The Hawks Nest

Movement Breaks

Students often come down to the Hawk’s Nest (behavior room) because they need a movement break. Sitting still in a classroom while trying to keep focused on learning can be very difficult for many students (and adults). This could be the same as they are trying to do work at home, especially within the limits of social distancing. We have a list of movement break cards that kids can easily do inside a small room which releases some energy and gets out their “wiggles”, so they can return to their room to continue learning. Research has shown that it is good for our bodies to move, and teachers are great about giving students options in the classroom, such as flexible seating, learning while standing up, wiggle seats etc.

Some of the movements that we do are:

• jumping jacks

• wall pushups

• bear crawl

• crab walk

• windshield wipers (move your arms like windshield wipers)

• finger taps

• shoulder shrugs

• frog jumps

• star jumps

• Hand presses

• Push,Pull,Dangle (push yourself up in a chair and hold for 10 sec, pull up on the chair and hold for 10 sec and then let yourself relax)

We like to end our movement breaks with some kind of breathing exercise, such as five finger breathing (outlining your hand with the finger from other hand, going up and down each finger) or crazy eight breathing (making a figure 8 on your hand or forearm, breathing in for one side of the 8 and breathing out for one side of the 8).

Tool Kit

The Hawk’s Nest made tool kits for all the classrooms that teachers could use in the Rest and Refill area. In this tool kit were various types of fidgets and sensory tools that students could use to reset and get ready to learn. Some things in the kit were – squishy ball, feather, felt marble maze, putty or playdoh, pieces of fabric like velvet or very soft flannel, and something stretchy like an elastic. Also in the tool kit was a copy of the movement break cards, similar to the ones that I posted earlier, that kids could do independently, either in rest and refill or in the hallway. We even had a sensory bottle made with clear glue and glitter that we made in the Hawk’s Nest. These are some things you might find helpful to have at home, and when your child is feeling agitated or is having trouble focusing, it may be useful for them to use some of the sensory tools in the kit. They might even enjoy making some of the items for the kit, or helping you find some things around the house that could be useful in the tool kit.

An easy craft to make is homemade playdoh that you could put in the tool kit:

1C flour

1/2C salt

1 pack of unsweetened kool-aid (different flavors make different colors)

2T vegetable oil

1C Boiling water

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add the oil, then add the boiling water and stir. And there you have it, homemade, non toxic playdoh. In the Hawk’s Nest, we put the playdoh in small Easter eggs to hold it and keep it fresh.

Another easy craft is a sensory sock. You take an old sock and you can put rice, beans, cotton balls and corn in the sock, and tie it closed with string or a hair tie, or to make it more secure, sew the top shut. These are fun and comforting to hold and squeeze.

Having a sensory tool kit allows your student to go and find the necessary tool to help them, depending on how they are feeling. Whether they need movement, or something to calm them down and relax them, having a kit with many options can relieve anxiety knowing there are choices all in one place.

Size of the Problem and the Calming Sequence

Whenever we are around other people, we are involved in problem solving as a means of figuring out how to act, what to say and how to respond, and how to keep ourselves and others feeling comfortable when we are together. Social problem solving is a complex activity and it requires us to be able to take other’s perspectives and look at all sides of an issue.

We look at problems as coming in three sizes:

· Small - Small problems can be taken care of quickly and solved on our own or with the help of another person. Kids can help kids solve small problems.

· Medium - Medium problems take more time to solve and they require more help. Usually adults help kids to solve medium problems.

· Big – Big problems take even more time to solve, need adult intervention, and often adults even need other adults to help solve the problem.

Reactions to problems should match the size of the problem. Kids struggle to keep calm when they feel passionately about something, especially if they feel they have been wronged. In the Hawk’s Nest, we help students learn to become aware of the size of the problem, the emotion and feelings attached to the problem and their reaction to the problem. Giving them vocabulary to use, such as feelings words, helps them to identify their feelings, if they are struggling with naming them. Emojis work well because kids are good at identifying the emoji even if they are not sure of the feeling word. We often use the phrase “don’t make a small problem into a medium problem” to help them to stop and think before reacting.

It is very helpful to model for your child the thinking, feeling and behavior for problem solving. As you encounter small and medium problems, talk to your children about what you are noticing, how you are feeling and how you react. Thinking out loud about problems and their solutions models the language of problem solving for your child. This helps to plant seeds of understanding towards the ultimate goal of self-awareness and self-regulation for your child.

This is a simple worksheet to do, after a problem has occurred and your child is calm. This was adapted from the book series We Thinkers Volume 2: Social Problem Solvers.