With our theme of sharing and caring I thought it would be fun to act out different ways to hug each other. This was a great group activity with the children. I read them “The Little Book of Hugs”, by Kathleen Keating. The children loved the cute bear illustrations. We played out the classic “bear hug” as I squeezed each child tight and “group hug” as we all squeezed in together tight. We “A-framed hugged, Ankle hugged, Back- to- front hugged, Cheek hugged, Grabber-squeezed hugged, Sandwich hugged, Side-to-side hugged, and Top-of-the-head hugged”. Our favorite being a “Guess who? hug”. The children stood behind me and covered my eyes and played Guess who. I would say things like are you a bear?, a witch?, a dinosaur? etc. The children laughed and giggled and acted it out over and over. They also enjoyed acting out safe hugs as they saw a illustration of a father bear leaning over a little bear learning to ride a bike. It read “If you start to tip over I’ll be there”. Alexandra and Cade loved playing this one out as they pretended to ride their bikes and I placed my hands on their shoulders and told them “I’ll be there if you tip over”. They pretended to fall down and I caught them from crashing. This was a great activity to get our group together and be affectionate. It was a great way to show the children that I care about them.
THE THEORY by Kathleen Keating
“Science and instinct tell us that one good way to reach the sensitive living spirit is through physical touch. And one of the most important forms of touch is a hug. With a hug, we communicate as individuals on the deepest level. With a hug, we embrace the whole of life. We all have a inner yearning that calls us to respond with a quality of contact that affirms our potential as growing individuals. The language of hugs nourishes the spirit.”
THE RATIONALE
“Because we move about in a world of many languages, only the nonverbal language of touching and hugs knows no limits. Because we live in an age of reason and technology, we are losing awareness of our senses. When we touch and hold each other in a spirit of compassion, we bring life to our senses and reaffirm our trust in our own feelings.”
THE APPLICATION
“Say it with hugs to emphasize the message. Punctuate with a hug!”
Side-to-side hug!
No comments:
Post a Comment