Morning Meeting for High Energy Students — K-2

Teacher Says

Let's all clap two times, then stomp two times. Now turn to a friend and say 'Good morning!' Do it again — clap, clap, stomp, stomp, 'Good morning!'

Teacher Says

When I say 'go,' dance in place! When I say 'freeze,' stop and wave to the person closest to you. Let's do it three times!

Teacher Says

Stand up tall and strike your best superhero pose! Now turn to a partner and say 'Good morning, hero!' Give each other a big thumbs up.

Teacher Says

Crouch down like a little popcorn kernel. When I count to three, pop up and shout 'Good morning!' Ready? One, two, three — pop!

Teacher Says

Find a partner. Put your hands together low, then slowly raise them up — when you get to the top, burst apart like a volcano and shout 'Good morning!'

Teacher Says

Jump three times in place, then gently bump hips with your neighbor and say 'Hey, friend!' Let's do both sides!

Teacher Says

Let's make thunder! Clap your hands above your head as fast as you can. When I raise my hand, stop and whisper 'Good morning, everyone.'

Teacher Says

Wiggle your whole body like a worm for five seconds! Now freeze and wave to three friends with your wiggliest wave.

Teacher Says

Crouch down low. Let's count down together: five, four, three, two, one — blast off! Jump up high and shout 'Good morning!'

Teacher Says

Shake hands with your neighbor using your silliest handshake. Make it wiggly, floppy, and funny! Say 'Nice to see you!' while you shake.

Teacher Says

Hop like a bunny three times! Now wiggle your nose at your neighbor and say 'Hoppy morning!' Do it one more time even faster!

Teacher Says

Make fists with your partner. Count to three, then burst your fingers open wide like fireworks! Say 'Boom! Good morning!' Try it again with a silly sound effect!

Teacher Says

Stomp your feet like a big dinosaur! Make your loudest ROAR! Now turn to your friend and give them a tiny dinosaur wave with your little arms. Say 'Good morning, dino friend!'

Teacher Says

Spin around one time. When you stop, find the friend closest to you. Give them your biggest grin and say 'Good morning, friend!' Now spin the other way and do it again!

Teacher Says

Clap your hands twice, then slap your knees once and shout 'BOOM!' Now do it with your neighbor at the same time. Let's see if the whole class can do it together — clap, clap, BOOM!

Teacher Says

Swing your arms like a monkey! Make your best monkey sound! Now find a partner and do a monkey high-five. Say 'Ooh ooh, good morning!' Sit down like a quiet little monkey.

Teacher Says

Pretend you have springs on your shoes! Bounce up and down and say 'boing, boing, boing!' Now bounce over to a friend and say 'Good morning!' Bounce back to your spot!

Teacher Says

Find a partner. Both hands up! Slap a big double high-five and shout 'Good morning!' Now find another partner and do it again. See if you can do three partners before I count to ten!

Teacher Says

Gallop in place like a horse! Clip-clop, clip-clop! Now say 'Neighhh, good morning!' to your neighbor. Give them a gentle pat on the back like you're patting a pony.

Teacher Says

Put your lips together and hum like a kazoo — bzzzzz! Now point your kazoo at a friend and buzz 'Good morning!' Let's all buzz together and then shout 'Hello!' on three!

Teacher Says

Waddle like a penguin with your arms at your sides! Waddle over to a friend and flap your penguin wings at them. Say 'Good morning, penguin pal!' Now waddle back to your spot.

Teacher Says

Duck down and hide behind your hands. When I say 'surprise,' pop up with your hands wide and shout 'Good morning!' Let's do it three times — each time, pop up bigger and louder!

Teacher Says

Buzz your hands around like a bumble bee! Fly your bee over to a friend and gently land on their shoulder. Say 'Bzzzz, good morning!' Now fly back to your flower — I mean, your seat!

Teacher Says

Step to the right, step to the left, clap your hands! Now do it again and add 'Good morning!' at the clap. Let's cha-cha together as a whole class — right, left, clap-morning!

Teacher Says

Spin around like a little tornado! When I clap, freeze in a silly pose! Now look at the person next to you in their silly pose and say 'Good morning, tornado friend!'

Teacher Says

Everyone stand in a circle. I'll clap once and look at the person next to me. That person claps and looks at the next person. Pass the clap all the way around! Can we go faster? Try again — even faster! When the clap comes back to me, everyone shout 'Good morning!'

Teacher Says

Face your partner. One person is the leader. Move your arms, wiggle, stretch — your partner copies everything like a mirror! After ten seconds I'll say 'switch!' Now the other person leads. When I clap, both say 'Good morning, mirror friend!'

