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Monkey Mind Pirates wanted posters

OMazing Kids LLC is an organization that promotes inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities. The blog and social media pages share information about books, DVD’s, CD’s, games and other products specifically designed for kids wellness, mindfulness and relaxation, product reviews & giveaways, lesson plan & activity ideas, research, kids wellness in the news and a connection corner with listings of individuals doing adapted yoga and those offering trainings.

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Arrgh Matey…. Pirate-Themed Kids Yoga Lesson Plan Ideas & Adapted Yoga

Posted on June 29, 2013 by OMazing Kids

Arrgh Matey…. looking for activities to keep the Monkey Mind Pirates off your ship this summer? Activities that can be adapted for a wide range of ages, needs & abilities? Follow this OMazing Kids treasure map to find the Isle of Calm and a summer filled with pirate-themed yoga, affirmations, relaxation, crafts & more!

Week 1 of Camp ClapHans at the JD McCarty Center primarily had kids with ADHD. After reading through the campers registration forms, I knew that my usual “storybook” approach to yoga would not be the best choice for the older group of boys at camp that week. So I jumped out of my comfort zone & planned some freestyle yoga storytelling with a little structure based on the Monkey Mind Pirates workbook & CD. As I was setting up, I overheard the boys commenting “yoga is for girls”, “I don’t like yoga”, “Do we have to?”. Fearing a mutiny, I calmed & centered myself with yoga breathing & listening to a few tunes from my playlist as I continued setting up. When I set out the Hoberman Sphere & the Vibratone, two of the boys were drawn like moths to a flame. {Ahhhh….. the magic of yoga props!}. Before I knew it, the rest of the boys were seated on mats intrigued by what we were going to do.

To set the stage for our yoga adventure, I played “Welcome Aboard” by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate and read this script from the Monkey Mind Pirates in my best “piratey” voice:

We went over the “rules of the ship” with this visual support….. we didn’t want anyone to fall out of the ship or have to walk the plank….. Arrgh!

I also used a visual support to show the kids that we would be breathing through our noses (like smelling a flower) and blowing our breath out through our mouth (like blowing out a candle).

We rolled up our treasure maps…… the key to making this a pleasant experience is to ALWAYS ask permission first. Ask who wants to be rolled up. Most kids love this & it is very calming to them. But some kids are fearful of trying it. In this class, I had two boys who were hesitant to try it. One ended up asking to do it after he saw the others enjoying it. One sat and watched. He kept a look out for Monkey Mind Pirates as the rest rolled up in the maps. By honoring his choice to not be “rolled”, it opened up the door for him to feel comfortable participating in most of the activities later in the class.

The kids were in charge of how long they wanted to stay rolled up & if they wanted to repeat the activity.

Doing a breathing activity from Monkey Mind Pirates…..

This boy initially insisted he was NOT going to do yoga! He didn’t even want to sit on a mat……. but after a few minutes of watching from afar look who got on the pirate ship and ended up LOVING yoga. In fact, staff reported that later in the week he was one of the ones using the 3 strategies we learned to ward off Monkey Mind Pirates as a means to self-regulate. A great example of how yoga is so much more than just having fun in that moment…… it’s also about helping kids discover tools they can use to feel calm and empowered every day 🙂

