5 Minute Activities

Mindfulness - Resource

Mindfulness may be described as being fully present in the moment. Mindfulness activities and strategies have been shown to help students develop skills that will aid in self-regulation, stress management and learning.

Shelley Murphy, PhD has been a mindfulness practitioner and educator for 20 years. Dr. Murphy is a faculty member at OISE/University of Toronto. She is a former elementary teacher and currently teaches graduate courses in the Theory and Practice of Mindfulness in Education, Mental Health & Wellbeing, Special Education, and Literacy in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning.

Her book on mindfulness for children in classroom settings and beyond, Fostering Mindfulness, was published in 2019. She has kindly given permission to use the resources in her book and on her website.

https://fosteringmindfulness.com/

Photo by: Sabrina Zito Insalaco

Calm Place

Use your calm place to feel more at ease during stressful times. The key is spending time to plan out your calm place and having it ready in your mind. Plan out details to make it as realistic as possible.

Where do you feel the most relaxed? Imagine you are there.

What do you see?
What do you hear?
What/how do you feel?

Photo by: Vitamina Poleznova - Unsplash.com

Hug A Tree

This activity can be done where there are trees close to a path or in a wooded area. Move towards a tree you would like to explore. As you approach the tree observe its beauty from the ground all the way up to its branches. If there are exposed roots try your best not to step on them. Now you can choose to put your back up against the trunk of the tree, put your arms behind you while holding the tree and look up. You can also choose to hug the tree the other way as well. Stand quietly for a few moments while hugging that tree. Take a slow, deep breath and think about how the air that you are breathing in came from the tree. Now slowly breathe out and reflect on the fact that the tree breathes in the air that you exhale. We are connected to the trees! Measure the tree with your arms. Can you put your arms all the way around it?

When done, ask yourself the following questions:

How did that make you feel?
How do you think the tree felt if it could talk to you?

Find a partner and share your experience and what you think the perspective of your tree was.

BEFORE LEAVING ALWAYS REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS TO YOUR TREE FRIEND!

Photo by: Sabrina Zito Insalaco

Photo by: C. Chapel

Learning to Listen to Your Heartbeat

Recommended for K-3

This activity is to help bring more focus and awareness to your body.

Can be done outdoors or indoors. Start off by placing your hand on your heart and focus on your calm heartbeat and breathing. Next you can choose to jump up and down, skip rope or do jumping jacks for one minute (count 60 butterfly seconds - “one butterfly, two butterfly…) After one minute, place one hand on your heart again and pay attention to your heartbeat. How does that feel? How is it different from your calm heartbeat? Once you feel your calm heartbeat do the activity again, but challenge yourself to do it for two minutes this time. How does your body feel now? Do you notice a difference in your heartbeat after you have exercised for two minutes compared to one minute? Stand quietly with your hand on your heart until you feel your heart return to its calm beat.

Photo by: Sabrina Zito Insalaco

Photo by: C. Chapel

Learning to Listen to Your Heartbeat

Recommended for Gr. 4-8

Can be done outdoors or indoors. Start off by placing your hand on your heart and focus on your calm (resting) heartbeat and breathing. Take your pulse. Turn your palm facing up, gently press your index and middle finger against your wrist on the thumb side and count the beats for one minute (use a timer to make it easier). Next you can choose to jump up and down, skip rope or do jumping jacks for one minute. After one minute, place one hand on your heart again and pay attention to your heartbeat. Take your pulse again for one minute. What is the difference in your calm (resting) heart rate compared to your heart rate after exercise? Once you feel your resting heart rate is back to where it was in the beginning take your pulse again. Were you able to listen to your body and notice when your heart rate was back to its calm state? Now challenge yourself to do the activity again for two minutes this time.

Extension: Watch the video " How to Make Your Own Plastic Jump Rope (Out of Plastic Bags)". Produced by: BAGS - Bags for A Greener Society, part of a Girl Scout Silver Award Project By GS of Southern Arizona - Troop 1702 on the left and try to make one yourself!

Photo by: Christine Chapel

My Moon Journal

Let’s observe our nearest neighbour in space, our Moon!

Even though the moon looks so bright in the night sky, it actually does not have any light of its own. It looks bright because the light from the sun hits it and bounces off.

The moon appears to have a different shape every night. This is referred to as phases. Watch this video, from Turtlediary, that explains the phases of the moon - Moon Phases

Once you have viewed the video create your own moon phases worksheet by drawing circles on a blank sheet of paper with space for the date and an area to write beside each circle.

Pick a night to start observing the moon. This activity can be done outside or inside by a window. Keep in mind that sometimes you can't always see the moon from the same window. Look at the moon and take a quiet moment to observe it.

On your worksheet:

Record the date of your observation under each circle
Observe the moon and fill in the circle according to how the moon looks
Take your time while observing the moon. Focus on its beauty and its calmness.
Think about how you felt today and write down words that describe your day
Continue each night until the moon looks like it did the first night of your observations
Once you have completed this activity, look at your observations of the moon and notice your feelings that you recorded as well. For example: How did you feel on the day a full moon appeared? Or how did you feel when it was a half moon?
Do you notice a connection with the moon and your feelings?

Join Tamarack and her children Mae and Oscar to learn how to relax in, and enjoy, the natural world around us. Check out their YouTube channel, Biology in Your Backyard!

Photo by: Sabrina Zito Insalaco

Sit Spot

A sit spot is a special place that you can visit every day to have some quiet time and make observations about the world around you. Choose a spot that you like - maybe because you like a tree that is there or you feel safe or because you think it's beautiful. Everyone's sit spot is special to them for their own personal reasons.

To begin, go outside and choose a quiet spot that you like, maybe in a backyard, the park, a garden or even sitting inside by your favourite window.

Try doing this activity for five minutes. (Set a timer on your device, but don't look at it until the end of the activity. Just wait for the alarm).

Start off by taking five deep breaths, inhale and exhale slowly
Inhale your breath down into your belly to the count of five (breathe as if you are smelling flowers) and exhale out for five (as if you are blowing out a candle)
Try to relax your mind and your body
Continue to breathe in and out slowly
Listen to the natural sounds around you
Don't rush this activity, it's your time!

Virtual Sound Map

Sound Map

Listening to the sounds around us and mapping them can help us focus and understand our place in the world in relation to other things

Sit outside or by a window in a comfortable spot. Have a writing tool and blank piece of paper with you. Take note of the time of day.

To begin, put an “X” in the middle of your paper. This represents you.

Now close your eyes and tune into the sounds you hear around you.
Every time you hear a new sound, open your eyes and put it on your “map” in relation to where you are - close or far away, in front or behind etc. Draw a symbol representing the sound that you hear or a word.
Keep closing your eyes and tuning into new sounds.

Do some sounds change their position? Can you hear the same sound in more than one spot? Do this for 2 - 5 minutes.

When you’re finished look at your Sound Map.

Could you identify every sound you heard?
How many sounds would you consider to be “natural”?
Was there something that you had never heard before?
Which sound did you find most pleasant?

Try this activity another day at the same time.

Do you hear the same sounds?
Try sitting and doing a sound map in the morning and another at sunset or at night time. Compare the sounds you hear at different times of day.

Adapted from Joseph Cornell's book “Sharing the Joy of Nature”

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