photos to your display area.
Activity 4: A special stone

Note: Before the lesson, ask children to bring in a special stone as homework. It could be one
they already have from a trip or a brand new one they discovered in a park or garden. It is it
important that it fits in the palm of their hand!
Make sure that every child has put their initials or name on the bottom of their stone, and
then organise children to sit in a circle.
Ask children to close their eyes and hold the stone in the palm of their hand for one minute,
feeling its size, shape, and texture. Once the minute is up, collect all the stones onto a tray in
the middle of the circle, mixing them around.
Again, ask children to close their eyes, and pass the stones around the circle. When they
feel their stone, they should keep hold of it and continue passing the other stones to the
person next to them, until everyone has their stone back. Remind them to make sure that it’s
definitely theirs!
Next, ask children the following questions – depending on their learning stage, they can
either discuss or write down their answers.

How did you manage to find your stone?

Were you easily able to find your stone?

How did your hands feel?
you didn’t find your stone again, why do you think you didn’t?
If
Mindful Play
Activity 5: Blue, purple, and pink

Provide each child with a piece of paper and ask them to split it into three.
Ask them to draw these three stones, and then fill them in however they choose– make a
wide selection of art materials available. Underneath the stones, have them write ‘Happy life’,
and draw a picture of three things they are grateful for under each stone.
BLUE LACE AGATE AMETHYST ROSE QUARTZ

Believed to prevent anger Believed to promote calm. Believed to promote friendship.
and nervousness.
Mindful Play

Move, sit and stretch

experiences:
At the start of each day this week, do a set of each of the five types of movements. Ideally,
you will continue this routine after this initial introduction week, doing at least one set of
movements (tai chi, yoga, Pilates, or balancing) every school day. You should also encourage
children to take the exercise sheet home and carry out the body movements with their family.
In addition, you could get children to compose their own set of six named movements, unique
to your class, which you could then even share with other classes.

Tai chi
Yoga
Pilates
Balancing
Mindful walking

Tai chi
Yoga
Pilates
Balancing
Mindful walking
Mindful Play
questions:
Are
Are
Is
Is
Is

Mindful Play

Activities
Activity 1: Seeing all
Throughout the Learning Block, carry out tai chi once a day – use these pictures and key
teaching points to help you. Though initially you will need to lead, with practice children will
eventually be able to lead each other in small groups.
Six tai chi-style moves

For all moves, remind children to have their feet shoulder-width apart with a slight bend in
their knees. When they are comfortable with the movement, ask them to try it again with their
eyes closed.
1. Bow and arrow
Rise up onto the balls of your feet, breathing in, and imagine you’re releasing an arrow to
your right side. As you release the arrow, breathe out and lower your feet to the floor. Repeat
to your left.
2. Drive the bus
Imagine that you’re driving a big red double-decker bus, holding the oversized steering wheel
in both hands. Turn it from left to right, and vice versa.
Mindful Play
3. Cloud and mirror
Hold your right hand up to the left side of your face, with your left hand to the left at waist
level. Imagine that you are moving a cloud to the right. As both hands get to the right, switch
them over so that your left hand is to the right side of your face and you right hand is to your
left at waist level. Repeat the move back to the left. As you move, switch your body weight to
the side you are moving to.
4. Stroke the beard
Imagine that you have a very long beard. Rise up onto the balls of your feet, breathing in, and
bring your arms up and out to the sides, then above your head. As your hands come together,
turn your palms downwards, breathing out and pushing your hands down around your ‘beard’.
Mindful Play
5. Tug of war
Imagine that you are pulling something extremely heavy on a rope. Using both hands, reach
to your right and breath in, pulling the rope across your body, transferring your weight to your
left as you do so. Once you’ve pulled as far as you can, forcefully push the item to the left,
breathing out and transferring your weight to the right. Repeat on the other side.
6. Balloon rise
Imagine that you have a helium balloon tied to your right wrist and right knee. Allow your
hand and knee to rise up with the balloon, keeping your balance. As your knee reaches hip
height, the balloon pops, causing your wrist and leg to slowly drop. Repeat on your left side.
Activity 2: Yoga
Throughout the Learning Block, carry out yoga once a day – use pictures and key teaching
points to help you. Though initially you will need to lead, with practice children will
eventually be able to lead each other in small groups. You may wish to look at the links later
and make your own pictures of yourself doing these poses before you teach them to your
children
Mindful Play
Six yoga-style moves to share with your children

1. Child’s pose
2. Downward dog
3. Cat/cow pose
4. Cobra pose
5. Lunge
6. Final relaxation
Activity 3: Pilates
Throughout the Learning Block, carry out Pilates once a day – use your own pictures and key
teaching points to help you. Though initially you will need to lead, with practice children will
eventually be able to lead each other in small groups.
Six Pilates-style stretches

1. Knee-fold stretch
2. Shoulder bridge
3. Oyster
4. Table top
5. Single-leg back stretch
Mindful Play
6. Double-leg hold with rock ‘n’ roll
Activity 4: Balances
Throughout the Learning Block, carry out these balances once a day – use these pictures and
key teaching points to help you. Though initially you will need to lead, with practice children
will eventually be able to lead each other in small groups.
Six balances
1. Tree
2. Tree (eyes closed)
Different foot positions/both sides

3. ‘T’ shape
Mindful Play
4. ‘T’ shape (eyes closed)
5. ‘V’ sit (with hands down)

6. ‘V’ sit (eyes closed/hands up)
Activity 5: Mindful walking

This activity should take place outside, where you have a clear path of 15–30 metres. Mark
a start line with green cones and a stop/think/turn line with red cones – you decide how far
apart these are initially.
Give children the following instructions:

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, knees unlocked. Feel the way that your leg muscles
grip to keep the legs upright.

