Description
Are you interested in increasing the focus, concentration, working memory, body awareness, executive function, and self-regulation of your students? Would you like a quick and easy, no-plan, grab-and-go gross motor activity? Do you need to lead gross motor groups within a small space? You can use Animal movement posters hung on the wall of a therapy room or sensory room. Hand-held cards can be pulled out for a quick brain break. The Animal Walks Bundle are no-prep calming tools that encourage self-regulation, exercise, and deep breathing to help students succeed in the classroom!
Details: Created by school-based Occupational Therapist, Thia Triggs, includes four zip files of Animal Walks (107 pages total) delivered electronically immediately following payment.
Four Sets:
- Classroom — Animal Movement Yoga Cards: Self-Regulation, Brain Breaks, Gross Motor Skills
- Gross Motor Time — Animal Walks for Increasing Energy & Focus While Moving Through Space
- Breath Tools — Animal-Themed Yoga Cards: Mindfulness, Gross Motor Skills
- Calm Down Strategies — Animal-Themed Yoga Cards: Self-Regulation, Brain Breaks, Gross Motor
Use these calming tools as part of your behavior programming, social skills teaching, self-regulation curriculum, or school-wide positive behavior support. Use with students with special needs, including students with autism, ADHD, or sensory processing difficulties as well as with regular education students. Great for push-in services as research tells us that movement breaks increase blood flow and bring more oxygen to the brain, significantly improving learning.
1. Classroom
- Illustrated poses of elementary-age boys and girls from diverse backgrounds with the associated animal
- 20 Cards (4”x 5.5”) and 20 Posters (8” x 11”)
- Simple descriptions of movements
- Movements — Lower extremities: jump, hop, squat, wiggle, stand on one leg, Upper extremities: symmetrical and asymmetrical poses — paddle, swing, child-created poses, Upper and lower: donkey kick, climb, dance, stand on all fours
- Color-coded to help keep you organized when using multiple sets
- 2- page Teachers Guide provides many tips for teaching movements, managing classrooms, and using these cards in positive and productive ways.
2. Gross Motor Time
- Illustrated poses of elementary-age boys and girls from diverse backgrounds with the associated animal
- 11 Cards (4”x 5.5”) and 11 Posters (8” x 11”)
- Simple descriptions of movements
- Movements: crab walk, jumping, leaping, running, trotting, & walking on all fours
- Color-coded cards to help keep you organized when using multiple sets
- 2-page Teachers Guide provides many tips for teaching movements, managing classrooms, and using these cards in positive and productive ways.
- Poses —
Inhalation: Puffer-fish, rabbit, and cat pose
Exhalation: lion, dog, dodo, bear, canary, cobra, bee, and cow pose - 11 Cards (4”x 5.5”) and 11 Posters (8” x 11”)
- Simple descriptions of movements
- Illustrated poses of elementary-age boys and girls from diverse backgrounds with the associated animal
- Color-coded to help keep you organized when using multiple sets
- 2-page Teachers Guide provides many tips for teaching movements, managing classrooms, and using these cards in positive and productive ways.
- Illustrated poses of elementary-age boys and girls from diverse backgrounds with the associated animal
- 20 Cards (4”x 5.5”) and 20 Posters (8” x 11”)
- Simple descriptions of movements
- Poses: prone extension, supine flexion, squatting, balancing, pointing, trunk rotation, upper extremity range of motion including shrugging shoulders
- Color-coded to help keep you organized when using multiple sets
- 2-page Teachers Guide provides many tips for teaching movements, managing classrooms, and using these cards in positive and productive ways.
More resources for self-regulation or calming tools:
Visual Supports: Schedules, Self-Regulation, & Classroom Inclusion
Self Regulation Skills Curriculum – Move Work Breathe
Student Self-Regulation Rubrics
Self-Assessments and Checklists for Good Work Habits
Too Slow, Just Right or Too Fast – Visual Supports for Self-Regulation