Activities & poses on our Monkey Mind Pirates adventure: rolled up treasure maps, Gyan Mudra spyglass, seated twist to look for Monkey Mind Pirates (Sir Winston, Ansel the Antsy & Lady Bronte. I made a “wanted” poster for each Monkey Mind Pirate so they would know what we were looking for. The Monkey Mind Pirates CD comes with some trading card sized pictures but these were too small to see in a group setting. One of the campers asked if the Monkey Mind Pirates were puppets….. gotta love a child with Aspergers Syndrome’s ability to immediately infer that from the wanted poster pictures! I explained that the real Monkey Mind Pirate puppets were sailing elsewhere but we never knew when they might appear. Fortunately he bought my story… or at least humored me and we kept going with our adventure), raise the sail (triangle pose), pirate flag waving in the ocean breeze (crescent moon), setting sail on our pirate ship in search of the treasure in the “Waters of Calm” (boat), sun shining down (breathing activity pictured above), laugher yoga (the tip for taming Winston), breathing (the tip for taming Ansel the Antsy. I added the Hoberman Sphere), 1-2-3 counting breath + mindful listening (the tip for taming Lady Bronte) {we practiced each of the 3 taming tips several times as we sailed. They knew to look out for a Monkey Mind Pirate when I sounded the Vibratone & held up one of the wanted posters. Made my heart smile to see how quickly they remembered & did the tip for each one}, X marks the spot (star), digging for treasure (woodchopper), treasure chest (seated forward fold), gyan mudra gold doubloons, guided relaxation (using the Relaxing on the Beach mp3 from Relax Kids). At first the boys were a little wiggly but they quickly calmed and a couple almost fell asleep. Remember, this was a group of boys with ADHD who rarely experience that level of “calm”. The calmness was so noticeable that the Camp ClapHans assistants asked if I could come do yoga with the boys every night! I reassured them that they had learned the 3 tips for taming Monkey Mind Pirates along with the boys and that they could use the strategies with them throughout the day & night 🙂 Ahhhh…. yes mateys that is the true treasure found in the “Waters of Calm”.

The girls group in Week 1 went on a beach-themed yoga adventure with “Ladybug Girl at the Beach”. I chose NOT to do a “pirate” class with this group since I knew one of the participants very well after having worked with her in outpatient speech-language therapy. This particular child has a VERY difficult time distinguishing between reality and imagination and would often assume alternate personalities. So I was pretty sure the pirate theme might trigger some swashbuckling aggressive behaviors in her. I also did NOT pass any props (Hoberman Sphere & Vibratone) in this class since this particular child has a history of damaging things. Of course the girls group had no idea that I had chosen a different theme for that reason and LOVED the adventures of Ladybug Girl. (I’ll be including yoga ideas for that book in a summer-themed post soon). The reason I share this is to remind folks that knowing info about kids before doing lesson planning will help guide you in making good choices in customizing a class to best match those kids’ needs.

Ladybug Girl looking out at the big waves in the ocean through the Gyan Mudra binoculars (FYI…. this is not the child I was describing above. She was one of the other campers. It made my heart smile to see how well she already knew how to do yoga! When she saw the seagull in the book she spontaneously went into Pigeon Pose….. one that I have a difficult time getting into myself.)

Week 2 of Camp ClapHans primarily had kids with physical disabilities. Because I had reviewed camp registration forms & knew several of the kids from seeing them as outpatients as JDMC, I chose a book that would lend itself well to these kids developmental levels, interests & physical needs. I played “The Porpoises and the Pirate Ship” by Brent Holmes & “Welcome Aboard” by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate as I set up for the group to set the scene. We still did a pirate theme. But this time it was all with seated poses with the book “There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish” by Jennifer Ward. The kids chose whether they wanted to stay in their wheelchair or get down on a mat with a camp assistant to support them.

{Note for SLP’s: The repeated & cumulative lines, big vivid illustrations & humorous descriptive vocabulary has made “There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish” a new “fave” to use in speech-language therapy! I scanned the pirate & cut out his lower teeth to make room to “feed” him & made story props for each item he swallows in the story. These are also great to use for receptive & expressive language, sequencing & story retelling. For kids yoga, I wrote pose ideas on the back of each one with a fine-tipped permanent marker after I laminated them. The prop on the far right is for the repeated line “Yo Ho Ho! Watch his belly grow!”. It’s great to attach to a BigMack or other single message voice output communication aide (VOCA) for kids with minimal verbal skills to be able to participate in “reading” the repeating line. Get the free printable story props in this PDF: There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish story props}

