The Silent Messenger

The children sit on the floor in a circle with legs stretched out (about 4 or 5 inches away from their neighbors' feet on either side).  Each child now carefully tries to touch his neighbor's feet with his own. The game involves passing a rhythmic message "by foot" from one child to another ("the silent messenger”).  At first the children keep their eyes open, but afterwards they try passing their messages with their eyes closed. The messages get more complicated (touching feet a number of times; using rhythmic patterns, and so on).

Then the children lie on their backs, eyes closed, and try to become aware of the various parts of their bodies as described in Teaching Unit l. In the beginning these exercises should not be too detailed - one must bear in mind that small children rarely know "right" from "left". However, simple terms such as "heels", "arms", or "legs" can readily be used at once. After not too long an interval, depending on their powers of concentration, the teacher asks them to close their eyes and put their hands on their stomachs so as to feel their own breathing.

Then the children slowly open their eyes, find themselves a partner and put their hands on their chosen partner's stomach to feel the up and down movement caused by the breathing. Then they switch roles.

Teacher's exercise 1