Self-control
Toddlers watch a caregiver calm down by pretending to be seaweed moving in water.
Be Prepared: Arrange for an adult or a preschool-age child in your center to demonstrate the seaweed movements if you do not wish to do so.
[Invite 3–4 toddlers to help you pretend to be seaweed.]
We are learning some ways to calm our bodies and our minds. Today I will show a way to calm down by pretending to be seaweed.
[Display a picture of seaweed.]
This is seaweed. Seaweed is a plant that lives in water. Seaweed can live in oceans, lakes, and rivers. The seaweed in our picture lives in an ocean.
The roots of this seaweed grow deep in the floor of the ocean. Seaweed moves when the water around it moves. But the bottom of the seaweed stays in place because the roots keep it connected to the floor of the ocean.
I am going to stand tall and pretend I am seaweed. My feet are the roots of the seaweed. The water will not move the bottom of my pretend seaweed because my roots are deep in the ground. The roots help me stay in one place when the water moves.
Please watch me pretend to be seaweed moving in water. The water is strong. The water is moving fast. Please pay attention to whether my feet move while the rest of my pretend seaweed is moving in the water.
[Sway your upper body back and forth while making bigger movements with your arms.
After a brief period of swaying and arm movements, announce the following while continuing to move your body:]
The fast water is slowing down.
[Sway your upper body at a slower pace and make smaller movements with your arms.
After a brief period, stop the movements and stand with your body in a relaxed position.]
My body feels calmer now. I focused on keeping my feet in the same place and moving my body. I did not think about other things. I thought about pretending to be seaweed in the water.
[If two or more toddlers respond positively, repeat the movements, beginning with larger upper body and arm movements and then moving at a slower pace with smaller arm movements.]
Pretending to be seaweed in the water can help us calm our minds and bodies. I calmed down by focusing on my body. I thought about keeping my feet on the floor while moving my body in water that was fast and then slow.
Self-control
Toddlers participate in guided practice of a calming-down activity by pretending to be seaweed moving in fast and then slow water.
Be Prepared: This activity is for toddlers who are familiar with the calming-down activity demonstrated in Option 1. Make arrangements for an adult or preschool-age child in your center to demonstrate the activity if you do not wish to do so.
Invite several toddlers to practice calming down by pretending to be seaweed moving in the water. Use Option 1 strategies to provide a brief description of seaweed. Show the picture of seaweed. Then remind toddlers of how we focus on our body while pretending to be seaweed moving in the water. First the water is fast. Then the water is slow.
Lead toddlers in pretending their body is seaweed moving in fast-flowing water. Encourage toddlers to sway their bodies back and forth and make big movements with their arms. Remind toddlers that we do not move our feet; our feet are the pretend roots of the seaweed. Encourage toddlers to focus on what their body is doing and not on other things.
Stop moving your body and invite toddlers to also stop moving. Ask toddlers what happens next. Affirm that the water slows down and our bodies move slower. Then lead toddlers in swaying their bodies back and forth at a slower pace and making smaller movements with their arms. The water is moving slow. Our pretend seaweed is moving slower.
After a brief practice of moving our bodies slower, stop moving your body and ask toddlers to stop moving. Talk about your actions. Describe how focusing on our body as a pretend seaweed in water can help our bodies and minds get calmer.
Then lead toddlers in another round of practice, this time without a pause between fast and slow water movements. Remind toddlers that first there is fast-moving water, then there is slower-moving water. Conclude the activity by inviting toddlers to talk about what it’s like to pretend to be seaweed moving in the water.
Self-control
Toddlers practice a calming-down activity by pretending to be seaweed moving in fast and then slow water with minimal caregiver guidance.
Be Prepared: This activity is for toddlers who are familiar with the calming-down activity focused on pretend seaweed through participation in Options 1 and 2.
Invite toddlers to practice calming their bodies and minds by pretending to be seaweed that moves in fast water and then in slower water. Remind toddlers to keep feet on the floor and to focus on pretend water and moving their bodies. Offer verbal support. Provide a demonstration, if needed. It is not necessary for toddlers to move from fast to slower water at the same time. Offer two rounds, with a pause between each practice (that includes both fast and slow water) to briefly talk about the experience, including how we focus on the pretend water and moving our bodies in fast and slow water.
This is a popular activity among toddlers. Some may find it challenging to keep their feet in place and to transition from faster to slower body movements. The questions asked of toddlers about these matters in Option 1 are intended to draw attention to important aspects of the activity. In Options 2 and 3, offer verbal support in an especially quiet, calm voice. Positively accept differences in how toddlers approach the activity.
Option 1 devotes some time to describing seaweed in ways that hopefully connect with toddlers’ experiences. It is easier for toddlers to pretend they are seaweed when they have some knowledge of seaweed.
It is not necessary in Option 3 for toddlers to engage in a uniform transition from fast to slower water, as noted in the activity description. Pursuing independent practice as a group activity may prompt toddlers to pay more attention to what their peers are doing than to their own image of water and how their body moves in faster and then slower water.
Extra support
Enrichment
Materials Needed: artificial flexible seaweed (often used in fish aquariums), duct tape, water table, sea-life items, such as sea animals and large shells
Prepare a pretend sea by using duct tape to adhere the artificial seaweed to the bottom of the water table. Then add several inches of warm water. Sea–life items are to be added by toddlers.
Invite several toddlers to play at the water table. Talk with toddlers about how the seaweed has roots in the bottom of the “sea” and how it can sway and flow in the water. Remind toddlers of how we can calm down by pretending to be seaweed moving in the water (Options 1–3). Encourage toddlers to add the sea-life items to our pretend sea and explore what happens to the seaweed when they move the water slowly with their hand.
Materials Needed: see activity description
Preschool-age and older children may enjoy demonstrating the seaweed movements in Options 1 and 2. Infants will enjoy watching any of the option activities.
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