{Update: 7/4/13: The illustrator, Steve Gray, generously posted a couple of illustrations on my Facebook page to use as coloring sheets after the author contacted him: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151554767913845&set=o.174264525957894&type=1&theater& https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151554766543845&set=o.174264525957894&type=1&theater

There Was An Old Pirate Who Swallowed a Fish – coloring sheets

Ok on to what we did in yoga…. This child is doing the pose for the pirate ship mast (a seated version of mountain pose with hands up and together for a tall, straight mast). It made my heart smile to see him using his iPad to tell his outpatient PT at JDMC that he wanted to go back to camp this week 🙂

It’s fine to take a rest on the pirate ship…….

Blimey but that fish was slimey!

Adapted activities & poses specifically chosen for this group of kids (all were done while kids were seated in whatever position was comfortable for them): ocean breath, gyan mudra spyglass, pirate (“Arrgh” breath + moving fist across midline on each side), fish (clasped hands together at midline & wiggled them in a modified sign for “fish”), blimey that fish was slimey (palming to wipe off the fish slime), “yo ho ho watch his belly grow” belly breathing w/ Hoberman Sphere (this is a repeated line at the end of each page), bird (stretch arms behind like wings), treasure map (roll arms around each other forwards & then back), gyan mudra gold doubloons, treasure chest (seated forward fold), plank (seated cross crawl, foot stomping or patting on legs as “footsteps” depending on that child’s ability to move their lower extremities), sail (seated side bends as a modified version of triangle), mast (a seated version of mountain pose with hands up and together for a tall, straight mast), pirate ship (boat with lots of support from that child’s camp assistant. The two boys in wheelchairs had a recline feature on their chair so they were able to participate). Because all the poses were done seated, they flowed easily as we repeated them through the cumulative story. I paused at key times to see what the kids would remember……. so fun the see their delight at remembering the word + pose. At the end of the book we sank to the bottom of the deep blue sea like the pirate in the book with a guided relaxation (using the Under the Sea story from the Imaginations: Fun Relaxation Stories and Meditations for Kids book with the Pirate Ship sound from the Relaxing Sounds Of Nature Lite free app (gentle sounds of a pirate ship creaking, waves & seagulls) and a weighted fish toy to ride on the waves of each child’s breath). After relaxation we listened to the song “Seven C’s” by Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate and talked about the “courage” it took for them to come to camp and try so many new things (if you haven’t heard this song yet you should….. a really cool way to incorporate some yamas/niyamas into a pirate themed class! “there’s COURTESY, COMPASSION and a bit of COURAGE too. With CLEANLINESS and CLEVENESS they’re good for me and you. Plus CHEERFULNESS and CHARITY now that makes Seven C’s.…”). We used a gold doubloon & treasure chest prop to talk about treasures inside each of us. As each child said or signed what they were good at or liked about themselves, they added a gold doubloon to the treasure chest. I left an “I’m more precious than gold coin affirmation” page with the camp assistants to offer to the kids during their journaling time later that day so they could write or draw additional things about themselves and their new camp friends.

These were just 30-minute classes so we didn’t have time to do a pirate-themed craft. But I found several online that would be fun to do. See this printable for the coins & treasure chest we used plus more fun ideas: Pirate coin affirmation printables, crafts, activities & coloring pages

Piratey Playlist:

Rockin’ Ron the Friendly Pirate CD
Monkey Mind Pirates CD
Sea Tunes for Kids CD by Brent Holmes
Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Swashbuckling Sea Songs CD
Disney’s Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me) Instrumental by George Bruns
Rockin’ & Rollin’ On the Ocean by John Archambault & David Plummer
A Yogi Went to Sea by Kidding Around Yoga
Reiki Whale Song CD by Kamal (lots of great songs featuring whale sounds for relaxation)
Pirate Ship sound from the Relaxing Sounds Of Nature Lite free app
Plus I have lots of songs about individual ocean animals to use if needed

Please remember to keep kids individual sensory needs, developmental level, interests, etc… in mind when choosing particular music to use in a class.