Staying focused, walk forward at your normal pace, paying attention to how your whole
body feels. Once you reach the red line of cones, pause and think of all the sensations that
you felt at that speed of walking. Return to where you started.

Now walk the same path at half your normal speed – how does your body feel now? Is it
easier to feel your feet landing, shifting, and lifting?

Next, walk in slow motion, almost too slow to move! Focus on the feelings in your soles,
leg muscles, and knees.
Repeat variations of this activity, drawing attention to different sensations. For example:

Walk slowly and feel your contact with the ground.

Walk slowly and listen for any sounds.

Walk slowly and see if you can recognise any smells.

Walk slowly with your eyes closed.
Mindful Play
Once you have completed the route a number of times, let children discuss their experiences,
either in pairs or as a class. Ask children the following questions:

How did you find these challenges?

Which speed helped you to feel more and stay focused?

When it is safe to do so, would you consider trying to walk slower?
Note: At the end of this Learning Block, reflect on children’s curiosity and your own
observations to plan, support, and develop the next steps in their learning.
Mindful Play

Peacefulness and play

experiences:
During free play this week, children should be encouraged to make up stories to act out with
toys that they can share with others. Where appropriate, encourage children to listen, smell,
feel, see, and taste, and then share these experiences with others.

Breathing meditation
Play day
Food meditation

Play day
Food meditation
Story time
Mindful Play

Play day
Food meditation
Story time

Play day
Food meditation
questions:
Are
Are
Is
Is
Is

Mindful Play

Activities
Activity 1: Breathing meditation
Get children to sit comfortably. Ideally this will be on a cushion or the floor, as in the picture
below, but if they prefer to be in a chair then they can; the main thing is that their back needs
to be straight. They can cross their legs or tuck their feet under them – whatever feels best.
Ask them to close their eyes, bow their head, and place their right hand in the palm of their
left hand, raising their thumbs and gently touching them together.
Open with ‘Namaste’, a respectful hello derived from Sanskrit.

Once children are settled, ask them to listen carefully and calmly as you read the following:
Meditation is an action of your mind.
Concentrate on one single thing; this will help to make your mind peaceful and calm.
We need to train in meditation and make an effort to practise.
We will be happier after we meditate.
The single thing we will be concentrating on today is our breath.
I’d like you to inhale and exhale through your nostrils, concentrating on the sensation of your
breath as it enters and leaves your nostrils. Notice that it is slightly cool as it enters and has
warmed up when it leaves.
Try to concentrate on your breath to the exclusion of everything else.
Keep returning to your breath if your mind wanders.
Enjoy the feeling of peace and calm.
When ready (or after a set amount of time determined by the teacher), open your eyes and
arise from the meditation.
Try to remember and find this same feeling of calmness throughout the day, even when you
are not meditating.
(Notes taken from What is Meditation? by Gashes Keeling Gnats)
Mindful Play
Activity 2: Doing everything peacefully

For one full school day, ask children to try to do everything slowly, thinking about everything
they do and seeing how it makes them feel. Remind them periodically throughout the day. Ask
them to continue this practice when they get home.
Depending on children’s learning stage, they could then either write about their experiences
or discuss how it makes them feel.
Here are some further challenges you could give to children:

When you hear the bell, stop what you’re doing for a moment and take three breaths.
Ask yourself: what is going on for me right now – in body sensations, in thoughts, and in
feelings? Notice and acknowledge your experience in this moment with a kind attention,
continuing to breath, and then carry on with your day.

Wear your watch on your other wrist.

Take a different path to school.
lunch at a different time (at the weekend).
Eat

Brush your teeth with the opposite hand.

Read a different book.

Sleep the opposite way round on your bed.
Activity 3: Story time

Ask children to lie down, letting their legs drop to the side. They could place their hands on
their tummy (hands not touching each other), or lay their hands out to the side, palms facing
upwards. Allow each child to choose between nasal breathing and 4/5/6 breathing.
Once children are settled, slowly read the following text to them:
Try to see this story in your mind. Imagine that you are there and can see it when you close
your eyes.
You are on an adventure, walking beside a river that looks very cool and calming. It’s hot, and
you’d like to be cool and go for a swim. In the distance along the river, you see a waterfall.
You make your way to the waterfall and lie down.
The beautiful waterfall of white light is flowing down on you. It flows down on your head,
helping your head to relax. You feel your head relaxing. The waterfall of light moves down
over your neck and shoulders. Your neck and shoulders are relaxing and letting go. Now
the waterfall flows done over your arms. You feel your arms releasing; there is nothing for
your arms to do. The waterfall flows down your back. Your back is letting go and relaxing.
The waterfall flows down over your chest and stomach, helping your chest and stomach to
Mindful Play
release. You can feel your chest and stomach relax, letting go of any sadness. The waterfall
moves down over your legs and feet. Your feel your legs and feet letting go and resting. The
beautiful waterfall of white light is flowing over your whole body. You are very peaceful and
rested. Stay in the waterfall of light for a few moments. Feel how it relaxes and heals your
body.
You feel so calm and peaceful. You make your way back along the river, listening to the birds,
animals and water, and thinking how it feels to be in such a beautiful place.
Activity 4: Play day

Note: This activity involves a rotation around four tasks, so split your available time into four
to give you your change-around time.
Hands
Place a small amount of massage oil in each child’s
palm, and tell them to massage their hand with the
other, using their fingers to draw circles, trace the
lengths of their fingers, push down in the middle
of their palm, and find ridges in their skin. Once
both hands have oil spread on them and have been
massaged, it’s time to paint!
Create a safe space, making sure that the area is
covered in newspaper that children wash their hands
after printing. Using powder paint (or other water-based
paint) and a sheet of A3 paper, encourage children
to put their oily hands in the paint to make a multi-
coloured hand picture.
Washing line
Create a washing line with a piece of string, and provide children with Post-It notes and pegs
or paperclips. Throughout the session, make constant use of the washing line to capture
children’s feelings. For example, you could ask them to:

Write how they feel at the beginning of their play day.