Teacher Says

Follow my pattern: stomp, stomp, clap! Stomp, stomp, clap! Now everyone do it together. Louder! One more time. Now turn to your neighbor and high-five while you say 'Good morning!' Great rhythm today.

Teacher Says

I'm holding a pretend ball. I'll toss it to someone across the circle and say 'Good morning, [name]!' Catch it with both hands. Now you toss it to someone else and say good morning to them. Keep tossing until everyone has been greeted!

Teacher Says

Shake your right hand and count to five! Now left hand, count to five! Right foot, five! Left foot, five! Now do it all again counting to three! Now one! Now freeze and say 'Good morning!' to the person next to you.

Teacher Says

Let's go around the circle. When it's your turn, say your name nice and loud. Then everyone claps and says 'Good morning, [name]!' together. Every person gets their own cheer. Let's learn each other's names!

Follow-up Question

Can you move your body like that animal?

Follow-up Question

Can you show your partner your best silly face?

Follow-up Question

What would you do first?

Follow-up Question

Where were you running to?

Follow-up Question

Can you show your partner one dance move?

Follow-up Question

What would you feed it?

Follow-up Question

Who do you like to play with?

Follow-up Question

Do you like loud sounds or quiet sounds better?

Follow-up Question

What color boots would you wear?

Follow-up Question

Could you be faster than that?

Follow-up Question

Can you make that sound with your mouth right now?

Follow-up Question

Were you surprised you caught it?

Follow-up Question

What would be the hardest thing to do on a trampoline?

Follow-up Question

Do you think you could win?

Follow-up Question

What made your body feel so wiggly?

Follow-up Question

Show your partner what that walk would look like.

Follow-up Question

Did you get really wet?

Follow-up Question

What would be hard to do when you are that big?

Follow-up Question

Can you make it right now and hold it for five seconds?

Follow-up Question

Why does it make you feel excited?

Follow-up Question

How did it feel when they said yes?

Follow-up Question

What would you name your game?

Follow-up Question

How did it feel to hear something nice about yourself?

Follow-up Question

Who would get to live inside it?

Steps

1. Stand up and find your own space.
2. When I say 'Go,' dance and wiggle however you want!
3. When I say 'Freeze,' stop like a statue. Don't move!
4. Now melt like an ice cream cone in the sun, all the way to the floor.
5. Lie still and feel how heavy your body is. Take one big breath.

Steps

1. Crouch down small like a little popcorn kernel in a pot.
2. The pot is getting hot! Start to wiggle and shake.
3. POP! Jump up! Pop again! Pop pop pop!
4. The popcorn is done. Flop down soft and still like a piece of popcorn in a bowl.
5. Rest there and take two slow breaths.

Steps

1. Stand up tall. You are a big dinosaur!
2. Stomp your feet! Left, right, left, right. Big loud stomps!
3. Now stomp a little softer. The dinosaur is getting sleepy.
4. Softer and softer. Tiny little tippy-toe steps now.
5. Stop. Stand still like a sleeping dinosaur. Take one deep breath.

Steps

1. Sit down and put both hands on your belly.
2. Pretend your belly is a balloon. Breathe in through your nose and fill it up!
3. Now breathe out through your mouth. Ssssss. The balloon gets small.
4. Let's do it again. Big balloon in... small balloon out...
5. Five more times on your own. Nice and slow.

Steps

1. Sit up tall. You are a dragon!
2. Take a big breath in through your nose. Fill up your dragon lungs.
3. Now blow out through your mouth like you are breathing fire. Whoooosh!
4. Again! Big breath in... and dragon fire out. Make it last a long time.
5. Last one. Biggest breath yet. Longest fire. Now rest your dragon wings.

Steps

1. Sit still. Use only your eyes to look around the room.
2. Can you find three things that are red? Point to each one quietly.
3. Now find three things that are blue.
4. Find something green, something yellow, and something white.
5. Close your eyes. Can you remember where the red things were?

Steps

1. Listen to my clap pattern. Ready? Clap, clap, clap.
2. Now you copy it! Clap, clap, clap. Great job!
3. Here is a harder one. Clap, pause, clap clap.
4. Your turn! Copy that pattern.
5. Now you make a pattern and I will copy you!

Steps

1. Sit down and close your eyes.
2. Think about the weather inside your body. Are you stormy? Sunny? Windy?
3. Whatever your weather is, that is okay. There is no bad weather.
4. Now imagine the weather slowly turning into a calm, warm day.
5. Open your eyes. Take one breath. What is your weather now?