I purposefully did not bring any pirate swords or hooks since those would naturally lead to kids wanting to have swashbuckling sword fights.

I’d love to hear your ideas for more “pirate yoga”! Feel free to leave a comment below or on the OMazing Kids Facebook page 🙂

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

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https://omazingkidsllc.com/research-roundup/

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New: Research Roundup on the OMazing Kids Blog

Posted on September 12, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Announcing a new feature on the OMazing Kids Blog: “Research Roundup”.

This page is dedicated to sharing research & articles relating to kids wellness, including yoga, with a focus on Autism and other special needs.

Articles are listed in order of publication dates with most recent publications listed first.

When available, I am sharing links to full research articles rather than just the “abstract”. Advocates and practitioners are cautioned to read more that just an “abstract” in order to understand research study results because abstracts rarely mention any limitations to the study, they report only key findings, and the brevity of the paragraph (typically 120 words) may tend to provide an overly optimistic read of the study and what was found. For more info about reading & understanding research articles: http://www.uky.edu/CRVAW/files/Understanding%20Scientific%20Journal%20Articles.pdf & http://www.womenshealthapta.org/pdfs/HowToResearchArticle.pdf

It includes a full PDF of the latest research on yoga for kids with Autism:

Efficacy of the Get Ready to Learn Yoga Program Among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design

By Kristie Patten Koenig, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Anne Buckley-Reen, OTR/L, RYT & Satvika Garg, MS, OTR/L, Published in The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, September/October 2012, Volume 66, Number 5

Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22917120

Full PDF: https://omazingkidsllc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/efficacy-of-the-get-ready-to-learn-yoga-program-among-children-with-autism-spectrum-disorders-a-pretest-posttest-control-group-design-am-j-occup-ther-2012-sep665538-46.pdf

Feel free to e-mail me at amoorad1@juno.com if you would like to share an article to be posted

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist at the JD McCarty Center in Norman, Oklahoma (http://www.jdmc.org/)

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

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Childhood Apraxia of Speech and the Benefits of Guided Relaxation/Yoga – a guest blog post by Leslie Lindsay, R.N., B.S.N

Posted on August 11, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Childhood Apraxia of Speech and the Benefits of Guided Relaxation/Yoga

By Leslie Lindsay, R.N., B.S.N.

When my daughter was in preschool, she came home with a CD that was intended to help kids transition from one activity to another. It wasn’t your typical “Clean up” or “Good-bye” CD, either. Dubbed as “The Calm Classroom,” this program is designed to help kiddos stop and take inventory of their body, their breathing, their proprioception (sense of body position and motion from joint and muscle receptors), and vestibular stimulation (sense of gravity and motion that comes from receptors of the inner ear) through simple yoga poses, focused listening, and breathing techniques.

Being the type of parent who is open to all things that would better my child—or myself as a parent—I was all about trying the new CD. We popped it in the stereo in our family room at first, all four of us lying on the floor in effort to relax and focus. My daughter, who suffers from childhood apraxia of speech (CAS)* and wasn’t speaking much—but understanding plenty—skipped to the track she liked best: environmental sounds. The purpose of this track is to relax and focus on sounds in the environment such as a rushing train, frogs croaking, water dripping, and ____. She loved this and soon we were all experiencing greater focus and relaxation.

But just why was The Calm Classroom so effective for my daughter? And what does childhood apraxia have to do with it, anyway? For those of you who aren’t familiar, CAS is a neurologically-based motor speech disorder. Rooted in the brain, but expressing itself in the verbal communication (or lack thereof) of children, CAS is a complex disorder characterized by the inability to produce verbal sounds to form intelligible words. Here is the definition offered by ASHA in 2007, “A neurological childhood (pediatric) speech sound disorder in which precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits.” In plain language, children with apraxia of speech want to speak, yet they just can’t coordinate their thoughts with their mouth.