Draw something that makes them laugh.

Draw themselves.

Write how they feel at the end of their play day.
As children finish each Post-It, encourage them to clip it to the washing line. Once the session
is finished, take a photo of the washing line and add it to your display.
Mindful Play

Repeat Learning Block 2: Activity 3, adding some new items into the four boxes.
Flower, mountain, still water and space
Ask children to fold a piece of paper into four sections – it’s up to them how they do it.
Tell children that you are going to read the Pebble Meditation. Listening with their eyes
closed, they will draw what they hear in each of the four sections; a flower in one, a mountain
in another, some still water in a third, and space (however they interpret it) in the last.
When they are ready, read the following:
Breathing in I am aware of my whole body.
Breathing out, I let go of all the tension in my body.
Followed by the Pebble Meditation:
Breathing in, I see myself a flower.

Breathing out, I feel fresh.
Breathing in, I see myself a mountain.
Breathing out, I feel solid.
Breathing in, I see myself a mountain.
Breathing out, I feel solid.
Breathing in, I reflect things as they are.
Breathing in, I see myself as space.
Breathing out, I feel free.
Mindful Play
When they have finished, ask children to open their eyes and look at their pictures. Do they
mirror the way they saw them in their minds when they closed their eyes?
Holding their stones from Learning Block 2: Activity 4, ask them to complete sentences below:
I feel playful when...
I feel strong when...
I feel calm when...
I feel light when...
Activity 5: Food meditation

Note: Ensure that children have freshly washed hands for this activity. If they don’t want to
eat the chosen item of food, they can do the steps up to the point where they put it in their
mouth. As with all food-based activities, ensure that health and safety precautions have been
taken and that any allergies or dietary requirements have been taken into consideration.
Give each child a food item of your choosing, such as a raisin, and then guide children
through the steps below. Don’t rush this activity – get children to really work through each
stage slowly, fully immersing themselves in it. Start and finish the meditation with the
singing bowl, tambourine, or bell.
1. Hold the raisin in the palm of your hand. Look very closely at it – all sides of it, its size, the
shadow it creates on your hand, the colour it is the lines, its dips and hollows and texture.
2. Smell the raisin.
3. Hold the raisin between your thumb and forefinger; feel its texture and size.
4. Place the raisin on your tongue. Hold it there for a moment.
5. Move the raisin around your mouth using your tongue.
6. When it feels natural, you may now take a bite of the raisin. Be aware of the taste sensation
in your mouth.
7. When it feels natural, you may now swallow the raisin. Be aware of it making its way down
your throat to your stomach
8. Now that the majority of the raisin has gone, feel the remnants that one raisin left behind
in your mouth. Use your tongue to remove any bits from in between your teeth. Notice any
taste that remains.
Once the meditation has concluded, ask children the questions below. Record their answers
on a class board.

What did you think of the look of the raisin? (E.g. ugly, shrivelled, weird, etc.)
Mindful Play

Were you surprised at the smell? Why?

When you bit into it, did you think the taste was strong? Were you surprised?
you normally eat a handful of raisins at once? I do!
Do
Inform children that the aim of this activity was to get them to appreciate small, individual
items more – whatever they are!
You may wish to repeat the activity with another item of food or ask children to repeat the
activity at home.
Mindful Play
Exit Point
This is the culmination of Mindful Play, where children have an opportunity to demonstrate
their development over the unit to their wider community. This takes the form of a group
gathering with teachers, parents, carers, and other family members in attendance. In addition
to repeating some of their previous activities with their adults, they will also review their
learning over the unit and be given a final take-away task.
Set up the space in preparation to share the activities below with the guests – full
descriptions of each repeated task can be found in the relevant chapters. Weather permitting,
try to carry out these activities outside, otherwise a hall or large space is recommended.

Seeing all, from Learning Block 2: Activity 1 – A mindful activity in which participants
meditate on an image in front of them.

Handy, from the Entry Point – A mindful drawing activity. Repeat as before, this time
drawing the hands of all the family.

Treasure box, from the Entry Point – A meditation on our favourite things. Repeat as before,
this time creating a shared treasure box for the family.

Peacefulness experience, based on Learning Block 3: Activity 1 – Make up a tai chi routine,
assigning a number of the dice to each move. Roll the dice six times, doing the corresponding
moves one after the other to create a routine. Practice the routine a number of times, making
sure that dynamics are slow, moves flow into each other, and that your energy is strong.
Final activity
To close the unit, children are going to send a picture postcard to their future selves, which
you can return to them to open on their last day in your class, or even hide it in the office for
a few years!
It’s up to children what they put in their envelope to remind them of this unit. They might
draw a picture, write a poem or a breathing mediation, or invent a story to visualise. They
should seal it in an envelope labelled ‘A letter/picture to my future self’, making sure to
include today’s date and the date they are due to open it – perhaps a year from today.
NAME
LETTERS TO MY FUTURE SELF
Write Now. Read Later.
Treasure Forever.
SEALED ON TO BE OPENED ON
(date) (date) ER
A PEACAPPSULE
TIM
Mindful Play
One year later…

When you return the children’s envelopes in a year’s time (or more!), see if they can remember
what they put in there – they may be surprised!
Ask them to answer the following questions, discussing their thoughts with the person sitting
next to them:

Could you remember everything that you put in the envelope?