Steps

1. Think about a traffic light. Red means stop. Yellow means slow down. Green means go.
2. What color is your body right now? Red and zoomy? Yellow and wiggly? Green and calm?
3. If you are on red, take two big breaths to move to yellow.
4. If you are on yellow, put your feet on the floor and sit tall to move to green.
5. Check again. What color are you now?

Steps

1. Pretend there is a volume knob on your knee.
2. Right now your volume is turned way up to ten. That is loud!
3. Slowly turn the knob down to five. Feel your body get a little calmer.
4. Turn it down to three. Even calmer. Quieter inside.
5. Turn it to one. Almost silent. Take a slow breath. Nice and quiet.

Steps

1. Stand up tall and put your hands on your hips like a superhero!
2. Now flex your muscles — show me your strongest arms! Squeeze tight!
3. Strike a new pose — point one fist to the sky like you're about to fly!
4. Hold that pose and take a big deep breath in. You are SO powerful.
5. Now slowly lower your arms, stand tall and still, and feel that calm strength inside you.

Steps

1. Stand up and hold your arms straight out in front of you, palms flat like windshield wipers.
2. Take a big breath IN through your nose.
3. Now breathe OUT and sweep both arms to the left. Swooosh!
4. Breathe IN back to center. Breathe OUT and sweep to the right. Swooosh! Keep going — in center, out left, in center, out right.
5. Slow your wipers down. One more big breath in… and out. Let your arms rest at your sides.

Steps

1. We're going to make music with our bodies! Put your hands on your knees.
2. Copy my rhythm — tap tap, tap tap tap. Your turn! Now try this one — tap taaap, tap taaap.
3. Now tap your shoulders — left right left right. Can you go faster? Now super slow.
4. Try tapping the side of your legs — make a pattern of your own! Three taps then two taps.
5. Let's end with the quietest tapping you can do. Teeny tiny fingertip taps on your knees. Softer… softer… stop. Listen to the quiet.

Steps

1. We're going to play Slow Motion Movie! Everything has to be in suuuuper slow motion.
2. First — pretend to throw a ball, but do it as slow as a sloth. Slooooowly pull your arm back… slooooowly throw.
3. Now pretend to jump in slow motion. Slooooowly bend your knees… slooooowly rise up on your toes.
4. Try eating a pretend sandwich in slow motion. Slooooowly pick it up… slooooowly take a bite… slooooowly chew.
5. Last one — do a slow motion wave to your neighbor. The slowest wave in the whole world. And… freeze! Movie over.

Steps

1. A storm is coming! Stomp your feet like big booming thunder — BOOM BOOM BOOM!
2. Now rain is falling! Tap your fingers fast on your desk like raindrops — pitter patter pitter patter!
3. Lightning! Clap your hands three times — CLAP CLAP CLAP! And again!
4. The storm is passing. Slow your finger rain down... slower... slower... just a tiny drizzle now.
5. The sun is out. Hands in your lap. Close your eyes and feel the warm sunshine on your face. Breathe in that fresh after-rain air.

Steps

1. Stand up tall. You are a volcano! Put your hands together above your head like a mountain peak.
2. The lava is building! Take a small breath in through your nose. Hold it. Take another sip of air in. Hold it. One more sip — you're getting full of lava!
3. ERUPTION! Throw your arms wide and blow all that air out with a big 'WHOOOOSH!' Let your arms fly open like lava shooting out!
4. The lava is flowing down the mountain now. Wiggle your fingers down from your head to your toes like hot lava trickling down. Slowly. Sloooowly.
5. The volcano is quiet now. Hands by your sides, eyes closed. Take two cool, slow breaths — you're a calm, sleeping volcano.

Steps

1. All aboard! Bend your arms at your sides like train wheels. We're a little train starting up the track.
2. Chug slowly — breathe in-out, in-out through your nose. 'Chugga... chugga...' Move your arms like wheels turning. Nice and slow.
3. The train is speeding up! Faster chugs — 'chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga!' Pump your arms faster! Breathe quicker!
4. WHOO WHOOOO! Blow the train whistle! One long breath out through your mouth. The train is slowing down. Chugga... chugga... chugga...
5. The train pulls into the station. Stop your arms. Stand still. Take one big slow breath in, and let it out like steam: 'Hssssssss.' You've arrived.

Steps

1. We're playing Simon Says with our senses! Only do it if Simon says! Ready? Simon says... touch something smooth near you. Feel how smooth it is!
2. Simon says... look around and find something blue. Point to it! Now find something smaller than your hand. Don't point — Simon didn't say!
3. Simon says... close your eyes and listen. What's the quietest sound you can hear right now? Give me a thumbs up when you hear something tiny.
4. Wiggle your nose! Oops — Simon didn't say! Simon says... take a sniff. What does our classroom smell like right now?
5. Simon says... put your hands in your lap, close your eyes, and take one slow breath. Notice how your body feels after using all those senses. You're a sense detective!

