Movement- Late Winter Week 2

The second week of this term provided a chance to try out our new space (back tables in South) with a larger group of 8. With lots of teamwork and communication, we were able to clear some table and benches to make room for moving big. Although, we soon realized that we would benefit from a much larger carpeted space. We decided to share the classroom space with drama using some dividers which proved to give us so much more room and access to more materials to practice our balancing skills.
We first discussed the relationship between the inner ear and the cerebellum and how they help our body learn to balance. To start off slow, we practiced balancing our bodies while stationary. All showed a way that they like to balance on the floor, some on their feet, others on their hands and knees. Then we explored those same poses on different heights, widths, and surfaces (i.e. benches, carpet squares, and fabric strips) as well as stable and unstable objects (i.e. boards on blocks/teeter totters). Once we had this down, we worked on moving across these surfaces. We noticed how different it feels to move and balance and how our bodies shake a little less as our muscles are engaged in a different way.
By the end of the week, we were talking about balancing objects on our bodies. This was illustrated for friends with a balance where we talked about weight and counterweight and how both sides need to be equal weight for that objects to be balanced. We explored balancing beanbags and blocks which stationary and moving.