Did that surprise you?

How did you feel when you opened the envelope?
Ask them to write another letter saying what they have done in the last year to do with
mindful play – have they meditated? Have they been calm? Have they felt peaceful?
Encourage them to draw a picture of how they feel right now – the picture can take any form.
Again put today’s date on the envelope, along with an opening date in a year’s time.
You can keep repeating this exercise annually for children to see how they are changing over
time and how mindfulness is changing your life. Are they remaining mindful and feeling calm
and peaceful?
A group meditation
To close the session, settle all guests and children for a group meditation. Either you or a
parent should read the following:
Breathing in, I know I am breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I am breathing out.
Breathing in, my breath grows deep.
Breathing out, my breath goes slowly.
Aware of my body, I breathe in.
Relaxing my body, I breathe out.
Calming my body, I breathe in.
Calming my body, I breathe out.
Smiling to my body, I breathe in.
Easing my body, I breathe out.
Smiling to my body, I breathe in.
Releasing the tension in my body, I breathe out.
Feeling joyful to be alive, I breathe in.
Feeling happy, I breathe out.
Dwelling in the present moment, I breathe in.
Enjoying the present moment, I breathe out.
Aware of my stable position, I breathe in.
Enjoying the stability, I breathe out.
Mindful Play
old new
old new
old
Appendix 1
new
old
Resources
new
old new
Books
old new
Laugh: Everyday Laughter Healing for Greater Happiness and Well-being, Lisa Sturge,
Hardie Grant, 2017.
old new
Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Finding Peace in a Frantic World, Mark Williams and
Danny Penman, Piatkus, 2011.
old new
Planting Seeds: Practicing Mindfulness with Children, Thich Nhat Hanh, Parallax Press, 2011.
Special Games: Adaptable Activities for Personal and Social Development, Betty Rudd, lda, 2011.
What is Meditation? Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Tharpa, 2013.
old
Online material
new
http://www.cosmickids.com/
Cosmic Kids is a website dedicated to making yoga fun for kids, with interactive stories
and lesson plans.
http://web.plymouth.gov.uk/documents-ldtoolkitleuven.pdf
Plymouth City Council provides this PDF, ‘Leuven Well-being and Involvement Scales’.
https://www.spotify.com/
Use this digital music service to find appropriate music to accompany your activities. Use
the following search terms as a starting point: ‘relaxation’, ‘tai chi’, ‘chill out’, ‘classical’,
and ‘meditation’.
https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/yoga-for/kids
Equipment

Tibetan singing bowl

Four boxes filled with the same selection of random items

Natural found items

Small blue lace agate, amethyst and rose quartz

Dice for the tai chi routine

Himalayan salt lamp for your classroom

Small pieces of fruit the food meditation activity
Mindful Play
Appendix 2
Further suggestions for under-threes or children in need of extra
support.
This document contains some activities, concepts and experiences that will help to support
well-being in your younger children and those in need of additional support.
A key Person is a specified adult who is responsible for a small group of children, providing a
safe point of contact to help them to feel secure in the setting.
‘Islands of intimacy’ can be built firmly into the day’s programme. They are a period when the
key Person for each small group of children gives his/her individual attention to them and for
the adult to maintain interest and calm in his/her group.
Children can explore a range of collections (shells or purses, postcards with various pictures,
items that the key person or child has brought in from home – that will be the focus for
conversation). The collection can be any kind that the practitioner has created herself that may
old new
provide interest for their group of children
These groups allow for warm attachments to develop in a group setting. This is a time for
personal relationships that are understood as being important for children’s development and
wellbeing
The purpose of this time is different to circle time, key group time is a ‘private’ family type space
where exchanges may be confidential, and expressions can be understood. Circle time is a
‘public’ space where children can rehearse belonging in a group where decisions are made that
effect everyone. Children can learn the difference between intimacy with a few who are in a
special relationship with them and their family and the other gathering a rehearsal for being in
a community with shared responsibility for making decisions.
People Under Three, Elinor Goldschmied and Sonya Jackson, pp.40–42, Routledge, 1994,
updated 2004.
Tips on how to be a good key person

Settling in 2-year-olds can be a stressful time! The following pointers may come in useful.
good key person needs to know themselves .It is very difficult to be a receiving place for
A
a young child if you cannot clear a space within yourself to allow another’s feelings in.

Focus on making good relationships with the child’s family, and understand how these
relationships can effect a child’s well-being. This will support parents in opening up to you
and will enable you to work together to support appropriate learning activities.

Listen to the child’s voice, whether it is spoken or unspoken. Continue to observe and
capture their curiosities so that appropriate activities can be enhanced.
Mindful Play

Understand that children have big feelings that they often find it difficult to manage on
their own. Help children to name and work through these feelings, and definitely don’t
make them feel bad for having them.
under-threes, it is very important to be able to observe and follow a child’s lead. In this
For
way, you can find the balance between allowing time and space to explore and express and
knowing when to step in to offer help or support.
Implementing these tips practically will lead you to:

Get to know each child as an individual: find out the things they like and enjoy, the things
that soothe and comfort them, and the situations they may find most difficult.

Duplicate play materials, providing generous stores of favoured play materials. You will
also support children to problem solve by modelling conflict resolution, e.g. ‘we have a
problem here, you both want this car .What should we do?’ and then suggest an idea.

Tune into the level of support the child needs at a particular time and consider things from
their perspective.

Help children to recognise when their actions hurt others, but be wary of expecting
children to say ‘sorry’ before they have a real understanding of what this means.