Steps

1. Listen carefully! I'm going to clap a pattern and you copy it right after me. Ready? CLAP-CLAP. Your turn! Nice!
2. Trickier! CLAP-clap-CLAP. Your turn! Now try: clap-SNAP-clap-SNAP. Copy me exactly!
3. This one's sneaky — CLAP-pat your knees-CLAP-pat your knees-SNAP! Can you get it? Let's try it together!
4. Super tricky! CLAP-CLAP-stomp-stomp-SNAP-pat your shoulders! Copy me! One more time together — slower this time.
5. Last one — I'll do it silent. I'll just clap with no sound and you watch and copy. Ready? Silent clap, silent snap, silent stomp. Now take a breath. Your ears and eyes just did amazing work!

Steps

1. Stand up! We're going to be feeling statues. When I name a feeling, you make your whole body show that feeling — then FREEZE like a statue!
2. First feeling: EXCITED! Show me excited with your face, your arms, your whole body! FREEZE! Hold it! Look around — everyone's excited statue looks different and that's cool!
3. Next feeling: SCARED! What does your body do when it's scared? Show me! FREEZE! Notice where you feel scared — is it in your belly? Your shoulders?
4. Next: CALM. This one's tricky. Show me calm with your whole body. FREEZE! See how different this feels from scared? Your body knows the difference!
5. Last one: PROUD! Show me your proudest pose! FREEZE! Take a big breath in your proud pose. You just showed four different feelings with your body. Your brain and body are connected — you can change how you feel by changing your body!

Steps

1. Uh oh, I feel something rumbling! Stand up and stomp your feet — the ground is shaking!
2. It's getting bigger! Shake your arms, shake your legs, shake your whole body like everything is wobbling!
3. The walls are wiggling! Bounce up and down and go RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE with your voice!
4. Wait — it's slowing down. Smaller shakes... tiny little wobbles... almost done...
5. Everything is still. Freeze like a statue. Feel your feet planted on the ground. Take one big breath — the earthquake is over.

Steps

1. It's your birthday! Hold up one hand with all five fingers standing tall — those are your birthday candles!
2. Take a big breath in through your nose. Now blow out the first candle with a long, slow breath — pfffffft. Fold that finger down.
3. Big breath in again. Blow out candle number two — pfffffft. Nice and slow! Fold it down. Three more to go!
4. Breathe in. Blow out number three — pfffffft. Breathe in. Blow out number four — pfffffft. Two fingers down!
5. Last candle! Take your biggest breath in yet. Blow it out slooooowly — pfffffffffffffft. Make a wish! All candles out. Hands in your lap.

Steps

1. Here's the game — when I'm quiet, you dance or wiggle in your spot. When I say FREEZE, you stop and listen for a sound in the room!
2. Go! Wiggle and dance! ... FREEZE! Shhhh. What sound do you hear? Point to where it's coming from. Whisper what it is to yourself.
3. Wiggle again! Move those arms! ... FREEZE! Listen carefully. Is there a new sound? What is it? Is it high or low? Loud or soft?
4. One more time! Dance it out! ... FREEZE! This time, try to hear TWO different sounds at the same time. Can you do it?
5. Sit down. Close your eyes for five seconds and just listen. Open your eyes. Your ears are turned ALL the way on now!

Steps

1. It's Opposite Day! When I say a word, you DO the opposite with your body — but no talking! Ready? I say BIG — what do you do? Crouch down small!
2. I say UP — you go DOWN! Touch the floor! I say FAST — you move in slooooow motion! Look at you going so slow!
3. I say LOUD — you are totally silent, not a peep! I say FROWN — you give me your biggest smile! I say FREEZE — you wiggle all over!
4. Tricky one! I say EYES OPEN — close them! I say STAND — sit down! I say HANDS UP — hands go down to your sides!
5. Last one — I say GO CRAZY... and you sit perfectly, totally, completely still. Ahhhh. That's the best opposite of all. Nice work, opposite experts!

Steps

1. Hold out both hands. Pretend you have a big juicy lemon in each hand. We're going to make lemonade!
2. Squeeze those lemons as HARD as you can! Tighter! Tighter! Get all the juice out! Keep squeezing for five seconds.
3. Now drop the lemons and let your hands go totally floppy. Shake them out like wet noodles. Feel how different your hands are now — all soft and loose.
4. Pick up two more lemons. Squeeze even harder this time! Scrunch your face up too! Shoulders up! Make your whole body tight like a little ball!
5. Drop everything. Let your arms hang, let your face go soft, let your shoulders fall. Take one big breath in and blow it out. Your body squeezed out all that extra energy, just like squeezing juice from a lemon.