In the exercises provided on the Calm Classroom CD, my daughter was able to become more self-aware. She was able to make the brain-body connection that is so vital in a neurologically-based motor speech disorder. Not only that, but some of the tracks require chanting or mantra style vocalizations (humming, buzzing), which is all a part of early communication. And—there is a good deal of breath awareness in these exercises and any yoga practice. Finally, the repetitive aspects of relaxation exercises and yoga poses are key: the body craves repetition to gain mastery over motor-based movement. These very same principles can be applied to speech-language pathology, and specifically childhood apraxia (CAS).

If you feel like this is a path you would like to explore, look to see if your child’s speech clinic offers occupational therapy, sensory integration therapy, or yoga. It really can be quite beneficial to children of all ages with all types of motor speech disorders. Worst case scenario: your child has tapped into a new coping strategy that may prove helpful for the future.

The Calm Classroom went into retirement for awhile at our house until just recently, when our now-7-year old daughter rediscovered it. She suggests we join her in a type of relaxation class in which we all are all provided with a note card to collect punches–much as we would if we were taking a class at a health club. Of course, this is all her design. And this time around, she is speaking quite normally and will be in 2^nd grade, “Come on! Don’t you want to relax, mom and dad?! It will do you some good.” My husband and I just look at each other with that, oh-what-have-we-got-to-lose look and give in to her request.

And you know what, she was right.

*Childhood apraxia of Speech (CAS) is sometimes referred to as “developmental apraxia” in countries other than the U.S., and in the U.S. before 2007.

Bio: Leslie Lindsay is former child/adolescent psych R.N. at the Mayo Clinic-Rochester. She is the mother of two school-aged daughters and a basset hound, named Sally. Lindsay and her family reside in the Chicago suburbs where she writes full-time. She is the author of “Speaking of Apraxia: A Parents’ Guide to Childhood Apraxia of Speech” (Woodbine House, March 2012). Read more on her blog, “Practical Parenting…with a Twist” where she writes about apraxia, parenting, education, and more 5 days a week, www.leslie4kids.wordpress.com

Information about The Calm Classroom: For more information about the research-based Calm Classroom program mentioned in this article, please visit their website, http://calmclassroom.com.

Disclaimer: The author has no professional affiliation with The Calm Classroom/Luster Learning. This article is for information and entertainment purposes. It is not meant to be a “cure” for Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). The most effective treatment for CAS is a multidisciplinary approach which encompasses motor, sensory, and speech work. All children with CAS present in their own unique ways; not all will respond as positively to yoga or relaxation-type exercises. The key is finding that perfect fit for your child.

References:

Kurtz, Lisa A. Understanding Motor Skills in Children With Dyspraxia, ADHD, Autism, and other Learning Disabilities. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008.

Note from OMazing Kids: I greatly appreciate Leslie sharing her daughter’s experiences with relaxation & yoga! Her book is FABULOUS… see my review at: http://wp.me/p1t7TU-x1.

Do you have a child with special needs who has benefited from relaxation, yoga or other wellness activities? We would love to hear your story! Feel free to share it in the comment section below 🙂

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist at the JD McCarty Center (http://www.jdmc.org/)

Founder of OMazing Kids, LLC – inclusive wellness activities for kids of all abilities

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

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OMazing Kids Yoga at the JD McCarty Center & Asana Alphabet Training in the News

Posted on March 7, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Woo Hoo! Excited to open The Oklahoman newspaper today and see an article about the OMazing Kids Yoga group for our inpatients at the JD McCarty Center in Norman, Oklahoma and the Asana Alphabet “Teaching Yoga to Kids with Special Needs” training that I will be guest presenting at this weekend 🙂

Here is the link to the article in The Oklahoman online: http://newsok.com/article/3655322

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC – inclusive yoga for kids & teens of all abilities in Norman, Oklahoma

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

bunny puppet for It’s Not a Box

Blog: http://omazingkidsyoga.com

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Not A Box: An OMazing Kids Yoga Lesson Plan & Book Review

Posted on January 21, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Not A Box: An OMazing Kids Yoga Lesson Plan & Book Review

We had SO much fun in OMazing Kids Yoga this week doing yoga to the story “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis!