Make sure that there is enough time for children to complete tasks themselves without
rushing.

Remember that development takes place when children are active, involved, and are
learning through exploration, discovery and interactions with others,

Recognise that children can be overwhelmed by feelings; never reject the child at these
times as they need to be treated kindly. Offer reassurance, security and lots of affection.
simple and clear boundaries – remember to share these with parents!
Set
Special box
You could make special boxes, comfort bags or attachment bags, which can be used to
support children during transition and at times when they need comfort.

These contain items that are significant to the child. They can be created and decorated by
the child and their family with support from their key person.

They should be stored where they are accessible for the child and key person. Bear in mind
that the child requesting the bag and contents may be a signal of an emotional need.

The bag can provide an opportunity to calm or distract a child whenever appropriate, and
can also be used by other members of the team on seeing the child becoming distressed.

They can also be used regularly as part of the child’s key person to make links between
the home and setting. This encourages an opportunity to celebrate the child’s home life as
aspects can be brought into the setting – you could even display some of them to develop
self-confidence and self-esteem.
Mindful Play
Some possible items may include:

Comforter – Something soothing to remind them of home, e.g. a piece of blanket.

Purse – The parent places an item in it before class (e.g. a stone, rail ticket, petrol receipt,
etc.), which the child must look after until it is returned to the carer at the end of the day.

Photos – These can be laminated photos of the child’s family, which could also be given by
and returned to the carer each day.

Envelopes – These can contain some special message or item that the child has made and
given to the parent.

Post-Its – Each day or week, the parent writes a message and posts it into the box or sticks
it on a designated board.
Feelings boxes
When supporting children’s well-being and involvement, one of the roles of Early Years
practitioners is to help children to name, interpret, and explain feelings. Practitioners can
help children to make connections between feelings and their causes and can influence
the ways that children manage their feelings by modelling appropriate behaviour, using
encouragement, and setting limits.
Dr. Ferre Laevers emphasised the importance of ensuring that children are given
opportunities to explore and manage their feelings by:

Widening the possibilities for free initiative and supporting them with sound rules and
agreements.

Exploring and trying to improve relationships, both with each of the children and between
children.

Introducing activities that help children to explore the world of behaviour, feelings, and values.

Identifying vulnerable children with emotional difficulties and working out sustainable
interventions.
One way to address each of these recommendations is to provide opportunities to name and
discuss different feelings during small group times. Ensure that children have regular access
to practical resources that help them to identify, name and understand feelings, such as
feelings props, puppets, facial expression mats, and so on.
You could make a box of feelings, perhaps using current, popular or core-book characters to
reflect feelings and discuss behaviours. For example, you could talk about being brave like
Spiderman, use Little Rabbit Foo Foo to discuss unwanted behaviour, or use Owl Babies to
manage separation.
It’s important that children understand that it’s ok to feel sad or angry, as well as happy, and
that these feelings are not wrong. They need to be acknowledged and on-going appropriate
support provided to more vulnerable children who are frequently displaying low levels of
well-being.
Mindful Play
Appendix 3
Additional guidance to support learning in the early years setting
Circle time
Small circle times can help you work towards IEYC outcomes, as well as provide children with
an opportunity to express their feelings in a secure safe space. They are also opportunities to
develop children’s understandings of IEYC personal goals.

Feeling good – Introduce children by asking them to show by their face how they feel when
they are feeling good and happy. Pass the face around the circle.

Pass the sentence: ‘I feel really good when…’

Looking back – Ask the children to think of a really happy thing they can remember.

Pass the sentence: ‘I remember being very happy when…’
When they have done this, ask them to show by their face how they felt, passing the face
around the circle. Now ask the children to do the same thing for when they were feeling
sad.

Pass the sentence: ‘I remember being very sad when…’

Someone very special – Have a box with a mirror placed inside. Say to children that you
have a magic box, and when you look inside you can see someone very special. Would they
like to see that special person? Tell the children that they must keep very quiet as the pass
the box around. Afterwards, ask the children who that very special person is!

Pass the sentence: ‘I am good at…’
International-mindedness

Friends – Ask children what they like to play with whom (e.g. I like playing in the garden
with Jo).

Pass the sentence: ‘I like playing… with…’
Ask children to say their friends name and what they like to play (e.g. My friend Jo likes
playing in the garden).

Pass the sentence: ‘My friend … Likes playing…’

Being a good friend – Tell the children a story about friendships.

Pass the sentence: ‘I am a good friend when….’

Separation – ‘When ….left I felt sad.’ This could either be their mum, dad, friend, and so on.
Ask children to show that feeling on their face. Pass the expression. Collect suggestions as
how you may be able to keep in touch with the people who left.
Mindful Play
Self-regulation

Quarrels – To provide guidance on how to handle arguments, you may want to introduce
puppet in a role play that could be acting out a quarrel. Get children to show on their face
how an angry person may look, pass the face round the circle.

Pass the sentence: ‘When someone quarrelled with me I felt…’
Discuss with children, how can we tell how people are feeling? Tell the children to think
about this story:
was playing with his friends in the garden. Tia kicked over his sandcastle. Andrea
Joe
helped Joe build a new one, but Sara just laughed because she thought Joe looked funny
when he cried.
Ask the children show on their face what each child might feel. Pass that feeling around
the circle.

Pass the following sentences: ‘I felt… when I knocked somebody over’, ‘I felt… when I was
knocked over’, and ‘I felt… when somebody helped me.’

Feeling afraid – what can we do? – Here you may tell the children a story about yourself
(or make it up), about a time you felt afraid and what you did to overcome this feeling. How
might we feel when we are afraid? Ask the children show the feeling on their face, and
pass it around the circle.