Steps

1. Everybody stand in a circle and hold hands with the person next to you. I'm going to put an invisible hoop over one person's arm.
2. Without letting go of each other's hands, pass the hoop all the way around the circle. You have to step through it, duck under it, wiggle through it — but you cannot let go!
3. Go! Work together! Help the person next to you figure out how to get through. You can talk to each other and give tips.
4. The hoop made it halfway! Keep going. Move carefully — if you rush, it gets tangled. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
5. The hoop made it all the way around! Everybody drop hands and give yourselves a quiet clap. Take one deep breath together. You just worked as a team without saying a single mean word.

Steps

1. Sit still. We're going to use four elements to check in with our bodies. First: EARTH. Press your feet flat on the floor. Push down hard. Feel the ground holding you up. The earth is solid and strong under you.
2. Next: AIR. Close your eyes. Can you feel air on your skin? Maybe on your arms, your face, the back of your neck? Sit very still and notice where the air touches you.
3. Now: WATER. Move your tongue around inside your mouth. Swallow once. Notice the water inside you. Your body is mostly water! Isn't that cool?
4. Last one: LIGHT. Open your eyes. Look at where the light is coming from in our room. Follow the light with your eyes. Where is it bright? Where are the shadows?
5. You just used four elements to bring your attention right here, right now. Feet on earth, air on skin, water in mouth, light in eyes. Take one breath and you're ready.

Steps

1. Sit in your chair and put both arms on your desk. We're going to play a game with gravity. Gravity is the invisible force that pulls everything down.
2. Lift your right arm up. Now let gravity have it — just drop it. Don't place it down, let it FALL. Thump! Did you feel gravity pull it down?
3. Lift your left arm. Let gravity take it. Thump! Now lift both arms up high. Ready? Drop! Let gravity win.
4. Now try your head. Very gently let your head drop forward like gravity is pulling it. Feel how heavy your head is. Slowly lift it back up.
5. One more — let your whole body get heavy in your chair. Let gravity pull your shoulders down, your arms down, everything down. You're so heavy you could sink through the floor. Take one slow breath. Gravity helped you get calm and heavy.

Steps

1. When your brain is going really fast, it's like a bunch of puppies running around a room! We're going to catch those puppies — I mean thoughts — and put them somewhere safe.
2. Close your eyes. Notice one thought running around in your head. What is it about? Lunch? Recess? Something funny? Something you want to do? Just notice it.
3. Now imagine you're gently picking up that thought like a puppy. Hold it in your hands. Say 'I see you, thought!' and place it gently in a big pretend freezer. Close the door.
4. Catch another thought-puppy. Pick it up. 'I see you!' Into the freezer. Close the door. One more. Pick it up, name it, put it in the freezer.
5. Open your eyes. All those busy thoughts are safe in the freezer. They're not gone — they're just waiting. Your brain has some quiet space now. Take one breath and enjoy the quiet.

Steps

1. Sit up tall. You are a bathtub! Right now you're full of bubbly, splashy, wild water. All that energy is swishing around inside you.
2. Take a big breath in — the bathtub is FULL! Hold it at the top. Water is right up to the edge!
3. Now pull the plug. Breathe out slowly and steady — shhhhhhhhh. Feel the water draining out of your feet. Slower, slower, until every drop is gone.
4. Fill up again — big breath in. Full to the top! Now pull the plug again — shhhhhhhh — even slower this time. The water drains from your head, down through your chest, down through your legs, out through your toes.
5. One last fill — breathe in. One last drain — breathe out, shhhhhhh, allll the way empty. The bathtub is empty and still. Take one quiet breath. Your energy just drained down to calm.

Steps

1. Stand up. You're a robot! Make your body super stiff and tight. Arms straight, legs straight, face tight. Beep boop! Walk like a stiff robot — two steps forward, two steps back.
2. Now I'm flipping the switch — you're a ragdoll! Go totally floppy. Arms hanging, head drooping, knees bent. Flop around like you have no bones.
3. ROBOT! Go stiff again! Everything tight — fists, shoulders, jaw. Hold it for five seconds. Five, four, three, two, one.
4. RAGDOLL! Let everything go at once. Shake it out. Floppy floppy floppy. Feel how different your body is when it's loose versus tight.
5. One last time — robot for three seconds, then ragdoll forever. Robot! Tight, tight, tight! Ragdoll! Flop into your seat. Take a breath. That tight-then-loose trick is how we let go of extra energy.