Funny Keep Calm Pictures for Kids Classroom
Lunch and recess are important parts of the school day, but if your class comes back into the classroom jumping around like they've got ants in their pants after either, well, let's just say welcome to the club (we hide our snacks in the bottom left drawer of our desks)! The much-needed breaks in the school day for both you and your students typically mean you'll have to regain classroom control and calm that hyper class. The best way to do that? Bring out the calming activities for kids!
Calming Activities for Kids
Although this is a big transition period in the school day, you don't need to spend a lot of your precious instructional time on settling your class after lunch or recess. There are some simple calming strategies that can work wonders.
Play Calm Music for Kids
First up? The research is solid on playing calm music for kids when they return to the classroom, reducing students' blood pressure and muscle tension, slowing their heart rates, and even increasing their attention spans.
We love this Spotify playlist with calming music that's kid-appropriate. With songs from the live-action Beauty and the Beast, Alicia Keys, Jack Johnson, and more, the music isn't kid-specific, but that makes it more pleasant for you, and with more than 100 songs, you can pop around to find your class favorites.
Take a few minutes to focus on breathing
Breathing exercises are another powerful calming activity for kids that can empower them to self-regulate their emotions. Encouraging children to sit quietly and focus on their breathing is a quick-and-easy strategy to calm your students after lunch.
Here are some calming breathing exercises that are perfect for kids:
- Flower Breath: Imagine smelling a beautiful flower, breathe in through the nose and out the mouth, releasing any tension. Stop and smell the roses, daffodils, daisies, or any other flower they like. This is a simple way to connect kids to their breath and how it helps them to feel.
- Bunny Breath: Take 3 quick sniffs in and one long exhale out the nose. Invite kids to pretend to be bunnies, sniffing the air for other bunnies, carrots to eat, or safety. It can be a lovely cleansing breath when you use it in this way.
This YouTube video is another simple breathing exercise you could also do with your students:
We also have this fantastic mindful breathing activity video available on the Teach Starter YouTube channel:
Coloring
When children have been in a loud cafeteria with their friends, talking and laughing and engaging all of their social skills, it is nice for them to come in and focus on something just for themselves.
Coloring is a low-stress activity that allows students to focus, calm down, and release their creative potential. Best of all, it's not competitive!
Here are some of our coloring sheets:
Dim the Lights
Turning down those bright fluorescent lights is another great trick to help calm your students! In my class, I had the lights dimmed or off and had classical music playing.
This is a nice way to set a calm ambiance and help the students get ready for the afternoon learning session.
Provide Sensory Objects
Sensory tactile objects or fidget toys provide something for children to hold and touch while they refocus and gain control over their emotions. Keep a "calm down tool kit" in your classroom filled with a range of sensory tactile objects and allow your students to grab whatever they need as they file back in after lunch or recess.
Recycle some plastic bottles, and pop in some water with other items that will sink and float such as marbles or environmentally friendly glitter to make your own sensory bottles.
Hold a Classroom Debrief
Sometimes, children need to talk! They need to tell you that they had a leftover birthday cake in their lunchbox today, or that a classmate yelled in their ear. Perhaps they found a lost shoe at lunchtime that they want to tell you about…
Setting 10 minutes after lunchtime to sit around in a circle can make a real difference in helping kids transition back into classroom-mode.
Shutterstock.com / Anna Nahabed
I had a little classroom toy pet (Turtle the Talker). After lunch, the kids would sit in a circle and pass Turtle the Talker around the room. Those children who wanted to talk or tell a story would hold on to Turtle the Talker until they were ready to pass it on to another child.
Read a Book Out Loud
Do you read books aloud in the classroom as part of your lessons? Schedule those read-alouds for right after lunch as a calming activity for your kids.
Let your students relax and listen to a story, encourage them to visualize what is happening in the story. Allow them time to unwind and focus on something different. It's amazing how just one story can assist students to calm down!
Shutterstock.com / Gorodenkoff
See more strategies for engaging students in read alouds.
Try Yoga for Kids
Yoga helps children slow down and focus, and it can be the perfect calming activity to try with your kids to bring them back down to a level of energy that's just right for learning.
Not sure of the yoga moves? That's ok! Check out our cuteYoga Poses for Kids postersfor 16 different moves that you can do with your class.
Work on Handwriting
Who would have thought handwriting could be a way to calm children after lunchtime? Handwriting is a slow, repetitive task that requires concentration and helps students slowly adjust back to the quiet energy of the classroom.
Again, this might not work as a calming activity for every kid in your class, it's about finding ways that work for your group of students.
Aquarium Watching
If you have a smartboard, consider adding something calming for students to view such as a stunning aquarium visual with beautiful, relaxing music. This is a beautiful option:
Encourage your students to sit at their desks and listen to the music.
Please share your strategies for settling students after lunch in the comments.
What works for your class?
Source: https://www.teachstarter.com/us/blog/10-ways-to-calm-your-class-after-lunch-teaching-tips/
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