Pass the sentence: ‘It helped to… when I was afraid.’
Independence and Interdependence

Now I am (age) I can… – Tell children about some of the things that you can do now that
you couldn’t do when you were their age. Ask them to think of something they couldn’t do
when they were young but can do now.

Pass the sentence: ‘When I was little, I couldn’t… But now I can!’

Who keeps me safe? – Ask children to think of people who keeps them safe.

Pass the answer and question: ‘…keeps me safe. Who keeps you safe?’

Losing and finding – This is a way to discuss preventing toys from going astray (but not
necessarily getting back what you have already lost). Ask children to stand up if they have
ever lost anything – what have they lost? Now ask them how they felt when they found it
again.

Pass the sentence: ‘When I found it I felt…’
Remind them how they felt when they had lost something.

Pass the sentences: ‘When you find something you should…’ and ‘When you find something
you shouldn’t…’
Mindful Play
Ending game: Thunder

This interactive game is particularly good to play at the end of circle time.
Instructions Actions
Imagine that it is a lovely sunny day and you are in Rub hands together.
the woods. You can see some clouds coming over and
hear the wind rustling in the trees. Some more clouds
appear.
With the clouds come the patter of rain. Two fingers tapping palm of hand.
The rain gets a bit heavier. Clap hands.
And heavier. Slap hands on lap.
With the rain comes the thunder. Stamp feet.
The thunder stops. Stop stamping.
Still it is raining hard. Clap hands.
The rain is stopping, only a patter can be heard. Two fingers tapping palm of hand.
Now there is only the rustling leaves. Rub hands together.
And now the rain has stopped. Hands in lap.
There are numerous games and songs you can play after the circle time. Ideally, choose a
class favourite so that everyone can join in.
Persona Doll
You may wish to introduce Persona Dolls into your classroom. These are small friends that the
children can relate to and help with their problems. They don’t live in the classroom, and just
come out in small group or circle time. Ideally you will introduce a number of different dolls
with different hair styles, skin colours, and back stories.

Back story – Each time a new doll is introduced, teachers and parents could discuss and
agree on their persona. Make sure that the doll’s family history, culture, religion, and
language stay the same throughout the sessions. With this in mind, it’s useful for each doll
to have a small notebook where their stories and discussions can be recorded. Remember
to always look at previous notes before a new session to refresh your memory.

Gender – Make sure that you have a collection of both boy and girl dolls. It’s often better to
introduce the boy dolls earlier to support breaking down any stereotypes that the children
may have absorbed. For example, include pink with the boy’s favourite colours.

Representation – The dolls need to reflect the children in your group, but also
demographics that are not present, such as a child with a visual impairment. One of the
dolls can then talk about how happy they are to be in the class and later on in the term
a story could be about being excluded or teased. Remember to check that their features
actually portray demographic they represent, such having an authentic hair style.
Mindful Play

Physical choices – When making or buying a doll, ensure that their neck is firm (so they
can sit up) and their face is simple and unique. A height of around 75 cm is ideal, as
children respond well to this size and you can dress them in actual nursery clothes.
Homemade dolls are softer and huggable, and a simple pattern works perfectly. Keep the
stuffing loose so the dolls can sit and bend arms.
During sessions, you will act as the doll’s go-between, first allowing the doll to whisper to
you before you voice their thoughts to the group. You will then have a conversation with the
children about what has happened and how the doll is feeling.
Try to keep the sessions short but fun, presenting simple problems so that children can be
empowered to find solutions and express their own feelings if necessary. Listen sensitively to
children’s responses, using their directions to support you in exploring any ideas further.
At the end of the session, thank children for helping the doll to feel much better and
encourage them to pass the doll around the circle for a goodbye hug – until their friend’s
next visit! Record the details of the session in the doll’s notebook.
Feeling cards
You may wish to make feelings cards with the children. These can be used in circle time,
either in relation to themselves, characters, or others, or generally throughout the day to alert
others to how they are feeling.
Use circles and draw faces to share with children. Begin with making ‘happy’ and ‘sad’ faces,
and then slowly introduce more emotions. The following list provides a comprehensive
emotional landscape:
Worried Tired Confused
Excited Angry Fearful
Surprised Anxious Bored
Depressed Embarrassed Frustrated
Grief Hopeful Hungry
Lonely Proud
Mindful Play
Appendix 4
Guidance on how to use the Leuven Scales of Well-being and
Involvement
In your setting, formulate a standard framework for using the Scales as part of your observation,
assessment, and planning. We recommend that the observation focuses on child-initiated
activity. Though the role of the adult can be considered, it is not essential to the observation.
Observation
A step-by-step overview to the observation process:
1. Group screening (could be whole group or key group).
2. Identify any lower-level children.
3. Individual observation, focusing on narrative observations of personal, social and
educational development.
4. Consider peer moderation of judgements.
Keep an open mind
familiar with the levels of well-being and involvement and any warning signs.
Be
yourself in the child’s world.
Put

Know the child: utilise their key person, talk to colleagues, and make use of the learning link.
Leuven Involvement Scales
Level 1: Low Little or no activity.

Level 2: Low Moments of interrupted or sporadic activity.
Level 3: Medium More or less sustained activity, or activity that lacks intensity.
Level 4: Medium/High Activity with some intense activity.
Level 5: High Sustained intense activity.
Leuven Well-being Scales
Level 1: Low Extremely low well-being; children generally look low.

