Description

Stand with your legs hip width apart. Take a deep cleansing breath and bend over at your waist. Look down at the ground and let your upper body hang. Pull your belly button in gently to protect your lower back. Let the weight of your upper body pull you down toward the floor.

Then start moving your arms in random circular patterns (doesn’t matter how your arms swing) while still looking down. Let go of the tension in your next and shoulders. Stop moving your arms after 20 to 30 seconds. Breathe in and as you breathe out, try to lower your hands toward the floor until you reach a gentle stretch. Breathe in and as you breathe out, roll back up one vertebrae at a time.

Modification Option

Poor Balance: Lean back against a wall or sit in a chair with your feet flat on the ground, shoulder width apart.

Description

Sit on the edge of the chair with your back straight. Pull your belly button in to engage your ab muscles and protect your back muscles. With your knee bent, lift one leg up slightly and hold for a few seconds. Straighten your leg out as far as you can without dropping it down to the floor. Bring your leg back into a bent position but don’t lower your foot back to the ground. Repeat extensions to a straightened leg 20 times. Then lower your leg down and put your foot on the floor. Repeat with the other side. This exercise is great for strengthening your leg muscles!

Description

Sit on the edge of the chair with your back straight. Pull your belly button in to engage your ab muscles and protect your back muscles. With your knee bent, lift one leg up slightly and hold for a few seconds. Then do 50-100 small pulses. Make this movement from your hip. (Pretend like your leg is a lever making your knee go up.) Don’t let your leg drop below parallel. Repeat on the other side. This exercise is great for strengthening your leg muscles!

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. Bend each arm at the elbow with your fists pointed up at a 90 degree angle. Keep your neck relaxed. Your upper body will look like a goal post ready for a field goal. Do 50-100 small pulses up and down with your elbows, pushing your fists straight up toward the ceiling. Keep your goal post looking nice and perfect!

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. Do one arm at a time and stabilize self by holding onto a chair or table.

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.

Description

Hold the resistance band or PVC pipe with a wide grip (more than shoulder width) in front of your body. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. While holding the band or PVC pipe, slowly raise your arms over your head and then behind your head. Keep going until you reach a gentle stretch. Slowly bring your arms back to the front of your body. Repeat 10 times.

Modification Option

Poor balance: Lean back against a wall or sit in a chair with your feet flat on the ground, shoulder width apart.

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.

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.

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.

Description

While reading out loud, ask the youth to listen for the action verbs. Each time one comes up, move like the word! For example, if a sentence says, “The worm wiggled through the hole in the dirt”, have youth wiggle!