This half term we are lucky enough to have our Relax Kids sessions with Sian on Wednesday afternoons.

These sessions focus on children learning about their emotions and developing emotional skills that will support them throughout school and in later life. Getting in tune with their emotions, thinking about themselves positively and starting to think about how they are feeling and learning ways of calming themselves down are key focuses of each session. They are explored and developed through different activities which progress over the half term.

To start our session off this week we made our bodies feel ‘fizzy’ by cycling on our backs, balancing whilst shaking out different body parts and ‘slapping’ our bottoms with our feet! These activities helped to raise our heart rates and get us all excited. We then did our ‘body scan’ where we moved our hands slowly along our bodies starting at our head and moving down. We focused on individual body parts and how they feel as we ‘scan’ them. Through tuning into our feelings we were able to calm ourselves back down.

Next we learnt about being strong. This doesn’t just mean having big strong muscles, we can be mentally strong following our thoughts and our feelings. We practiced some ‘warrior’ poses, again, focusing on how our bodies felt. Standing tall and strong and being in full control of ourselves.

Towards the end of the session we learnt about hand massage and how this can be a good way at calming ourselves, particularly when we are feeling anxious. We talked about how we can massage our own hands starting at the base of each finger, talking time to slow down and focus on how this makes our bodies and minds feel. We also discussed how sometimes you might like to try this hand massage on a friends. We discussed how it is really important that you ask first, making sure you have the other persons permission and how it is OK to say no. It is your body and your choice.

Finally we spent the last part of the session in ‘relaxation’. Listening to Sian whilst we led comfortable on the floor. We placed our hands on our tummies and felt them rise and fall as we breathed in and out.

We have been working really hard in these sessions and Sian was really impressed with the improvement that she has seen over the past few weeks. An enormous well done year 1. We are really proud of you!