I brought a medium sized cardboard box for each child since we had a small group of 5 kids & I wanted them to be able to experience being “in” and “out” of the box. I also selected this size of boxes since I wanted large surfaces for them to be able to put pictures on since the kids I see in that group have difficulty with fine motor control. The paper template in the Not A Box Activity Guide listed below would be great if you had a very large group and the kids had the ability to handle that level of fine motor task. Or you could also have each child bring their own box to the group (of course have a few extra boxes on hand in case someone forgets to bring one).

As a motivator/reinforcer for the kids to participate, they earned a coloring sheet for each pose they participated in and then got to glue it on their own box. To keep the flow of the group going, we saved the coloring of the pictures for the end. Worked like a charm…. the child who had so much difficulty staying engaged last week was a great yogi this week and was SO proud of his “not a box” creation. Wish I could have taken pictures to share but that’s not possible in the hospital setting due to HIPAA rules.

Opportunities for yoga poses/activities in this book:

bunny breath
racecar (Could do as group pose or individually sitting in your box or on the yoga mat. Sit with legs & arms straight out. Point/flex feet to hit the gas pedal or brakes. “Steer” your car with arm motions or could also add a hula hoop to be the steering wheel.)
mountain (We stood in the box to do mountain pose. It was a great opportunity for the kids to use motor planning skills to figure out how to get in/out of the box and to practice asking for help when they needed it.)
firefighter (a variation on elephant pose & crescent moon pose – hold hand together at midline to be the firefighter’s hose and then bend in different directions as you squirt water on the burning building)
robot (move & freeze like robots. Could also incorporate mindfulness to see how closely the kids can imitate specific robot movements)
pirate
balloon breathing
elephant
boat
humming breath (as we are thinking “Hmm”)
rocket (variation of volcano pose – squat down with hands together at heart, countdown (we did 3, 2, 1 given our kids short attention spans), then “blast off” as you jump up, lift your arms and exhale loudly)
star
planets (group activity – one child in the middle as the “sun” and the rest of the group move in a circle “orbiting” around the sun)
Affirmation: I am creative – I use my imagination!
Relaxation: Listening to relaxing music as we colored all the pictures we had glued on the “not a box” creations. Each child was given only 2 crayons so they would have the opportunity to practice social skills in asking to trade colors with the other kids.
Each child took their “not a box” creation with them to play with later

music_scale

“Not a Box” Playlist

Magic Box by Laurie Berkner (video: http://vimeo.com/39783917)
Think Outside the Box by Marc Rossio (http://www.reverbnation.com/themarveloustoy/song/16062474-think-outside-the-box)

This book will also be great to use in my work as a Speech-Language Pathologist. So here are several other reasons I LOVE this book:

Simple text.
Clear illustrations (combination of black, white, red & yellow) are great for young kids and will especially be helpful for kids who may have difficulty attending to pictures in other books due to visual impairments or conditions like ADD/ADHD or Autism. Many kids with cortical visual impairments tend to respond well to these specific colors so I can’t wait to try this book out the next time I have a patient with CVI. (Here’s a great CVI tip sheet: http://www.unr.edu/educ/ndsip/tipsheets/cvi.pdf)
Great repeated line “It’s NOT a box”. Repeated lines provide great predictability for emergent readers, are great for intraverbal fill-ins in a ABA Verbal Behavior program and are great opportunities for kids to participate in reading the story either verbally or through the use of a single message voice output communication aide (ex: BigMACK).
Opportunities for practicing inferencing & predicting skills (looking at the details in a picture for “clues”).
Lots of practice of “positional” words (in, on top, beside, behind, etc…)
Great use of two “Wh” questions (why, what)
Great way to teach “negation” (the concept of “not”)
Encourages “flexibile” thinking & creativity (often very difficult for many kids with special needs…. Especially those with an Autism Spectrum Disorder).

