Chapter 1 (All in One)

Take Care of Yourself

Here is a fun exercise you can do during Chapter One or before ANY section.

You can do this one over and over for many days in a row and it can be used regularly.

Have enough apples, oranges, bananas, etc. on hand—one for each participant.

Some kind of local fresh fruit, not candy, chips or bread snacks.

Have a variety so they can make a choice.

You want to do this exercise either outdoors or in a large indoor space.

Get everyone in a circle facing inward.

• Check to see if anyone isn’t feeling well or is injured. If so, they can sit out this next section. If they are very ill you can isolate them and have them work on something separately, but it gets the idea across that a good choice isn’t to spread germs or to worsen an injury like a sprained ankle.
• Do some basic TASKS. This gets them awake and oriented to the space.
  • Have them touch all four walls and return to where they are standing
  • Have them shakes hands with four people
  • Have them stand on something blue, or green
  • Have them touch something red, or blue, or stripes
  • Have them touch the tops of three heads, four left knees, shake hands with two people, touch two walls and the floor and come back to where they started
  • Make up lots of things like having them stand in a line from tallest to shortest, or oldest to youngest
  • Have them hop, throw imaginary things, reach for the ceiling
• Now have them go to the bathroom—you can do this in groups if you need to—and wash their hands. You can also do this with hand sanitizer if you are outdoors without access to a bathroom.
• When they are done, have them choose their fruit and eat it.
• Then have them clean up afterwards and get a drink of WATER, not soda or anything sugary, not even juice.

In steps 3 – 5 they practice cleaning their bodies, eating well and taking care of their teeth and they are resting. They can also talk while they eat so they are getting to know one another better. And the added bonus is that you have a group that is fed, energized and has clean hands!

This works for ALL AGES and only takes about 10 minutes.

Download a copy of this lesson plan: