Yoga Bingo - Activity Station Reflection

Activity Station Reflection: Yoga Bingo

Lila Ibrahim & Hannah Weston

8214540 & 8144625  

PED3113A

Professor: Jennifer Rottman

January 30th 2020

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Activity

Our activity station last Thursday brought a mindful twist to the popular game, Bingo. By replacing the numbers with yoga positions, we were able to facilitate an activity that brings together a crazy game of Bingo with a calming and physical meditative activity.  In order to implement this activity in the classroom, each participant must have a bingo card and bingo tokens to yoga positions on the bingo card. The teacher must have yoga position calling cards in order to play the game. In Yoga Bingo, Students are asked to grab a partner, a bingo card, and to form a semi-circle around the instructors. Including partnerships is a beneficial idea to use in this activity because it helps facilitate and teach teamwork, co-operation, trust, and allows students to have a buddy to help them complete each yoga position. Students are asked to form a semi-circle in order to provide easy visuals for students to see their educator(s) demonstrate the proper ways to complete the yoga positions for each card called.

The activity begins with the educators shuffling, and then picking a bingo calling card at random. The bingo calling card is shown to students as a visual, the name of the position is announced, and then the instructor then demonstrates the position. In addition, the leader(s) are encouraged to demonstrate a modified position for students who may find the original pose too challenging and require an accommodation. Each pose should be held for at least 10 seconds, and encouragement for deep breathing should occur throughout that time. The pose should be demonstrated on the left and right side of the body if time permits. Once the pose is complete, the students can then search their bingo card for that position and place a bingo token on it. The first pair of students to achieve a bingo (ex: a consecutive row of four tokens either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) are the winners of the game. The winning students are allowed to choose either a yoga position from the calling card deck or their own position that they know, to demonstrate and lead the class in. 

The original idea came from Pinetrest, where we were able to use some of the colourful yoga images available to create our own unique bingo cards with them. See link attached to view the site: (https://onestopcounselingshop.com/2018/01/31/new-product-yoga-for-kids-bingo/).

Yoga Bingo was designed with the grade two health and physical education curriculum in mind. This game is applicable to both lower and higher grades, and can be modified depending on the age group. This activity station focused on the central idea of mindfulness, which was incorporated throughout the introduction of yoga movements. Within the Ontario Curriculum for grade two, Yoga Bingo touches on the overall expectations of Strand B: Active Living and Strand C: Movement Competence. 

B2.  demonstrate an understanding of the importance of being physically active, and apply physical fitness concepts and practices that contribute to healthy, active living.

C1. perform movement skills, demonstrating an understanding of the basic requirements of the skills and applying movement concepts as appropriate, as they engage in a variety of physical activities.

These overall expectations are met because Yoga Bingo teaches children beneficial ways to move their body to stretch, build muscle, and develop balance and strength. It also fosters healthy living through the additional properties of mindfulness attached to yoga. It encourages children to take a minute to properly breathe and be aware of how they are feeling. It motivates students to take a moment to settle us on the yoga poses. Yoga Bingo also gives students a chance to spend some quality time with their peers and the instructor(s), doing a collective calming and physical movement activity. 

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Reflections 

Both group members shared responsibility throughout the entire activity. When facilitating the activity station, both of us took turns telling the whole group the bingo instructions. We had discussed who would instruct which parts prior to the activity station. Both of us read out the bingo yoga cards, and exemplified for the group, how to do the poses (both regular and modified poses). 

Everyone that participated in our Yoga Bingo activity showed us that they were very pleased and felt that this activity was something that they needed in order to wrap up the busy and hectic day. Many participants asked us for our activity afterwards, and mentioned that it is something they could not wait to use in their future gym and health classes. The participants loved the candy and chocolate component, but in the future we decided that it would be better to use non-edible tokens with younger students in particular. There was a major difference between when we facilitated the activity the first time and second time. The way that the activity changed for the second time is that we started to exemplify the yoga poses for both the left and right sides of the body. The first time around, we only showed the poses on one side, and that was problematic because there wasn’t a balanced exercise happening. 

In order to improve our activity, we would ensure that we bring a workable speaker to play calming yoga music during the exercise. By playing music, students will find it easier to focus on being in the moment and not distracted by other things in the environment, and enjoying every component of the yoga bingo atmosphere that we as instructors will be aiming to create. Another improvement that we believe will make our activity facilitation better is to make sure to show all the possible modified poses for the specific pose to include everyone, regardless of their abilities. We would try to avoid using edible tokens to prevent any issues that may arise (dietary restrictions, friend fights, choking hazard, etc). Lastly, a sustainable improvement we would make to the activity is incorporating lamination. We would laminate the bingo cards, and the bingo yoga pose cards in order to preserve them for years to come rather than have to keep re-printing. 

