Lava Lamp Blobs

With soft colored light and gentle music, children become blobs in a lava lamp that rise, sink and merge in super slow motion until they settle at the bottom. It practices slow, controlled movement to calm down.

How to play

1. Turn on the color lamp, lower the blinds halfway, and the teacher shows how a lava blob moves: very, very slowly (1 min).
2. Start sitting at the bottom of the lamp; with the music, the blob warms up and slowly rises until standing (1 min).
3. Blobs float around the room in slow motion, with soft, wavy arms (1 min).
4. When two blobs meet, they join by touching hands and float together for a bit, then slowly drift apart (2 min).
5. The lamp cools down: blobs sink very slowly to the floor and lie there, soft and floppy (1 min).
6. The music stops, the blinds go up, and each blob stretches and sits up (1 min).

Rules

• Everything in slow motion: if you run, the lava breaks.
• Blobs join gently, no pushing.
• At the end, still and quiet.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the blob rises and sinks with arms and trunk; the other blobs come to join them.
• Autism: if they don’t want touch, blobs join by bringing hands close without touching.
• Visual impairment: a blob buddy holds their hand the whole time.

Learning goals

• Move in slow motion with control.
• Express a simple image with the body.
• Wind down at the end of the session.

Equipment for a class of 25

• Color LED lamp: 1
• Calm music

Teacher tip

If you don’t have a color lamp, a flashlight with cellophane resting on a table and aimed at the wall works fine. Before starting, show a short video of a lava lamp or draw the blobs on the board.

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