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We live in a world of words. 

Words are a fundamental building block of learning and living. And now, with a 24-hour news cycle, attention-grabbing advertisements, and ever-present video screens, words are bombarding us at a higher frequency and intensity than ever before. We are in need of healthy ways to help ourselves and our students process and digest the deluge of word-stimuli around us. 

In schools, mindfulness “corners” offer a space for students to slow down and assess the way they respond to various stimuli. Mindfulness can be the magic ticket to improve student mental health for many teachers yearning for calm and regulated behavior. Mindfulness exercises, such as breathing and meditation, can be effective tools to pull students out of an initial fight-or-flight response and into a rest-and-digest state of mind. But then what?

As Brooklyn Kids Academy Preschool Director, Allie Lopez, says, “Breathing work helps our children calm down, but doesn’t necessarily help them understand what they feel or why. At times it works like a band aid, addressing a short-term need, without equipping children with the long-term skills required to regulate better the next time.”

Oftentimes, well-intentioned mindful practices aren’t enough for PreK-2 students to make the necessary leap from the first phase of an emotional intervention to the next phase of emotional understanding. We’re missing an opportunity to go further and help kids become emotional detectives, answering vital questions like, “Why do I feel this way? What clues did my body give me to let me know? Do I know how to move forward? Can I learn something new to help me next time?” For this, we need to add a crucial component: .

With increased stimuli, a physical outlet for our students is necessary. Integrating WORD Movement into your existing lessons, whether social and emotional or academic, can be achieved with the right approach. An easy first step is to assess your student and classroom needs through words. Which emotions, like worry and confidence, or social scenarios, like sharing and cooperation, could use deeper connection? Make a list of the words, then follow these steps:

Let’s look at an example for the word from my series, OOPA’s World of Words. For young learners, the concept of empathy can feel intangible, but OOPA’s approach explores the word “empathy” in both mind and body. 

Starting with a phonetic introduction of the word, coupled with a few innate body reactions that seed the idea of a mind-body connection from the start, OOPA takes learners to her signature “Wordshop” where she uses physical props — her friend’s shoes — to facilitate a deeper understanding of the word “empathy.” Learners imagine what it would be like to walk in the shoes of NoNo the builder and Ms. J the teacher. Then by inviting learners to the “Movement Room,” they connect the word “empathy” to their bodies. This allows the concept of empathy to take hold in physical form through playful WORD Movements like reenacting a day in the life of NoNo and Ms. J. OOPA closes with a quiet reflection, modeling mindfulness as a healthy habit.

Physical development (including movement breaks) and social emotional development (including mindfulness) are on the rise in PreK-2, but these domains of child growth remain separate from one another rather than connected in their natural biological state. In the school setting, mindful moments are offered as quiet, alone time, and movement breaks as loud, social time. WORD Movement allows these two spheres to unite in an intuitive and intentional way that can then be leveraged as an entry point into deeper learning.

“One thing all my children can do is move,” says Principal Rosalie Favuzza of her population of verbal and non-verbal language learners. She, like so many educators, is searching for connective tissue between mindfulness and academics: movement can be that crucial bridge for young learners. When new words are experienced through multiple modalities, including movement, we increase accessibility to substantive learning and emotional understanding for any child.

WORD Movement can be adapted for anyone. So long as you have a clear mental connection, a word can manifest in the body in a multitude of ways: using a different body part, a mobility device, objects such as stuffed animals — we all have the ability to connect in our own way. If students are connecting a chosen word to their body physically, it’s a win. 

Keep the movement going! In less than 10 minutes, a unique intersection of social and emotional learning, physical development, and language and literacy skills can be achieved without adding to your teacher workload. These rich learning experiences can happen with content vocabulary too.

In the same way movement and mindfulness fosters a better understanding of an emotion like empathy, the same approach can also strengthen a student’s mastery of a new academic unit or vocabulary word. Let’s look at another example, but with the content word . OOPA leads learners through an interactive movement sequence filled with imaginative ideas about how to recycle a paper towel tube (the prop) into drumsticks and binoculars. Then they close with a reflection — “With a little bit of creativity, you can recycle almost anything!”

By combining movement with new ideas like recycling, we offer young children a full body learning experience that solidifies greater retention. Try creating a list of content-specific vocabulary with your class and use the four WORD Movement steps outlined above to develop a greater understanding of curricular terms. Move and have fun with it!

Research has shown that much of early childhood media does a disservice to our children through overstimulation — rapid animation, frequent camera cuts, negativity, and even violence — contributing to an increase in anxiety and attention problems. Moreover, screen viewing traditionally promotes sedentary behavior, so it is incumbent upon us as educators to ensure the media we leverage reflects the environment we want to foster in our classrooms and incorporates movement.

uses a set of organizing principles that can be helpful when evaluating early childhood media. If you can answer "yes" to the following educational media criteria, you can set yourself and your students up for success.

If your chosen content doesn’t fully inspire the type of movement you are looking for, feel empowered to add it! Identify key vocabulary or emotions on screen and follow the WORD Movement steps we covered.

And of course, screen time extends beyond the classroom for many children. Just as you might share with families a book recommendation or a fine motor skill-building activity, you can also serve as a media mentor to families who would prefer to make screen time a healthier habit for their kids. With this media criteria, you can make quality media selections for your classroom as well as recommendations to families at home.

Imagine you are that curious, imaginative, and made-to-move child in the classroom. What would you need in both mind and body to become a more mindful, self-aware, active learner and human being?

For a child to have a healthy educational experience they must feel connected to themselves, their peers, and their teachers. A feeling as raw as anger, an emotion as multifaceted as empathy, or a unit as rich as recycling can be beyond a young child’s understanding if not taught to them in a way that includes genuine integration of their mind and body. Moving the body can help move the mind, allowing emotions to feel more manageable and new concepts to be more memorable.

It's time to upgrade our mindfulness efforts and add WORD Movement. In turn, we will deepen emotional awareness, academic achievement, and help our children better navigate our world of words.

The EMPATHY and RECYCLE videos are part of a recently launched and growing collection of resources available at . Created by , the OOPA’s World of Words PreK-2 program explores feelings, common school scenarios, and new vocabulary through mindfulness, movement, and reflection.

To explore other articles and K-12 arts integrated lessons, visit the Related Resources section at the bottom of this page or the full Kennedy Center Digital Resources Library.

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