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Extension Ideas

Yoga Bingo can be extended into a full gym class period through the addition of a pre and post activity, as well as playing multiple rounds of Yoga Bingo. Since yoga requires students to be focused and less rambunctious, the pre-activity could focus on letting their energy and silliness out. Within one of our placement schools, we have a mindfulness instructor come in to teach students about yoga. Before educating the students on yoga, she plays a song which encourages students to shake their bodies as much as possible. The song tune is quite calming, which keeps the energy in the room stable, but still allows students to get their high level energy out. We would incorporate this dance activity at the beginning of our lesson to allow students the chance to be silly and release their hyper-energy. If required, the song can be played twice to allow students extra time to shift from the yellow zone to the green zone of regulating their bodies. Once all the shaking is complete, students can sit in a circle and take some time to breathe. The educator can use this time during the activity  to teach deep breathing to students, which will be important throughout the Yoga positions. 

As for the main portion of Yoga Bingo, it can be extended by conducting two rounds of it. When leading the activity for our PED3113 class, it took almost 10-15 minutes for each game of Yoga Bingo to claim a winner. Taking time to demonstrate the yoga poses, modifications, and holding the position for 10 seconds each, ensures that the game does not finish too quickly. Another alternative to extend the activity includes letting a pair of students come up for each turn to choose a Yoga Bingo calling card. Each student pair can then lead their chosen card by showing the picture card, saying the name of the pose (written on the card), and demonstrating the position. The educator can assist students by showing the pose as well or demonstrating a modification for each pose. This change to the game allows students to become more involved, work on their leadership skills, and can give them the confidence to show others outside of the classroom the poses they have learned. 

To conclude the activity, after the winners have been announced, there can be a ‘cool down’ period. A majority of yoga classes will have a few minutes at the end of a class for participants to lay down and rest. Students will be asked to find a separate spot on the floor to lay down on their backs. The lights will be dimmed and a calming song will be played on the speaker. Many songs are available online for this task, which is directed at children partaking in yoga. Students will be encouraged to close their eyes and focus on their breathing. To conclude, students will be asked to slowly sit up and a small discussion about how everyone currently feels can occur. 

To assess this lesson, participation would be the main component to evaluate. Watching to see if students put in their best effort throughout the breathing exercises and yoga poses is important to evaluate to see if they understand the lesson’s requirements. Students should not be evaluated on their ability to complete a pose, as everyone has their abilities and limitations. In addition, although a student may not be able to complete a pose the first time, the potential to grow and develop skills is possible. 

Depending on class size, the groupings for the Yoga Bingo can be altered. The original activity was prepared with the idea of an average Ontario class size in mind, which is why partners were encouraged for each bingo card. In a smaller class, if there are enough materials, then students may work individually throughout the game. If the class is larger or multiple classes are playing, then it can be one bingo card for every group of three. 

In order to link this activity with other topics in health, mindfulness can be used as a bridge for the strand of social-emotional health. Alternative breathing techniques can be taught to students to help keep them in the green zone of emotional regulation. For example, if a student is feeling overwhelmed, then they can consult their breathing techniques to try to calm their mind. Further, the discussion of why is breathing important or what bodily functions are involved in breathing to educate on topics about one’s body or science-related topics on human function. Other cross-curricular opportunities available would be to connect this activity to English through a writing assessment. A possible writing assessment prompt would include students answering the following questions: “why did you enjoy or not enjoy Yoga Bingo today?”, and  “how did Yoga Bingo make you feel?”. Furthermore, a connection to the math curriculum can be made through the strand focusing on geometry and spatial awareness. The educator can use yoga poses as a nontraditional form to have students expand their spatial awareness by discussing if the pose involved symmetry, whether any shapes could be spotted within a pose, and what the point of balance in each pose is. For example, in the mountain man pose (feet together, stand tall, arms extended at a 45-degree angle on each side of one’s body) can be noted for symmetry and two triangles formed from one’s side and arms. This cross-curricular connection would challenge both the students’ and educators’ thinking.

Yoga Bingo is rooted in the ICI principles as it adds a creative twist to bingo, which will undeniably peak students' attention and teach them necessary skills, such as balance, strength, breathing, and benefit their social-emotional learning through the mindfulness exercises throughout the activity. The additional song played at the beginning of the lesson allows students to use their imaginations to move or “shake” their bodies how they see fit. There are no set movements for the pre-activity, which encourages students to use their ideas on how to dance. The main idea of mindfulness allows for students’ brains to function at a higher ability, which can increase their creativity and innovative thinking. Further, some of the possible cross-curricular opportunities through Yoga Bingo are innovative ideas, teaching students that school subjects, such as mathematics or science, are present in everyday life, but may go unnoticed at times. 

Overall, this activity was a great way to bridge yoga, music, and health together, with the potential for more cross-curricular opportunities. Yoga Bingo is an excellent way to get students to be more mindful, but also strengthen their bodies in ways they didn’t think were possible. This activity allows for students to tune into their imaginations, creativity, and even innovative spirits.