The Mindful 5 Senses

 5 Senses...we use them every day...but have you really slowed down and actually look and see it? Or listen? Or smell? Or feel it? Or hear it? 

We all take those things for granted and it is when we don't have it is when we actually noticed it.  It is amazing that we have our five senses.  

Our Mindful Mondays are lessons from the MHA of Sheboygan County. My district had the amazing opportunity to get trained in a mindful classroom.  These lessons that I have talked about are all from them.  

We first watched the video of the speaker explaining how to use our five senses and noticing the amazing things around us.  A mindful moment is taking the present moment and giving us kindness and grace for a moment to completely focus on one thing, take a break, and go back to real life.  Our five senses can help us to that.  The students practiced taking a mindful moment and took a moment to listen to the noises around them and then we discussed them.  And then we talked about how good it felt after we did it. 

After the video we practiced a mindful moment using the "chime".  You get the chime after the day of training.  I had the students sit in a mindful position; I taped my chime.  The students need to quietly raise their hand when they were done hearing the chime sound.  

We needed to do this a couple of time because the first time my student thought it was silly. After taking a few deep breaths getting into the mindset, then they really enjoyed the game, and I enjoyed the calmness in the room for a brief moment. 

Day 2: We reviewed using our 5 senses during a mindful moment.  We used the chime again, but a little differently.  Instead of listening to the chime stop.  the students count how many times I tap the chime.  This gives the students a moment to completely focus on one thing.  

TIP: Make sure you turn around because my students will count my taps and not listen to the chime (cheaters haha!). 

Day 3: This is VERY difficult for 1st Graders! Today we were mindful with our taste (and other senses).  I gave the students a starburst.  The students had to follow my instructions the whole time. This also practiced their self-control. We looked at the wrapper, what color was it.  We looked at how it was folded. Then we opened it, looked at the bumps.  What did it smell like? Did we notice anything else?  Then we put it in our mouths but didn't chew it.  What does it feel like? Is your mouth watering? Then we got to chew this. This time my student ate it so fast we could finish.  This was a great lesson to learn all about mindfulness and to really pay attention to what you are doing to enjoy the little things in life.