Level 2: Low Children display signs of emotional discomfort about half
the time. They seldom enjoy themselves.
Level 3: Medium Children seem quite happy, though occasionally show signs
of discomfort or have a neutral expression.
Mindful Play
Level 4: Medium/High Moments of well-being clearly outnumber moments of

discomfort.
Level 5: High Extremely high level of well-being. These children feel like
‘fish in water’ and radiate vitality, relaxation and inner peace.
Individual Child Well-being and Involvement Observation

Class: Observer: Date:
Child: Age:
Special educational needs and disability (if applicable):
No. of children present: No. of adults(present in room):
Description of 2-minute activity Well Being Involvement

Time: 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Time: 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Mindful Play
Description of 2-minute activity Well-being Involvement

Time: 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Analysis: 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Areas for Development: 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5
Mindful Play
Sample observation form for recording children’s wellbeing and

involvement
Class of: Date:
Name Well-being Involvement

Low Medium High Low Medium High
Mindful Play
Appendix 5
The Learning Strands, Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and
International Dimension linked to the activities in Mindful Play
Note: A full description of the IEYC Learning Strands, Learning Outcomes, Personal Goals and
the International Dimension can be found in the document entitled The IEYC Learning Strands
and Learning Outcomes.
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 1: INDEPENDENCE AND INTERDEPENDENCE

PHASE A PHASE B Working towards Learning Outcomes
Entry Point: Being peaceful Entry Point: Being peaceful 1.26a 1.26b
Entry Point: Mindful minute 1.17b
Peaceful moments Peaceful moments 1.26a 1.26b
Laughter moments Laughter moments 1.24a 1.24b
Seeing all 1.17b
What’s in the box? (v.1) What’s in the box? (v.2) 1.25a, 1.27a 1.25b, 1.27b
A special stone A special stone 1.23a 1.23b
Tai chi (simple) Tai chi (challenge) 1.26a 1.26b
Yoga (simple) Yoga (challenge) 1.26a 1.26b
Stretches Stretches 1.26a 1.26b
Mindful walking Mindful walking 1.26a 1.26b
Balance Balance 1.26a 1.26b
Breathing meditation (short) Breathing meditation (longer) 1.17a, 1.26a 1.17b, 1.26b
Doing everything peacefully Doing everything peacefully 1.23a 1.23b
Play day Play day 1.25a 1.25b
Food meditation Food meditation 1.19a 1.19b
Exit Point: Letter to future Exit Point: Letter to future self 1.17a 1.17b
self (picture) (fill in blanks and a picture)
Exit Point: Seeing all Exit Point: Seeing all 1.17a 1.17b
Exit Point: Group meditation Exit Point: Group meditation 1.17a, 1.26a 1.17b, 1.26b
Mindful Play
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 2: COMMUNICATION

Entry Point: Treasure box Entry Point: Treasure box 2.80a 2.80b
(simple) (challenge)
Entry Point: Handy (simple) Entry Point: Handy (challenge) 2.80a 2.80b
Entry Point: Counting Entry Point: Counting breaths 2.36a 2.36b
breaths (simple) (challenge)
Seeing all (simple) Seeing all (challenge) 2.13a 2.13b
Why these items? Why these items? 2.74a, 2.80a 2.80b
What’s in the box? (v.1) What’s in the box? (v.2) 2.80a 2.80b
Breathing meditation Breathing meditation 2.1a 2.1b
Story time Story time 2.11a 2.13b
Play day Play day (different carousel to 2.6a 2.6b
Phase A)
Exit Point: Peacefulness Exit Point: Peacefulness 2.1a 2.1b
experience experience
Exit Point: Family hands and Exit Point: Family hands and 2.78a 2.78b
treasure box (simple) treasure box (challenge)
Exit Point: Group meditation Exit Point: Group meditation 2.1a 2.1b
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 3: EXPLORING

Entry Point: Treasure box Entry Point: Treasure box 3.25a 3.25b
Entry Point: Handy (simple) Entry Point: Handy (challenge) 3.2a 3.2b
Paired laughter challenges Paired laughter challenges 3.1a 3.1b
(pictures) (words and pictures)
Seeing all Seeing all 3.1a 3.1b
Mindful Play
Why these items? (simple) Why these items? (challenge) 3.12a 3.12b
What’s in the box? (v.1) What’s in the box? (v.2) 3.12a 3.12b
A special stone A special stone 3.18a 3.18b
Blue, purple, and pink Blue, purple, and pink 3.12a, 3.14a 3.12b, 3.14b
Breathing meditation (short) Breathing meditation (long) 3.1a, 3.2a 3.1b, 3.2b
Doing everything peacefully Doing everything peacefully 3.1a, 3.4a 3.1b, 3.4b
Story time (picture) Story time (words and picture) 3.25a 3.25b
Play day Play day (different carousel of 3.1a, 3.2a 3.1b, 3.2b
activities to Phase A)
Exit Point: Family hands and Exit Point: Family hands and 3.25a 3.25b
treasure box (simple) treasure box (challenge)
Exit Point: Group meditation Exit Point: Group meditation 3.1a, 3.2a 3.1b
Exit Point: Letter to future Exit Point: Letter to future self 3.25a 3.25b
self (picture) (fill in blanks and a picture)
IEYC LEARNING STRAND 4: HEALTHY LIVING AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

