CHICAGO RUN SAYS

Need a quiet and active game for your students? CHICAGO RUN SAYS is a healthy game that will allow your students to quietly move, stretch, breathe, and refocus their energy and return to their learning or testing.

Set-up: the game facilitator will have the students stand at their desks, ideally with space between individuals.

Rules: following the rules of “Simon Says,” the facilitator will say “CHICAGO RUN SAYS” and then list one of the below activities for the students to do. However, if the facilitator does not say “CHICAGO RUN SAYS” before the activity, the students will not have to do the activity. If a student does an activity by mistake, this does not mean they are out. Instead, continue mixing up the activities and challenge their listening skills!

Suggestions & Variations: review the activities before playing the game so everyone knows how to do them. Once the students get the hang of the game, feel free to reward one of the better listeners and have them facilitate the next game. To make the game more challenging, try using the yoga names (i.e. Utkatasana, Padahastasana) to test your students’ memories!

Tree Pose Eagle Pose Chair Pose  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Bend knee and place foot  Cross 1 arm over the other  Bend your knees and squat as upon ankle or thigh, and try and bring your palms if you are sitting on an invisible but not on the knee together chair

 Raise arms as if they  Cross the opposite leg  Raise hands above are your branches over the other leg your head  Hold for 10 – 20 sec.  Hold for 10 – 20 sec.  Hold for 10 – 20 sec.

Variations: Say ‘left’ Variations: Say ‘left’ or ‘right’ foot or ‘right’ foot Yoga Name: Utkatasana Yoga Name: Vrksasana Yoga Name: Garudasana

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Arm Circles 5 Ujjayi Breaths Mountain Pose

 Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Carefully spread your arms out  Take 5 slow and deep breaths  Spread legs hip-distance apart as if they were wings in through your nose, and  Hold arms by your  Rotate in small, big, forward then back out through your side or backwards circles nose  Hold for 10 – 20  Make circles for 20 – 30 sec.  As you go, try to take deeper seconds, focusing breaths on staying as still as possible

Variations: Say “big” or “small” circles, or “forward” Yoga Name: Tadasana or “backwards” circles

Gorilla Pose Shoulder Rolls Fiery Angle Pose  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Bending at your waist, reach  Slowly, and in a circular motion,  Spread both legs out and bend down and grab the tips of your roll both shoulders forward both knees to squat shoes  Roll for 15-20 sec.  Raise both arms to resemble a  Bend your knees  This is a great way to relieve the goal post if needed tension that builds up in your  Hold for 10 – 20 sec.  Hold for 10 – 20 upper back during stressful situations. seconds

Variations: Say Yoga Name: “backwards” instead Yoga Name: Utkata Konasana Padahastasana of “forward” to mix it up!

Sun Salutation Pose 5 Regular Breaths Neck Rolls  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Stand up straight  Keep your legs together  Take five big, deep breaths  Slowly, and in a circular  Raise your hands above your  Remind them to slowly inhale motion, have your students head, brining your palms through their noses and back roll their necks together out through their mouth  Bend your knees if needed  Slowly lean back,  This is a great way to get much  Roll for 10 – 20 sec. looking up at the needed oxygen back into their ceiling body.  This is a great  Hold for 10 – 20 sec. way to relieve tension that Yoga Name: builds up in Surya Namaskara your neck.

Yoga Name: Padahastasana