Category: 10 Minutes

Arm Burners!

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Description

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Raise your arms out at your sides and up to your shoulder level. Make a gentle fist with each hand and keep your neck relaxed. Rotate your shoulders forward, making tiny circles with arms. Do this for 2-3 minutes. Then reverse the direction and rotate your shoulders backward, making small circles with your arms. Do this for 2-3 minutes.

When doing this exercise, do not let your arms go below your shoulders. Keep your shoulder, elbow and wrist in a straight line.

Modification Options

  1. Poor balance: Lean back against a wall or sit in a chair with your feet flat on the ground, shoulder-width apart.
  2. Hold onto the back of a chair and do one arm at a time.

Practice Empathy

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Description

Number youth off as 1’s and 2’s. Ask the 1’s to stand in a line facing the 2’s (like a mirror). Each student’s partner will be standing in front of him or her, as if a reflection. Ask the 1’s to tell the 2’s about something exciting, while the 2’s “mirror” their excitement. Switch roles and repeat. After each partner has had a chance to play each role, change the emotion of the story to mad, sad, happy, etc.

Practice Spelling Words

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Description

Ask the youth to write a spelling word in the air with their fingers. Once they write the word in the air, ask them to trace a line moving from left to right underneath the letters, then right to left. Take it to the next level! Ask the youth to point to the letters (in their correct placement) as they are called out. Remind youth to use their opposite hand and then, other parts of their bodies such as their toe or elbow.

Tour Guide

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Description

Studying one of the 50 great states in the U.S.? Take a tour by physically moving through the landmarks! For example, take a tour around Minnesota: walk across the Mississippi Headwaters in Itasca State Park, climb a white pine, walk tall with a moose, swim in one of the 14,000 lakes, play an instrument at Orchestra Hall, climb Eagle Mountain (the highest point in Minnesota), march up the steps at the State Capital and run around the Spoonbridge and Cherry in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Follow the curriculum for pictures and maps.

Yoga For Any Room! Animal Pose: Sea Turtle Relaxation

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Description

Lie on the floor on your back with your legs straight and arms at your sides. Or sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and hands on your desk or lap.

The palms of your hands are facing up and resting on the floor, desk or lap.

Close your eyes and breathe gently.

Focus on your breath and allow any thoughts or distractions to come to you and just let them go, refocusing on your breath.

Sometimes you might need a word to focus on, or a favorite place to imagine like lying or sitting on a beach. Imagine the warm sand, the hot sun and the cool breeze off the water. Your breath sounds like the waves! As you breathe in, listen! It sounds like the waves coming up to the shore. As you breathe out, imagine the waves going back out to sea. Keep breathing with the waves for another minute or two.

Yoga For Any Room! Animal Pose: Relaxed Monkey Pose

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Description

Kneel on the floor on your knees, and then sit back on your heels. If you are sitting in a chair, keep your feet flat on the floor.
Lean forward and stretch your arms forward to the ground. Continue stretching as far as you can. Can you touch your forehead to the floor? If you are sitting on a chair, just reach down to the floor as far as you can.
Stretch your arms out as far as they will go, allow your body to relax.
Take in big monkey breaths, feel your chest rise with each breath in and your chest relax toward the floor with each breath out, breathe in and out at your own pace. Relax for a minute.

Star Burst

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Description

Students start in a squatting position, knees directly over ankles. On command, they jump up reaching both hands high into the air and slightly outward.  At the same time their legs should come off the ground and then land in a jumping jack position. The burst of energy makes the body look like a rocket or star bursting in the sky.  Have them return to squatting position, rest for 5 seconds and burst upward again.

Yoga For Any Room! Space Pose: Moon Walk

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Description

Sit in your chair or lie down on the floor on your back.

Begin to walk in the air. Keep your right leg straight and lift it up as you lift your left arm.

Breathe in as you lift. Breathe out as your arm and leg go down.

Then breathe in again and lift your left leg and right arm together.

Breathe out as your arm and leg go down.

Keep going. Lift your leg and stretch your arm straight up toward the sky.

Moon Walk balances the two sides of your brain and helps you think better.