About:

This is a key game of this whole series. This game helps to regulate the impulsive child, and the 'vacant' child.
How?
Because the student is guided to entrain to the tone and stable rhythm of the teacher.

To be affective, more is needed than just doing the movement. The teacher needs to give safety signals to the student and help the student receive those signals.

Purpose:

Help a student activate their 'social engagement system' or 'ventral vagal system'.Polyvagal Theory

Learn to share in a joint rhythm.
Develop a capacity for 'meeting' rather than 'dead fish energy' or 'beating energy'.
Develop an embodied sense of stable pulse.
This exercise further helps students to differentiate and integrate their right and left arms and hands.

Student may differentiate and integrate their arms and hands doing this exercise alone, but the added load of coordinating with an other person takes some of their processing energy.

This exercise helps a student be comfortable with in their own skin in relation to someone else.

This is an exercise where we can teach a particular kind of care. First we learn to carefully place the bean bag in an other's hand. We place in a way that is 'meeting' and learn to not place it in a way that is 'beating' or 'dead fish'. As students learn this prime reference of meeting, they can begin to generalize this sense to other situations.

Directions:

When teaching use as few words as possible, students will learn most deeply with their seeing, hearing and feel.

Level 1: Teacher Student

Note it is very tempting to demonstrate this exercise to a class and then have students try it with each other. This would be an efficient use of time and quickly engage each student in an activity.

BUT

Beyond the gross mechanics of this activity- the heart of this exercise is about the subtle energetic emotional sense of contact and exchange. This is about learning 'meeting'.  It is care and grace that you are teaching. Students will not know how to bring that to each other until they have learned and integrated this into themselves.

This exercise is about the quality of The Time In.

This exercise is best done with the student standing. Especially for young students, if they are sitting, they are won't be able to use their core postural muscles. It will be hard to effectively hold and manipulate the weight of the beanbag.

Teacher and student face each other palms up. Teacher places bean bag in students hand right hand. (best to place it in students dominant hand.)

Teacher indicates to student to pass the bean bag into the teachers left hand. As the student passes the bean bag, their palm should face down while the teachers palm faces up. The teacher passes the bean bag hand over hand into hiser right hand. The teacher passes the bean bag in to the students left hand. The student passes the bean bag hand over hand into from hiser right hand. Once teacher and student can make these 4 passes smoothly and rhythmically, the teacher can set a number of reps to aim for. "Let's do 5 more times around."

Visual Tracking and Eye Contact. it is best if students visually track the bean bag as it moves. Students and teachers can make brief orienting eye contact with each other. 

Note: Prolonged or locked eye contact is usually the domain of fighting for dominance or parent child bonding, or of romantic melding. So the general norm for these exercises is model and encourage brief orienting eye contact, then focus the eyes on the movement of the bean bag.

Be sure to celebrate the completion. If you didn't complete this yet, celebrate the effort and progress made so far.

Glitches:

• Student slams the bean bag into the teachers hand
1. "oww, that pass was too hard. Do it like this", then take the students hand with the beanbag in it. Move the childs hand with the appropriate velocity and pressure and guide their and beanbag into your other hand. Repeat of nessessary. "Now I want to match that speed and pressure." Have the student place the beanbag into your hand. Keep working it until they learn a good spee and pressure.
• Student drops the bean bag
1. Teach student to grasp the bag with all their fingers, not just lay it on a flat palm
2. "Let's play a little game. I want you to hold onto the bean bag. I am going to try to pull it out of your hand. I want you to keep me from pulling it out of your hand." Gently tug on the beanbag. Students should increase their grasp to resist your pulling
• Student reaches to receives the bean bag with the wrong hand. (usually their dominant hand.
1. Point to or touch the hand that they are to use. (best to give these instructions non verbally or add words to the non verbal cues.)
2. The teacher can also block the hand by holding the wrong hand, so that only the correct hand is available for the student to receive the bean bag with.

Level 2: Pass Behind the Back

This is best done by instructing through gesture and not using words.

Teacher and student face each other palms up. Teacher places bean bag in students hand right hand. (best to place it in students dominant hand.)

Teacher indicates to student to pass the bean bag into the teachers left hand.

The teacher passes the bean bag behind hiser back into hiser own right hand.

The teacher passes the bean bag in to the student's left hand.

The student passes the bean bag behind their back into hiser right hand.

Glitches:

• Student receives the bean bag then passes it to hiser other hand in front of the body rather than behind hiser back.
1. Teach student to grasp the bag with all their fingers, not just lay it on a flat palm
2. Let's play a little game. I want you to hold onto the bean bag. I am going to try to pull it out of your hand. I want you to keep me from pulling it out of your hand."
• Reaches to receive the bean bag  passes the bean bag with the wrong hand. (usually hiser dominant hand.)
1. Point to or touch the hand that they are to use. (best to give these instructions non verbally or add words to the non verbal cues.)
• Student slams the bean bag into the teachers hand
1. Take Over the Problem. Emphasis on what its like to receive a pass that is too hard.
2. Let the student know that it was too hard. "oww, I want you to be more gentle". Then teacher puts bean bag into the students hand modeling the right amount of velocity and pressure. "Pass it to me this hard, no harder."

Level 3: On Balance Boards

Once students can effectively do Pass a Bean Bag Hand Over Hand, keeping the pattern and rhythm, have them do the game while standing on balance boards.

Level 4: Calling Switch - Teacher Calls Switch

To switch directions, clap the bean bag at the center line of the body, keep it in the same hand, them pass it now going in the opposite direction. Teacher can say "switch" as they receive the bag before the clap.
The 'switch' can also happen behind the back. Clap the bean bag behind the back put keep it in the same hand. Pass in it going in the opposite direction.

Level 5: Calling Switch - Student Calls Switch

The purpose of the student call 'switch' is having them learn to give a timely cue.

Neuroscience:

Polyvagal system

[ ? tactile information - ashley monteque, Touching

Organizing power of rhythm. Rhythm comes from the brain stem.- neurologically it orders other sensory motor processes.

]

Next:

Pass A Bean Bag Hand Over Hand Pass - To A Partner

Pass A Bean Bag Around The Circle-Receive Right Hand Clap Pass With Left Hand.html