Entry Point: Mindful minute Entry Point: Mindful minute 4.13a 4.13b
4/5/6 breathing 4/5/6 breathing and breathing 4.13a 4.13b
Nasal breathing Nasal breathing 4.13a 4.13b
Seeing all Seeing all 4.13a 4.13b
Tai chi (simple) Tai chi (challenge) 4.8a, 4.13a, 4.14a 4.8b, 4.13b, 4.14b
Yoga (simple) Yoga (challenge) 4.8a, 4.13a, 4.14a 4.8b, 4.13b, 4.14b
Stretches (simple) Stretches (challenge) 4.8a, 4.13a, 4.14a 4.8b, 4.13b, 4.14b
Mindful walking Mindful walking 4.8a, 4.13a, 4.14a 4.8b, 4.13b, 4.14b
Balance Balance 4.8a, 4.13a, 4.14a 4.8b, 4.13b, 4.14b
Breathing meditation (short) Breathing meditation (longer) 4.13a 4.13b
Play day Play day (different carousel to 4.9a, 4.10a, 4.11a, 4.9b, 4.10b, 4.11b,
Phase A) 4.12a, 4.13a 4.12b, 4.13b
Mindful Play

Exit Point: Group meditation Exit Point: Group meditation 4.8a, 4.13a 4.8b, 4.13b
IEYC PERSONAL GOALS

Adaptability Explore different ideas.
Become increasingly at ease in a variety of
situations.
Communication Express ideas using verbal and/or non-verbal
means.
Use different forms of communication in a wide
range of contexts.
Receive, interpret, and respond to various forms of
verbal and non-verbal messages.
Co-operation Learn and play considerately alongside and with
others.
Take turns and share.
Enquiry Be curious and ask questions.
Engage in new experiences.
Resilience Persevere with tasks when success is not instant.
Respect Participate in activities which impact positively on
people, living things, and the environment.
Thoughtfulness Demonstrate kindness and consideration.
Consider personal strengths.
IEYC International Dimension

Learning and playing with other children beyond their immediate friendship group.
Applying the IEYC personal goals in various contexts.
Practising the characteristics of the kinds of children the school is helping to develop and demonstrating
them in developmentally-appropriate ways.
Mindful Play
Appendix 6
Example of an ‘IEYC Learning Journey’
This example can be easily adapted for your setting; it provides a starting point to capture
each child’s unique Learning Journey. The template is a simple way of recording what children
have learned about through the IEYC and child-initiated learning. Learning Journeys are an
effective way to inform planning and next steps in learning.

Teachers, children and families should contribute to an evidence base that demonstrates
children’s knowledge, skills, and increasing understanding to support the Learning Journey.

The evidence base may include photographs, samples of learning, anecdotal records, and
observations.

The evidence base is a way of gathering an insight into what children know, understand,
and can do.
evidence-based Learning Journey can be used to track progress over time and is a
An
reliable assessment tool – building a picture of children’s learning and development over
time.

This example can be replicated for all four Learning Strands, and used for recording and
tracking what has been covered throughout the unit, linking to next steps for learning and
development.
Mindful Play
Child’s Details:
IEYC Unit Title:
Implementation Date:
IEYC Learning Child-initiated Working towards Reflections and

Experiences IEYC Learning IEYC Learning Evaluations
Experiences Outcomes
Phase A Phase B Links with Links with
Learning Learning Phase A Phase B
Experiences Experiences Learning Learning
(e.g. 1.6a) (e.g. 1.6b) Experiences Experiences
Next steps in learning and development:
INTERNATIONAL EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM
27-28 Clements Lane London EC4N 7AE

+44 020 7531 9696
info@ﬁeldworkeducation.com
ﬁeldworkeducation.com/curriculums/early-years
TheInternationalEarlyYearsCurriculum
The_IEYC
From Fieldwork Education, a part of the Nord Anglia Education family

©WCL Group Limited. All rights reserved.

Mindful Play IEYC v2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mindful Play IEYC v2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mindful Play IEYC v2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mindful Play

The IEYC Process of Learning 7

An Overview of Mindful Play 7

Putting this IEYC unit of learning into action 19

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express – Breathing and Laughter 23

Learning Block 2: Explore and Express – Special objects and

Learning Block 3: Explore and Express – Move, Sit and Stretch 36

Learning Block 4: Explore and Express – Peacefulness and Play 45

The IEYC Learning Principles

The IEYC Process of Learning

An Overview of Mindful Play

A mind map of the Learning Experiences included in Mindful Play

Laughter HEALTHY LIVING Group

2 3 4 Strand 1: Independence and Interdependence 1 2 3

A Suggested Pathway through Mindful Play

Learning Learning Learning Learning

Learning Learning Learning Learning

Suggestions for Enabling the Environment

The Two Promises Pebble Medication

The Big Picture for Teachers

What is Cortisol? What is the connection between Cortisol and

Sensory play for stress-free children

Washable finger paints

Additional ideas for a stress-free classroom

The Big Picture for Children

In Learning Block 3, we’ll be:

Putting this IEYC unit of learning into action

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express

Breathing and laughter

Suggestions for this week’s continuous provision and play

This week, children will experience:

IEYC Learning Strand 1

IEYC Learning Strand 2

IEYC Learning Strand 3

IEYC Learning Strand 4

Learning Block 1: Explore and Express

Activity 2: Nasal breathing

Activity 3: Peaceful moments

Activity 4: Laughter moments

“A laugh is a smile that bursts”

Pretend Skip Make music

Roll Climb Creep

Clap Tap Click fingers

Finger dancing Thumb twiddling Rolling

Conducting Drumming Signalling

Sculpting Drawing Doodling

Painting Splashing Squashing

Wiggling Crawling Cater pillaring

Jiggling Dodging Twirling

Swaying Galloping Digging

Smoothing Stroking Squeezing

And finally, how about some silly noises and voices!

Gulp Screech Hiss

Activity 5: Paired laughter challenges

Learning Block 2: Explore and Express

Special objects and stepping stones

Suggestions for this week’s continuous provision and play

This week, children will experience:

IEYC Learning Strand 1

IEYC Learning Strand 2