Stretching and Working Out

Our second week of summer school was filled with lots of learning experiences about the Olympics. As it was raining the whole morning, we stayed indoors to do a lot of physical exercises and body stretching .

Morning Activity and Free Play

Balloon painting was one activity made available this morning. We have different colors of paints on the table for us to use. Using balloons to paint was a new experience for us… it tickled our creativity, imagination, and sensory curiosity. We created different patterns and prints and were amazed with the little swirls that resulted from dipping a balloon in different colors of paint. It was also fun to have the balloon rolling across the paper to fill the large sheet of paper with colors.

Rubber Stretching

On another table, we have some rubber stretch bands for us to use and explore. It was a simple tool that keep us entertained and engaged for a long time. We stretched the bands around water bottles, our legs and feet, chairs, and even used it as a hair accessory! The rubber bands was also great for exercising and strengthening our hand muscles and helped in further developing our concentration and hand and eye coordination.

Physical Fitness and Yoga

To keep us physically strong just like an Olympian, we did some warm up exercises by stretching and bending. We then proceeded to do more strenuous movements such as moving our arms side to side in heightening speed and running endlessly around the room.

To help cool down our muscles after working out, we were each given a yoga mat to sit on to relax our muscles. Of course, cool down exercises had to include a lot of imaginative story telling and singing. While on the mat, we went on to pretend to row our boat and did the ragdoll position by singing, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” We also did unique yoga poses such as the star, sun, and moon! Our friends K, S, and R suggested movements that resembled fruits as they love the song “Banana Dance” by Dr. Jean Feldman.

After the exercise session, K brought out his bowl of rubber band pasta and served everyone as a job well done. Going through a variety of yoga poses helps us learn about our bodies and movements we can do. It helps us strengthen our growing bodies and improve our flexibility.

Bean bag Olympic

For us to be physically prepared for more Olympic games next week, we practiced throwing and catching bean bags to sharpen our senses. We used boxes of toys to push around the classroom as part of our training too. Running around the classroom together with our friends was the most exciting part.

We hope you all had a week full of exciting things to spend your energy on. Have a wonderful weekend!