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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