I Sit Down Like a Feather

With soft music on, children stand up and sit down at their chair in slow motion, as slowly as a feather falls, matching the movement to their breathing. It relaxes the body after play and works on slow movement control.

How to play

1. The teacher drops a feather and everyone watches how slowly it floats to the floor (1 min).
2. Standing in front of the chair, lower down to sit like the feather, breathing out on the way down (2 min).
3. Rise slowly while breathing in, as if a bubble were lifting you, then float back down (2 min).
4. Last time: stay seated, close your eyes, and the feather brushes each child's hand (1 min).
5. Open your eyes, stretch your arms very slowly like a feather waking up, and stay seated quietly (1 min).

Rules

• I go down and up as slowly as the feather.
• Going down, I breathe out; going up, I breathe in.
• The chair stays still and I float.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: does the feather with their arms, raising and lowering them with the breath.
• Autism: if the feather's touch bothers them, they just watch it fall.
• Visual impairment: the teacher lets them touch the feather first and counts the timing softly.

Learning goals

• Calm down with slow movements.
• Coordinate movement and breathing.
• Control the body when sitting down.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Chairs: 25
• Feathers: 1
• Soft music

Teacher tip

Back the chair against a table so it doesn't move. One craft feather is enough, and the teacher always keeps it.

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