I purchased my copy of the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Not-Box-Antoinette-Portis/dp/0061123226

Free Activity Guide (9 page PDF): http://files.harpercollins.com/PDF/ActivitiesGuides/0061123226.pdf (also saved on my blog at: Not A Box Activity Guide)

Printable Coloring Pics to Color & Paste on a “Not a Box” Box – I use them as a reinforcer for kids to try each pose in the Therapeutic Yoga Group for our inpatients at the JD McCarty Center. They get a pic to add to their box for each pose. The large pics work well on a large box – like copy paper comes in or larger. The small pics work well on smaller boxes or with kids that get too focused on coloring.

not a box (full page pics) – 11 page PDF

not a box (small pics) – 4 page PDF

bunny puppet for It's Not a Box

See the entire book in this cute YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KXuBcdmktY

Great review & ideas from Picture Books & Pirouettes http://kerryaradhya.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-not-box-so-what-could-it-be.html & Maria’s Movers http://mariasmovers.com/2011/04/26/its-a-box-not/

Great blog post from another SLP with more ideas for this book: http://all4mychild.com/not-a-box/

More out-of-the-box fun in this blog post: http://www.teachpreschool.org/2012/09/all-you-need-is-a-box/ & bought Sitting in My Box by Dee Lillegard to extend the box theme: http://www.teachpreschool.org/2012/09/a-story-in-a-box/

Encourage some out-of-the-box “food fun” with these creative snack ideas:

Food Fun

There are lots of fun Pinterest pages & blog with fun kids snacks & bento box ideas! http://www.creativekidsnacks.com/category/snacks/

Here’s a great “think outside the box” mini poster from FableVision Learning to go with this theme: http://fablevisionlearning.com/blog/2011/06/think-outside-the-box/

(1 page PDF – http://www.fablevisionlearning.com/posters/fablevision_thinker.pdf / also saved on my blog at: Think Outside The Box mini poster)

Also love this:

See how we used this book in a free storytime event for Better Hearing & Speech Month at the JD McCarty Center in May 2013.

Feel free to comment & share your “not a box” ideas 🙂

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC – inclusive yoga for kids & teens of all abilities in Norman, Oklahoma

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com

Blog: http://omazingkidsyoga.com

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Asana Alphabet Workshops coming to Oklahoma – February & March 2012

Posted on January 21, 2012 by OMazing Kids

Asana Alphabet has several workshops planned in Edmond, Oklahoma in February & March 2012! Here’s the scoop:

Teaching Teen and Preteen Yoga

February 10 – 12, 2012

Friday: 7pm-9pm

Saturday: 11am-5pm

Sunday: 11am-4pm

This workshop is for teachers, yoga teachers, family members and others who want to pass the gift of yoga on to today’s teenagers. Asana Alphabet’s teaching preteen and teen intensive gives informed guidance in how to modify techniques and reach regular tweens/teens and at-risk populations (addressing stress, learning disabilities, depression, anxiety and other issues this age group faces). Pulling from Kundalini Yoga and Hatha yoga forms, the course includes demo and lecture from Ann Robideaux, along with ready-to-go lesson plans for easy implementation. Yoga poses, community building, yamas/niyamas integration, breathwork and deep relaxation/meditation covered. Take as a stand alone or in conjunction with our certification program. Includes our teen teaching guide. Letter of completion with number of credit hours given at course end (can be used towards Yoga Alliance hours).

