Activity

Mindfulness At the Ocean

Grades 3-5, Grades K-2
Subjects: Explore Your World, Personal Wellness

Overview:

This lesson plan is designed for students to learn how to regulate their breathing when they become anxious or overwhelmed. In the first activity, students will describe sounds they hear at the ocean. If you can, it is recommended you play a few minutes of the 4K virtual walk YouTube video below. After students have discussed ocean sounds, the instructor will teach ‘Ocean Breathing”. The instructor can follow the script in the instructions or utilize the YouTube video attached at the bottom of this lesson plan. After learning how to focus on their breathing, students will complete a short yoga activity on YouTube, or the instructor can lead yoga.

NB Curricular Connections

Explore Your World

  • Strand: Well-Being – Big Idea: Physical Health and Active Participation – Skill Descriptor: Analyze personal safety and healthy practices.
  • Strand: Well-Being – Big Idea: Emotional Health and Positive Identities – Skill Descriptor:
    • Explore activities that foster enjoyment and well-being.
    • Recognize that feelings and emotions can impact well-being, relationships, and the way we engage with others.

Personal Wellness 3-5

    • Strand: Wellness – Big Idea: Healthy Lifestyle – Skill Descriptor:
      • Grade 3: Analyze personal safety and healthy practices.
      • Grade 4: Describe personal safety and healthy practices.
      • Grade 5: Assess personal safety and healthy practices.
    • Strand: Mental Fitness – Big Idea: Mental Health Strategies – Skill Descriptor:
      • Grade 3: Demonstrate self-calming strategies to regulate emotional reactions.
      • Grade 4: Identify strategies for regulating emotional reactions.
      • Grade 5: Identify strategies for seeking support for self and others.
    • Strand: Mental Fitness – Big Idea: Positive Mental Health – Skill Descriptor:
      • Grade 3: Explore the importance of talking about emotions and emotional responses.
      • Grade 4: Describe the seven primary emotions and their expression.
      • Grade 5: Identify ways to manage stress and regulate emotions.

What you’ll need:

  • Shells or pictures of shells or other objects found by the ocean
  • Ocean scenes/calming ocean music and speakers
  • YouTube video 4K Virtual Walk – Tampa Bay – Sandy Beach Beach Walk
  • K-5 Mindfulness Resource (PDF attached)

Instructions:

Step 1: Tell students that we will learn a breathing technique called “Ocean Breath”. Ask them if they know what the ocean sounds like. Play the virtual beach walk video on YouTube. Have them listen in silence, attending to the sounds in the video. After listening carefully for a few minutes, ask them to name 3 different sounds that they heard.

Step 2: Next, students will learn how to make the sound of the ocean. Ask students if they know how to “sigh.” Demonstrate a sigh by breathing deeply through your nose and breathing out through your mouth. Ask students to practice taking a deep breath in and “sigh” it out as if they are trying to fog up a window or a mirror. They can put their open palm in front of their face to feel the breath coming out as they sigh – as if they are breathing on a mirror. Ocean breath is the same as a sigh, but the trick is that you must keep your mouth closed. To do this, we gently pinch our lips with our fingers to make duck lips as we exhale. Demonstrate breathing in and sighing out with your mouth closed by gently closing your mouth with your fingers.

Step 3: Next, have students close their eyes or lower their gaze and look to the floor. Instruct students to inhale through their nose, and as they exhale, imagine that they are fogging up a mirror but keeping their mouth closed. It may take a few tries, but students will eventually feel it in their throat, and it makes the sound of the ocean waves! Practice this a few times together so they can hear the ocean sounds in the class.

Step 4: Discuss with students that their breath can be used like the anchor on a boat on the ocean. “An anchor keeps the boat from floating away. Sometimes our thoughts carry us away. It is normal for our thoughts to wander as we practice our breathing. We can train our brain to improve our focus by paying attention to our ocean breath, and so it becomes like an anchor; this helps so that we don’t get lost in our thoughts. Our thoughts are like a boat floating on the ocean. When the boat starts to wander off (our thoughts), we can pay attention to the sound of our breath and the feeling in the back of our throat once again focusing on our breath (anchor) to stay in the present moment.”.

Step 5: Shell Mindfulness: Give each student a shell (or picture of a shell). Have them look at the shell, touch it, and notice colours, shapes, movements, ridges, curves, and lines. Ask them to describe what shapes they see or feel. Remind them that by doing this activity, they focus their minds and train their attention to stay on task in the present moment using their senses. They can do this for a few minutes and write them down if it is helpful.

Step 6: As a class, follow along and complete a “Mindfulness Ocean Yoga” video. Attached to this lesson are three recommended videos, although use other resources if you would like.

Additional Resources:

Questions Related to The Labour Market and Employment Opportunities In NB:

  1. What kinds of career opportunities exist in New Brunswick for someone interested in working with the Atlantic Ocean? (Fisherman, Seafood Preparer, Deckhand, Welder, Marine Biologist, Fish Farm Owner, etc.)
  2. Why is it important to be calm when working in jobs with the Atlantic Ocean? (It is important to be safe while working near the ocean and being calm and focused helps keep you safe.)

Reflection Activity 

Coming Soon or Please see the attached PDF for several choices on how you and your learners can reflect upon today’s activity. 

Global Competencies

  1. Communication
  2. Self Awareness

Downloads 

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