Flower Play: Natural
Enrichment Classes for Children
Swami Vishnu Devananda, student of
Sri Swami Sivananda outlined five practical ways to
live daily into the principles of yoga.
He named them
The 5 Propers:
Proper Exercise
Proper Breathing
Proper Relaxation
Proper Diet
Positive Thinking and Meditation
Flower
Play for Children is an enrichment program which
offers children opportunities to bring enhancement to
their learning and their inner growth; while stretching
the physical, social, emotional, intellectual and empathic
facets of themselves in a creative and respectful atmosphere.
Tara offers classes for children with
a combined approach of her background as an educator
trained for the models of Public School Education, Montessori
Education, Waldorf Education, Multi-pedagogical approaches
to education and studies of evolutionary movement. She
will also apply her training in modalities of the health
care profession including Yoga, Reiki, Zen Shiatsu and
transformational cooking.
We will investigate varied topics by
appealing to the multi-sensory approach that is essential
in authentic human learning.
Each Class extends as a two
hour meeting for a six to eight week session;
including time for group learning, individual exploration
and play.
Class ages:
nursery, kindergarten and Grades: 1-8
Each topic will be chosen according
to the seasonal time of year, the developmental ages
and grades of the children. Which will allow for the
awareness of where the tender place each budding human
being is awakening from within.
Basic
Class Rhythms: All related to the class Topic
Circle game
Verse/ Poetry
Storytelling
Artistic Medium
Individual/Small Group Exploration
Play
Closing circle
Proper
Exercise
Exercising the physical body is vital.
When we practice yoga, we raise our heart rate and increase
blood circulation through Surya Namaskar (sun salutations);
which are a flowing series of twelve Asanas (postures)
practiced in coordination with the rhythm of the breath.
Asanas support the maintenance of our inner balance,
inner coordination, inner stability and the well being
of our organs, glandular system and nervous system.
Movement is an organic element in maintaining a sound
body, which is the temple of our highest self.
Children’s learning is enhanced
when they embody the experience of the content of their
learning. Movement, therefore, is the essence of this
experience.
Through experience, Tara has discovered
that children’s questions and inquiries on a topic
grow out of a foundational experience with content.
Therefore, the class topic lists will grow over time
according to the needs and interests of particular individual
and groups of children.
Flower
Blooming Bodies:
This course offers children the opportunity to
explore the evolution of movement through discovering
the basic anatomy, physiology and movement of the living
world around them and how it relates to them.
Class topics:
The plant kingdom:
e.g. flowers, trees etc…
Creatures of the sea
Creatures of the land
Creatures of the air
Human beings
Who made Asanas: Let’s make asanas
Proper Relaxation
How do we relax? The word: relax as
defined by the Encarta Dictionary states: To spend time
resting or doing things for pleasure, especially in
contrast to or as a relief from the effort and stress
of everyday life.
Flower Garden of Ease:
Children really welcome the opportunity to slow
down and discover the sensation of their own being,
to be acknowledged and to have a comfortable place that
fosters their ponderings of the wonders of life.
Class Topics:
Let’s
“do” yoga sleep (Yoga Nidra)
Rest: imaginative journeys and guided imagery in Savasana
(relaxation posture).
Activities that enhance gross and fine motor skills:
Practcal life skills
Gentle nature of watercolor painting
Flower fun in water play
Nature walks and nature games (when the class location
allows it possible)
Journal writing
Let’s relax!
Proper Breathing
The breath is affected by our daily
life experience. Our physical health, our emotions,
environmental conditions and our awareness of our breathing
all have an impact on the rhythm of the breath.
Flower
Blossom Breathing:
The rhythmic nature of life itself is an aspect
of breathing in and breathing out: coming towards and
expanding outward. We will play games that experientially
express the organic quality of the breath. Children
will also explore the way we breathe, breathing practices
and the value of fresh air on the planet.
Class topics:
Games: running,
walking, authentic movement
Where are our lungs?
What is the diaphragm?
How does the Earth Breath?
Asanas (postures) for Blossom Breathing
Singing
Animal sounds
Combine Flower Garden of Ease and Blossom Breathing
What is Pranayama and How many ways can we play with
the breath?
Proper Diet
A wholesome diet is the foundation
for the well being of the body, mind and spirit. It
is easy for children to become quite selective about
their eating preferences early in life, which can be
a challenge for caregivers. What Tara suggests by the
word wholesome is food that is local or organic when
possible, fresh vs. in a box, a can or prepared, whole
grains vs. processed and a sensitive choice for the
constitutional nature of the human being.
Flower Fresh
Foods and Food Preparation: Children will gain
a foundational understanding of how food choices influence
the condition the body and mind.
Class topics:
Where does the food I eat come from?
Let’s grow vegetables and herbs
A field Trip to a Local CSA (community supported agriculture)
Farm
Let’s make our own snacks: Sattvic (peaceful)
Snacks
Cultural Cooking
What is Ayurveda (Science of Life)?
Let’s donate food: Food outreach
What is the Food Chain?
Positive
Thinking
The foundation for positive thinking is life giving,
honest and compassionate communication. Communicating
with children is an art in and of it self. The way we
communicate to children sets the tone for the relationship
we have with them.
Language development is also in a constant
wave of evolution through out childhood. Each epoch
of child development has its own language. Therefore,
it is essential to explore language through sound, speech
articulation, stories, verses, rhymes and the moral
quality of language. Significantly, how certain means
of dialogue can affect the thoughts and beliefs about
one’s self, others and ultimately one’s
relationship to happiness.
Flowers
of Peace: Children can experiment with language,
the quality of vibration through sound, spoken word
and the meaning of affirmations.
Class Topics:
Letter stories
Letter sound games
Flower Fun with Phonics: sound games
Speech exercises
Verse and Rhymes
What does Nature have to tell us? (Nature Stories and
Nature Parables)
Flower Affirmation Exercises
Thought, Word and Deed: Yamas and Nyamas for Children
What is Karma Yoga?
What are Mudras?
Rhythm in Number: Number stories
Epic historic stories of Warriors of Peace, Fables,
Legends, Vedic Stories…
Historic accounts of World Religions
Sanskrit: Names of the Asanas and Mantras
Introduction to giraffe language: (Non-Violent Communication:
Founded by Dr. Marshall Rosenburg).
Meditation
The practice of meditation (dhyana)
is born out of a coming into the moment by moment connection
to what is alive in us. It has been said that one cannot
actually learn to meditate any more than anyone can
be taught to sleep. It is something that occurs; that
one falls into … Therefore, working with exercises
that increase and strengthen the practices of turning
one’s attention inward (pratyahara) and developing
concentration (dharana) makes “falling into”
meditation more readily possible. These preparatory
practices also help children develop an appreciation
for the meaning of meditation.
Flower Inside:
Children will build skills in drawing their attention
inside towards their imaginative realm and experimenting
with concentration and memory games.
Most significantly discovering how they are capable
of “making a silence.”
Class Topics:
My magic memory
games
I am full of Silence
Watercolor painting
Animals make silence too!
My little silence games
I see my thoughts and they make pictures: drawing
What is a Mantra?
Japa meditation: making Japa Malas
My mantra book
Nature and my senses: How I can play with one sense
at a time.
My mystery games