Pricing: $225 if registered by February 3, 2012; $275 after February 3

Friday/Saturday Only (Partial Workshop): $175

Decompress: Yoga Class for Teens (as part of the teacher training that Sunday)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

11am-12pm

Students in middle school and high school are invited to this hour-long yoga class on Sunday. Sun salutations, Kundalini fun, Partner Yoga and Deep Relaxation all included. Bring your friends!!

Suggested Donation: $5

Asana Alphabet’s Teaching Yoga to Babies and Families

Saturday, March 10, 2012

11am-4pm

This intensive workshop will give yoga practitioners, caretakers, and teachers essential know-how to create amazing yoga classes for babies and families. Dozens of baby songs, baby massage, benefits, developmental stages, lesson plans and video samples all comprise this comprehensive training. Teaching guide and other yoga goodies included. Baby/family yoga is a great way to assist healthy physical, mental and social development in children.

Pricing: $108 if registered up by March 1, 2012; $125 after March 1

Teaching Yoga to Kids with Special Needs

Saturday, March 10, 2012

5pm-9pm

Case studies and discussion on symptoms and strategies for working with children with autism spectrum disorder, asperger’s, sensory issues, ADD, and ADHD. Registered yoga alliance teacher and Asana Alphabet™ founder Ann Robideaux guides participants in yoga know-how for reaching these populations. Can be taken as a stand alone or as part of advanced kids yoga certification with Asana Alphabet™.

I’m totally pumped that Ann has invited me to be a guest teacher to help at this workshop!

Pricing: $108 if registered by March 1, 2012; $125 after March 1

ABCs of Yoga: PreK-First Grade

Sunday, March 11, 2012

11am-4pm

A is for Archer, B is for Bow….this workshop gives you 26 lesson plans following the letters of the alphabet primarily for students in PreK-First Grade (though certainly other ages love it too). Integrating children’s books and stories into fun yoga classes also included. Lesson plans and “Yogi and Yogette’s” kids book included. This is a must for anyone interested in working with young kids! Can be taken as a stand alone or as part of advanced kids yoga certification with Asana Alphabet™.

Pricing: $115 if registered by March 1, 2012; $135 after March 1

Kundalini Yoga: Strengthen your Glandular System

Sunday, March 11, 2012

5-7pm

Your glands are the guardians of your health. Tonight we’ll take Kundalini yoga kriyas and a breath meditation to help keep your glandular system in tip top shape. Ann Robideaux, native Oklahoman and long-time Kundalini teacher, visits from NYC!

Price: $12 pre-registered: $15 day of workshop

For all workshops:

Please email AsanaAlphabet@gmail.com for more information.

Printable PDF flier with workshop info: Asana Alphabet workshop flier – Oklahoma – Feb-March 2012

Asana Alphabet

E-mail: AsanaAlphabet@gmail.com

Website: www.asanaalphabet.com

Blog: http://asanaalphabetblog.wordpress.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Asana-Alphabet/177726452014

YouTube: www.youtube.com/AsanaAlphabet

3^rd Street Yoga Studio

106 W. 3rd Street

Edmond, OK 73003

(405) 330-2211

E-mail: info@3rdstreetyogastudio.com

Website: www.3rdstreetyogastudio.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/3rd-Street-Yoga-Studio/143215447588

We need your help…… As is the case with any workshop or training they will have to have a certain number of folks register for it to be offered. So please help spread the word by sharing this info with as many folks as you can. This is a rare opportunity for affordable kids/youth yoga teacher training here in central Oklahoma. 🙂

Thanks!

Angela Moorad, MS, CCC-SLP, IAYT, RCYP-2

Speech-Language Pathologist

Founder of OMazing Kids Yoga, LLC – inclusive yoga for kids & teens of all abilities in Norman, Oklahoma

Radiant Child Yoga Certified – Levels 1 & 2

E-Mail: amoorad1@juno.com